User talk:Clarkmci

From 2011
Earlier is archived here

Weapons of Choice
Added an image to [this]. The link to the publisher's website was no longer functional so deleted it from the notes. Cheers! --~ Bill, Bluesman 03:28, 2 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you ...--clarkmci / j_clark 06:50, 4 January 2011 (UTC)

Sean McMullen's Voices in the Light
I added the publication month from Locus and the copy count from Chalker & Owings to your verified pub. Thanks. --Ron ~ RtraceTalk 02:46, 20 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks. (Note to self: Dig out copy & see if it's numbered.) --clarkmci / j_clark 12:30, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

's chapter books
I thought I would let your know I am working on cleaning up some of you verified chapter books under Gary Crew. Perhaps you can look them over later when I have reorganized them (I shall post here again) and make sure they still match reality. Thanks. Uzume 13:17, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Actually, after starting with Gary Crew, I think I am going to try and take on. There are many chapter books in that that are just wrong. In the series comment you say this is a publisher series. If that is true should this not be an actual publisher series and not a title series then? Was this entire series put together by Gary Crew (and later Franklin Watts)? If so then I could have methinks he should be credited with the chapter book titles in each case and let the contained short fiction title be credited to the authors (as a sort of broken up anthology). Uzume 14:31, 27 January 2011 (UTC)


 * It definitely needs some more work - a publication series of chapbooks might look OK, but the current Title Series mixing Shortfiction and Chapterbooks is wrong - it should be one or the other, and using Canonical titles only. E.g. "Cory Daniells" entries rather than "R. C. Lindquist". BLongley 17:47, 27 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I am leaning towards a title series of chapter books which is basically an editorial-based series but conversion to an actual pub series is possible too. The one problem with making it truly a pub series is the fact that it seems like it is a few related series. One from Crew and Lothian, one from Franklin Watts, and perhaps one or two from Stone Arch and Turtleback (currently I didn't see any Turtleback pubs in ISFDB but doing research, I noticed them). I also noticed there are a number of related pubs missing though User:Clarkmci seems to have all the Crew/Lothian ones entered. I noticed I messed some stuff up to in fixing the chapter book mess as I converted the wrong way and awards are sometimes on the chapter book instead of the short fiction. I am mending that too (by swapping the title data since I cannot move the award).
 * As an editorial series I am wondering if it makes sense to have the chapter book titles all be credited to Crew (and of course leave the contained short fiction titles credited to the individual authors). This sort of makes things look funny though and chapter book titles are displayed as "Author" not "Editor" as they probably should be. Further chapter books are confusing as the actual book itself probably does not mention Crew as the editor much since it mostly just contains the single work of short fiction (unlike an anthology; in a collection it is usually unambiguous as the editor is also the author of all the included works and we seem to do magazine editorial series completely differently). Uzume 18:13, 28 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi Uzume, Thanks for reminding me about these. The After Dark "series" is the way it is :-( because it was entered before chapterbook handling was fixed (used to only just sorta work, sometimes), and before we could enter publisher's series. I just haven't got back to them since then - I've not been very active lately.


 * A factor to consider ... The numbering by the original Australian publisher (Lothian) "After Dark" isn't the same as the numbering for the UK Franklin Watts "After Dark" editions, as far as I can infer from Amazon UK. It is the Aust'n numbering that is currently in ISFDB as a title series. (I have only Aust'n editions.) I infer from Amazon US that there are a couple that were also published by a US publisher - the Stone Arch ones - but with no series (from memory). I don't know how the publisher series displays on the pages when done, so I don't know how this would turn out.


