User talk:WilmaM

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Welcome!

Hello, WilmaM, and welcome to the ISFDB Wiki! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

Note: Image uploading isn't entirely automated. You're uploading the files to the wiki which will then have to be linked to the database by editing the publication record.

Please be careful in editing publications that have been primary verified by other editors. See Help:How to verify data#Making changes to verified pubs. But if you have a copy of an unverified publication, verifying it can be quite helpful. See Help:How to verify data for detailed information.

I hope you enjoy editing here! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will insert your name and the date. If you need help, check out the community portal, or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! Stonecreek 20:02, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Net Trek

I accepted the submission adding this record to the database, but made the following changes based on ISFDB standards, the help pages to which are linked in the Welcome section above.

  • Changed title from net Trek to Net Trek (We use standard capitalization rules unless it's obvious that the non-capitalization was intentional. All titles should come from the title page and not the cover of the book.)
  • Even though the author field doesn't match the OCLC record, it was left unchanged. So I will wait until you can find your copy to verify the author who is credited on the title page of the publication. (Amazon's author credit is occasionally incorrect, because they may use data that doesn't appear in the book itself.)
  • The publisher field was changed to match the OCLC record. Amazon's publisher credit can be wrong because it often lists the publishing group instead of the actual stated publisher.
  • Page count was changed to that given in the OCLC record. Amazon's page count is seldom correct.
  • Binding was changed from "pb" to "tp". A softcover book over 7 inches (or 18 centimenters) is a trade paperback and should be entered as "tp". Amazon and OCLC give the book as 9.2 inches and 24 centimeters, respectively.
  • The ISBN was changed from "978-0679761860" to "0679761861". The ISBN-13 didn't exist in 1995, and we give the ISBN (10 or 13) which is stated in the publication. (Both Amazon and OCLC give both, with OCLC indicating the ISBN-10 first.)
  • I removed the URL you gave in the image URL field because it was linked to the Amazon sales page, not to the cover image. The image that's displayed on Amazon is of insufficient size and quality to link to the ISFDB record.

Once you have access to your copy, please compare them to the record and make any necessary changes. Thanks for contributing. Mhhutchins 02:48, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

Updating records

I had to reject the submission to update this record because it made no changes to the record. The "Note to Moderator" field should not be used to ask questions or to provide information about the publication (that's added to the "Note" field). It is used to provide further information about the submission which helps the moderator in the decision to accept or reject the submission. Questions and requests for assistance should be asked at the ISFDB:Help desk before making submissions to add or update records.

You stated "NESFA Press website (http://www.nesfa.org/press/Books/Wolfe.htm) confirms the Price as $15.00 but included a sales tax figure of $0.75 bringing the price for this edition to $15.75. I don't know if this is the kind of minutia you guys want to add to the 'base though."

We record much minutia in an ISFDB record, but in this case, it's not relevant, because it is not what we record in an ISFDB record's price field. That field should reflect the price which is printed on the publication itself, which is usually the retail price. When a price isn't printed (as in the case of Plan[e]t Engineering) we can use a reliable secondary source which we note in the record (in this case, the Locus database.) In no instance do we add sales tax to that price. Thanks. Mhhutchins 02:58, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

Mhhutchins -- I'm still learning how things are done here so please bear with me.
For instance I'm not even sure that I'm answering *your* comment to me correctly. Something about the wording on the EDIT pop-up info isn't making sense to me. (Do I use the edit tab to reply or do I use the + tab to reply?) I'll get it right soon though! WilmaM 20:12, 30 March 2014 (UTC)
To respond to this message (and any Wiki posting), click on the "[edit]" link to the right of the message. Enter your response in the dialogue box which opens, starting at the bottom of the previous message. Your message should start with a colon (:) which separates and indents it from the previous message making it easier to follow the discussion. In successive messages, add another colon to the number in the previous message. End your entry with four tildes (~~~~), which will automatically "sign" and date your message. (You've already discovered this "trick".) Then click the "Save page" button. When someone has left a message on your talk page, you will be notified by a highlighted "My Messages" link when you log into the ISFDB. I had placed a "Watch" on this page so that I will be notified when you respond. It is best to keep all discussions on the same page on which it began. (In other words, do not respond on the other person's talk page by starting a new discussion.) Mhhutchins 22:17, 30 March 2014 (UTC)
I've been in your position in the past as I was the Wizard SysOp of the CompuServe Science Fiction Forums back in the late '80's and early '90's and know that "teaching" someone new to the system gets to be really old after a while. Just point me in the direction of the easy stuff and I'll "get it" soon!
Yes, I'll look at the help info in the Welcome message so the "point me" is just a figure of speech. 8-) WilmaM 20:12, 30 March 2014 (UTC)
Thank you for choosing to contribute to the ISFDB as an editor. Adding and updating publication records in the ISFDB is not a simple process. We don't expect all editors to get it right the first time, and we know it may take some time to learn the ins and outs, and all of the tricks. Please be patient with us as we guide you through this process. We will try our best to also be patient, but being human, it may appear that a moderator can be nitpicking, or even overbearing at times. Please be assured that it isn't personal, and we're only trying our best to achieve the quality of data that our users have come to expect. Together we can build a better database. The best piece of advice I can offer is to take some time to read this help page. It has instructions on how to enter each field of a publication record. If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to inquire at the help desk. Again, thank you for becoming a vital part of the ISFDB. Mhhutchins 22:17, 30 March 2014 (UTC)
Thank you for your patience Michael! Your explanation above makes a lot of sense for me! I think what tripped me up the first go round was NOT seeing the EDIT link which does not show when you go to the Message Waiting link. (And I did wonder about using your page to start discussion about this topic but held back thinking "THAT wouldn't be a logical use of the talk page!")
I know how hard it is to get emotions across just by typing so believe me when I say no hard feelings are present! I'm still in the learning curve and hope to be able to make meaningful contributions to the ISFDB as I've been a reader since the early 70's and have almost 4,000 books in my personal library.
In case you are wondering what brought me to ISFDB -- I've recently retired and so I *finally* have time to move my book catalog off of my old FOX database and into something a bit more modern (COLLECTORZ.COM). Updating the catalog is **so** much easier with the resources provided by the ISFDB! WilmaM 22:34, 30 March 2014 (UTC)
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