 * Not sure about using editor. Personally, I view them as books rather than as short fiction, so would personally prefer to see them under each author's "Chapterbook" or "Book / Chapterbook series" section. However, it's probably best to wait for opinions re editor series vs publisher's series vs author title series from the regular moderators / ISFDB gurus. --clarkmci / j_clark 12:28, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Pamela Freeman's Victor stories
I have made both books in this series into CHAPTERBOOK type and added a shortfiction record to both. One of them was a chapterbook and the other was novel. The chapterbook was missing a shortfiction content record. Your verified records here and here were updated. Mhhutchins 19:01, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Tashi
I added the missing content record for this chapterbook. Mhhutchins 19:01, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

Firebirds Soaring, ed. by Sharyn November
I'm updating the existing "Firebird" published books to "Firebird / Penguin" to follow the ISFDB standard of "imprint / publisher". This changes the publisher of your verified publication of this book. According to my copy of this book, this agrees with the imprint statement in this book, but please let me know if this doesn't match your copy of the book. Chavey 02:11, 7 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you --clarkmci / j_clark 23:50, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

The Children Star
Scanned n an image and added notes to [this]. Cheers! --~ Bill, Bluesman 18:52, 25 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you --clarkmci / j_clark 05:16, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Mainly in Moonlight by Nicholas Stuart Gray
Can you check your copy of this publication to see whether "Faber Fanfares" is a publication series and not the publisher's name. The OCLC record gives the publisher as Faber and Faber, and "Faber Fanfares" as a series. Thanks for checking. Mhhutchins 17:05, 7 April 2012 (UTC)


 * I will look for my copy. --clarkmci / j_clark 06:29, 9 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Finally found my copy & it looks more like an imprint to me - it's on the bottom of the title page. --clarkmci / j_clark 09:32, 3 November 2012 (UTC)


 * Later: Also, copyright page states "First published in 1965 by Faber and Faber Limited ..." then "First published in Fanfares edition 1979" --clarkmci / j_clark 09:45, 3 November 2012 (UTC)

"Angus & Robertson" publishers
We have two different listings for "Angus & Robertson" publishers, one under that name, and one as "Angus & Robertson (Australia)". They are primarily an Australian publishing house, and are listed as such on their publisher profile. In addition, most of the books we list by them are listed just as "Angus & Robertson". Consequently, I am merging these two publishers together under the shorter name. (Our policies recommends this approach, using only the publisher name, and posting the location on the publisher page.) This affects 5 books verified by you: The first 3 verified editions of Pigs Might Fly, The Best-Kept Secret, and Fire in the Sky. I hope this is acceptable to you. Chavey 03:08, 1 May 2012 (UTC)


 * This is fine. Thanks --clarkmci / j_clark 23:49, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

Aurealis / Chimaera Publications
You have verified two books from this imprint, The Black Crusade and Out of the Silence. Unfortunately, the former is listed as by "Aurealis / Chimaera Publications", and the later as by "Aurealis Books / Chimaera Publications", so they don't sort together by publisher. I was hoping you'd be willing to change one of them so they agreed on the imprint name. (I would suggest "Aurealis", but either is acceptable.) Chavey 15:25, 1 May 2012 (UTC)


 * I'll think about this one. Black Crusade was Aurealis magazine, IIRC. --clarkmci / j_clark 23:51, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfield
I am changing the page count from 352 to 341.--Teddybear 17:52, 1 June 2012 (UTC) Also changing from tp to pb.--Teddybear 17:55, 1 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Good spotting! I must have been asleep that day. Thanks --clarkmci / j_clark 06:49, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Uncredited cover art
Just a reminder: when a publication's cover art is not credited, the Artist1 (cover artist) field should remain blank. You have the option of recording this fact in the record's note field. I've removed "uncredited" from the cover artist field, and added a note to these verified records:, , , , , , , and. Mhhutchins 20:54, 3 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Noted - thanks for alerting me to this convention. --clarkmci / j_clark 11:46, 4 July 2012 (UTC)

Tashi
Having run into a bunch of Tashi submissions from Fixer, I'm going through them. One thing I've discovered from the Tashi Books site is that each book contains two stories. They seem to be considered separate, and in some of the later Big Big books, the write-up clearly counts each (i.e., 10 stories from 5 books). I'd like to change your verified from a Chapterbook to Collection and add "Dragon Breath" as a second shortfiction entry. Is that ok with you, and, if so, what page does it start on? Thanks. --MartyD 01:28, 31 July 2012 (UTC)


 * Re change to Collection - OK. Re start page of 2nd story - I'll have to dig out my copy (It's "somewhere"). (and the copies I have of some of the others) ... --clarkmci / j_clark 11:44, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Welcome template
I noticed you're using the older template to welcome new users (compare this one with this one.) The most recent template gives more information. Just enter  ~  into the new editor's talk page, and the most recent version of the welcome statement and your signature is automatically entered. Thanks. Mhhutchins 16:07, 6 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Thanks Tip much appreciated. --clarkmci / j_clark 00:03, 9 October 2012 (UTC)

Duplicate series name
As far as I can tell from the Recent Integrations list, you may have recently added two titles by Andrew Peters to a series which was already in the database: Ravenwood. I believe they should have been given a different name, as it appears there is no connection between the books. It looks like the Mia James titles can be changed to a new series "Ravenwood Mystery" without much trouble. Thanks for looking. Mhhutchins 03:04, 12 December 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you for spotting this - definitely not the same series. Fixed as you suggested. --clarkmci / j_clark 01:29, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

The Sending
Would you please check the ISBN on ? It is listed as 978-670-85359-5 which is 12 characters. I believe it is missing a "0" after the 978 per the publisher's website. If you would either correct the ISBN or, if it is on the publication as shown, add a note that the error is in the publication and not the data entry, it would be appreciated. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 19:08, 18 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I'll dig out my copy. --clarkmci / j_clark 12:30, 21 February 2013 (UTC)


 * You are correct; now fixed. Thanks for spotting/alerting. --clarkmci / j_clark 03:34, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Steve(n) Proposch
Hello, can you confirm the surname of the author of this short story: Steve (as per Locus) or Steven (as per your PV) ? Thanks. Hervé Hauck 09:10, 19 February 2013 (UTC)


 * I'll dig out my copy of _Intimate Armageddons_. --clarkmci / j_clark 12:29, 21 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi, Finally came across it. His given name is stated as "Steven" in the TOC & above the story. --clarkmci / j_clark 11:37, 8 September 2013 (UTC)

Wintersmoke
I changed this record from NOVEL to CHAPTERBOOK, and added a SHORTFICTION content record, per ISFDB standards. Mhhutchins 19:16, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
 * thanks --clarkmci / j_clark 08:14, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Kemlo and the Masters of Space
Can you confirm the name of the publisher as credited in this record? The ISFDB records of the earlier books in the series all credit "Thomas Nelson & Sons", which is the ISFDB designation for the UK publisher. Circa 1970, the first books from a US publisher by the name "Thomas Nelson" began. This is either a separate company or the US division of the UK publisher. I was wondering if it would be more convenient to have the publisher credited in your verified record conform with the other volumes in the series in order for them to appear together under the same publisher name. Thanks for looking. Mhhutchins 21:32, 8 August 2013 (UTC)


 * I'll dig it out & check. (Might take a while - my acquisitions have overflowed my system, yet again :-( :-) ) --clarkmci / j_clark 22:59, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Sourcing OCLC and other outside databases
When you get a chance, please read the message I posted on the Moderator's Noticeboard about the standard entry format for sourcing outside databases. I've noticed that you're using the incorrect format "OCLC Number: xxxxxxx". Thanks. Mhhutchins 23:01, 18 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks for spotting this. If I understand the examples in here correctly, I would meet the 2nd pattern of the four, if I just remove the string " Number" from my pattern. Yes? --clarkmci / j_clark 00:22, 19 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Yes, just remove the "Number" and close the space, having the colon directly after "OCLC". Thanks. Mhhutchins 19:43, 19 September 2013 (UTC)


 * I presume it is OK to include target="_blank", so that a click opens the link on a new tab, like the "Other Sites" links on the left hand side do? (i.e.


 * OCLC: 12345678 )


 * I find it easier to check things when I'm working towards verification, if it gives a new tab. --clarkmci / j_clark 00:22, 19 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Using the "target="_blank" means that the links entered by you do not act like the links entered by all other editors. The principle of "least surprise" includes the idea that the system should not act in some places in ways that surprise a user, e.g. because it acts differently every where else. Chavey 03:25, 19 September 2013 (UTC)


 * Clicking on an author website or wikipedia page, a title's wikipedia page (& presumably web page), the "Other Sites" down the left-hand side when viewing a publication, and the Upload cover scan link, they all now end up in a new tab. So _I_ am now surprised when a Worldcat link within a publication's Notes doesn't. Perhaps opening-in-a-new-tab could be considered as the new convention for editor entered links? What do you think? --clarkmci / j_clark 03:45, 19 September 2013 (UTC)


 * If that standard had been established years ago, I would have gone for it wholeheartedly. But because 99% of the current links in Note fields don't open a new tab, it would be, in my opinion, somewhat surprising when a user stumbles across one that does. If there could be a universal change that would update all of the Note links in the database, I'd go for that as well. But I don't know if that's even possible. Perhaps it might be an interesting discussion to start on one of the community pages. Mhhutchins 19:43, 19 September 2013 (UTC)

Entering CHAPTERBOOK records in series
I'm cleaning up this script which finds CHAPTERBOOKS which have been entered into series. It is ISFDB standard to enter only the SHORTFICTION record into a series. (See this latest clarification of the standards.)

I've discovered quite a number of the records on the list are Australian publications and many of those have been primary verified by you. When you have a chance, please look over the results of the script, and if they are your primary-verified publication records (or those you entered) please remove the series data from the CHAPTERBOOK title records and move it to the SHORTFICTION records. Thanks. Mhhutchins 19:05, 8 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I see that the After Dark series has been entered as both a title series and a publication series. It would seem to be more of a publication series, IMO, unless all of the books share a common setting or characters. If that is the case, the SHORTFICTION records can be entered into a title series, but not the CHAPERBOOK records. Thanks. Mhhutchins 19:23, 8 November 2013 (UTC)


 * In this list of the Bottlesnikes and Grumbles series, you can see that the titles appear twice. First as a CHAPTERBOOK and then as SHORTFICTION. Removing the series data from the CHAPTERBOOK records will solve the duplication problem. Mhhutchins 19:26, 8 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I have removed the series data from the After Dark and Bottlesnikes series. This did not affect your verified pub records. In a few days, I'll start removing series data from those CHAPTERBOOK records which still contain it. Again, this will not affect your verified publication records, only the title records. In these cases, the series data will be lost, because I will not be updating the SHORTFICTION records which are contained in your verified publication records. I'm hoping this will give you a chance to transfer the series data before I start the clean-up project. Here are the series which will be affected:


 * Arkies
 * Australian Gnomes
 * Ben and Tim's Magical Misadventures
 * Creepers / TINOTS, The International Network Of The Supernatural
 * Emily Eyefinger
 * Gibblewort the Goblin
 * Jack
 * Jake and Pete
 * Kumiko
 * Miriam Aster
 * Shapeshifter (Fiona McIntosh)
 * Space Sports
 * Storytelling Charms / Fairy Realm
 * Tania and Troy
 * The Adventures of K9
 * The Sorcerer's Tower
 * The Sunken Kingdom
 * The Windmill Trilogy
 * Wicked Missions
 * Wolf Kingdom


 * Thanks. Mhhutchins 02:04, 16 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Pity I missed the discussion on this issue, 'cos I would have argued that a lot of these are junior novels rather than chapbooks. Most readers of this type of book would consider the book as the unit of fiction, rather than the single shortfiction content. For most of them (junior novels/ chapter books), it is extremely rare that the shortfiction would appear in an anthology. Of the many junior chapter books I've entered, I can only think of one or 2 that appeared in a collection or anthology; none in junior chapter book series.


 * Further, for many junior chapter books, the accompanying illustrations are part of the reading experience, so the series is the text-plus-interior-art not just the text. Bottersnikes & Gumbles is particularly relevant example. Australian Gnomes is another example.


 * Also, I feel it looks odd to see a not-in-a-series list of CHAPTERBOOKS on an authors page, with the series information not visible until one scrolls down.


 * I've just had a look at the Debbie Dadey page to see how the 90-odd Bailey St Kids & spin-off chapter books looked displayed as a list of not-in-a-series CHAPTERBOOKS, followed, after several scroll-downs, then the several SHORTFICTION series & find that these junior chapter books have been entered as novels. Hey Ho, off to change all my junior-chapter-books-in-series to novels-in-series! --clarkmci / j_clark 04:13, 16 November 2013 (UTC)


 * re "After Dark". These were entered before we had a Publisher's Series field. Although, thinking about it, a lot of our anthologies-in-series are really publisher's series (eg Best of ...) - the stories in the series of "Best of" anthologies certainly don't have common characters. What do you think? --clarkmci / j_clark 04:13, 16 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Later, Wicked Missions - I don't know this series, but own up to all the others. --clarkmci / j_clark 04:19, 16 November 2013 (UTC)


 * You've always had the option to make a "junior novel" into a NOVEL type. Nothing in the rules (that I'm aware of) actually requires you to make them CHAPTERBOOKS. (I see plenty of such records typed as NOVEL in the database.) But once they've been typed that way, they have to follow the standards for CHAPTERBOOKS. Feel free to change the types of these works. That would require deleting the SHORTFICTION content record.


 * About whether certain anthology title series should have been typed as publication series, I see your point. But for the most part, I believe those series of annual "Best of" anthologies and anthology series like Universe and New Dimensions  should remain as title series, because otherwise they would only be displayed on the editor's summary page mixed in with all of his other anthologies.  And as you have pointed out, the publication series function hasn't always been with us. So in cases where in the past a work had been entered into a title series, but is actually part of a true publication series, I've made the corrections. If you run across any of these cases, don't hesitate to change them. A question to ask yourself before doing so, if this work were (or will be) republished in later years would it remain in the same series? It's one I ask myself when making such a decision. If Dozois's annuals were reprinted in 2113 by another publisher would they still be part of the same title series? I believe they would. Also, nothing prevents a title from being in two different publication series. Look at this one. In Australia it was part of the "After Dark" series, but in the US it's part of the "Shade Books" series. It was wrong to have these CHAPTERBOOK titles in the "After Dark" series, so I had no problem in removing them.


 * As to whether your input at the time of the original discussion would have affected its outcome, perhaps it would have. I see you started here only a couple of months after I did, so you probably had the same opportunity to affect the standards as I did. Even so, I can assure you that I've been at the losing end of several discussions over standards, but once the majority have come to a decision, I "go with the flow". Thanks. Mhhutchins 16:14, 16 November 2013 (UTC)


 * re After Dark: I don't have too much problem with them being taken out of a series if CHAPTERBOOK series is now deprecated, although it's ironic that another user, some time back, suggested I change them to one story anthologies (see above "Gary Crew's chapterbooks").


 * re junior novels: I've been entering then as CHAPTERBOOKS, because I've had a (junior) NOVEL less than 100pp changed to a CHAPTERBOOK (see above also - though possibly the decision was more re consistency than length per se?) Anyway, for all but 2 of "my" chapter book series listed above, I have no problem with converting them to novels flagged as "jvn". The knotty ones are:


 * 1. "Miriam Aster" series. These are actually adult novellas/chapbooks & published as such IIRC. The knot is that one of the books was short-listed twice for Novel awards! So is it a "NOVEL" series, a "CHAPTERBOOK" series or a "SHORTFICTION" series? (They are from a small press. I don't think they would be re-printed in an anthology, though might end up in an omnibus/collection.) What do you think? --clarkmci / j_clark 22:28, 16 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Since there's no such thing as a CHAPTERBOOK series, that leaves NOVEL and SHORTFICTION. Nothing in the standards establishes that a determining factor in typing a publication as a CHAPTERBOOK is its qualifying for reprint in a larger work. Also, the ISFDB doesn't use the category a work was placed in for an award consideration to determine its designated length. This is based solely on word count, although it's certain that exceptions have been made, and you have that option here. There are two choices: 1) change the publication records to NOVEL, remove and delete the SHORTFICTION content record, and change the CHAPTERBOOK title record to NOVEL, retaining the series data, or 2) leave the publication records as CHAPTERBOOK, retain the SHORTFICTION content, and move the series data from the CHAPTERBOOK title record to the SHORTFICTION title record. Mhhutchins 05:48, 17 November 2013 (UTC)


 * 2. "The Adventures of K9" books are even younger in approach than juvenile chapter books; they are Picture Books. The interior art as well as the text is part of the reading experience. It would be extremely unlikely that just the text would be published in an anthology. I think these should stay as a CHAPTERBOOK series, otherwise the art needs to be added to the series, giving a mixed series of shortfiction & interiorart with the same titles. (Haven't tried art in series so don't know how it would display.)  May the topic of CHAPTERBOOK series be re-opened for further discussion? --clarkmci / j_clark 22:28, 16 November 2013 (UTC)


 * All topics are always open for discussion. The problem here is the work it would take to make changes to thousands of records, and requiring multi-step submissions for each one. Still, feel free to start a new discussion on the matter. As for picture books, I personally don't understand why they're even in the db, but again, that was something decided before either of us came here. It is perfectly OK to create separate content records in such publications: one for the text as a SHORTFICTION record, and one for the pictures as an INTERIORART record. That has been done for hundreds (maybe thousands) of records in the db. As for how to handle series, again, the current standard is to place only the SHORTFICTION record into a series, because CHAPTERBOOK records represent the publication and not the work (i.e. the title). The software currently can't handle INTERIORART or COVER series. (If you try it, you'll see they don't display correctly on an artist's summary page.) I believe someone in the past requested such a feature, but I'm not sure, and I don't think it's been discussed. Mhhutchins 05:48, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

[unindent] Still waiting for your decision to change these juvenile novels into NOVEL records and remove the SHORTFICTION content or to keep them as CHAPTERBOOK records and move the series data from the CHAPTERBOOK title record to the SHORTFICTION title record. Thanks. Mhhutchins 02:16, 23 November 2013 (UTC)


 * I plan to change most of them into novels. (Real Life has intruded.) --clarkmci / j_clark 06:20, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

Across the Nightingale Floor
I added notes to Across the Nightingale Floor. Bob 20:46, 10 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you. --clarkmci / j_clark 00:00, 12 November 2013 (UTC)

CHAPTERBOOKS without a contained SHORTFICTION record
Working on this clean-up script, I left those primary verified records of yours which are missing a SHORTFICTON content record. Please add one when you get a chance. Thanks. Mhhutchins 04:01, 12 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Have done all that were on the list in mid November. --clarkmci / j_clark 06:21, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

Yesterday's Men - Turner
Added panoramic scan to Yesterday's Men.SFJuggler 03:47, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

The Immorality Engine
Added cover artist credit (and associated note) to your verified based on the The Steampunk Bible (Abrams Image, 2011). -- JLaTondre (talk) 23:05, 29 November 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you. --clarkmci / j_clark 06:22, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

Misaligned ISBN
Can you check to see if the ISBN-13 is given in this book? Thanks. Mhhutchins 07:51, 3 February 2014 (UTC)