User talk:Bob the Wikipedian

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Welcome!

Hello, Bob the Wikipedian, 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! Annie 00:22, 16 March 2021 (EDT)

The Duelist, Winter 1994

Hello and welcome again :)

I approved the addition but had to do a few changes:

  • All non-fiction pieces inside of magazines and books are added as ESSAY, NON-FICTION is only to be used as the main title of a non fiction book.
  • IS this magazine genre? Some of these essays read almost as gaming more than speculative fiction? I that is the case, we have slightly different rules and do not add non-genre contents. If most of the magazine IS genre as we define it (speculative fiction and non-fiction related to it, full definition is here).
  • We regularize capitalization. Details here; the Case point
  • For magazines we do not use the series field. You can add that it is #1 in the notes if you want to.
  • Please pick the closest format from here :)
  • I made the yearly record. Ignore that part - it is always done as a second step so no need to worry about it :)

The result is here. If you have any questions, please let me know. Annie 00:29, 16 March 2021 (EDT)

I will keep the second issue on hold until we resolve the questions on the first so I can update the second one accordingly as well. If you cannot figure out how to respond here, there is an edit link on the top of my message. If you cannot see it or it gives you an error, look at the top right and find the Log In link - the Wiki and the DB use the same credentials but maintain separate sessions so you need to login again. If nothing else works, I am also reachable via mail (click on my name and look for "E-mail this user" on the left). :) Annie 00:33, 16 March 2021 (EDT)
I changed the name of the magazine series from to 'The Duelist' to 'Duelist Magazine', because we already have a (novel) series 'The Duelist'.--Dirk P Broer 17:59, 16 March 2021 (EDT)
Thanks, Dirk! Apparently I need to do be a lot more careful late at night :) Annie 18:41, 16 March 2021 (EDT)
I don't know exactly how you handle a magazine that is mostly nonfiction but includes qualifying fiction. These magazines feature a few of the works that were later included in Magic the Gathering anthologies, and the stories included are what I'm most interested in cataloguing here, not so much the articles about gaming. Bob the Wikipedian 19:40, 17 March 2021 (EDT)
As for size, it's 11 x 8.5 inches, with glossy pages, and the binding is similar to the National Geographic magazine. Bob the Wikipedian 19:52, 17 March 2021 (EDT)
In issue 1, the only work of interest is "Duel for Dominia". In issue 2, "Magic: The Gathering: The Dark" and "Mezlok's Challenge". Bob the Wikipedian 19:57, 17 March 2021 (EDT)
The possible sizes are here. 11x8.5 is the standard size for quarto but these are usually saddle-stapled. If it is glued, then I would go for bedsheet (8.5" × 11.25") :)
Being non-fiction is not a problem - as long as it is non-fiction about speculative fiction or about non-fiction about speculative fiction. So fiction about movies, games and so on is not eligible (except under special circumstances) but interviews with writers, reviews, critical materials on genre books, bibliographies and so on are considered genre so in scope. The articles on gaming obviously don't so they are not eligible at all (unless the whole magazine is considered genre - so any article in Analog is always cataloged; non-genre articles in "The New Yorker" are not. Hope this makes sense. See the Speculative fiction definitions and Rules of Acquisition for exact details if you want.
Knowing this - can you look again at issue 1 - does anything else match this description? Based on your answer, I will edit the issue, change it how it needs to look and then come explain what was done and why :) Then I will do it on issue 2 :) Then when you add issue 3, you will know what and how to add. I will be more than happy to just leave the stories as well - we will just add a note that "only genre stories are added; genre non-fiction can be added later" or something to that effect. :) And let me know if you have any questions/concerns. Thanks for adding these and welcome again :) Annie 21:13, 17 March 2021 (EDT)
Yeah, those are the only ones that meet criteria for inclusion here. Knowing I don't need to waste time entering the essays on gameplay is going to save a lot of time going forward! Bob the Wikipedian 14:42, 18 March 2021 (EDT)
Perfect. Let me go cleanup the two issues you added and I will then come back and explain the changes. May take me a bit - in the middle of a project but will be back in a couple of hours. Annie 15:19, 18 March 2021 (EDT)

(unindent) Sorry for the delay - real life intervened. Here is Issue 1. Non-genre magazines have somewhat different rules of adding them. See the complete help page: How to enter non-genre periodicals. The main differences compared to genre magazines:

  • No cover images or Coverart records UNLESS the cover illustrates story/contents we are indexing or is by a well known genre artist.
  • The editors are always added as "Editors of Periodical". In case we know the actual editors and they are genre authors/editors, we add them as co-editors.
  • We index/list only genre content as we define it her in ISFDB (what you had been doing anyway).

The biggest difference between genre and non-genre magazine is how we treat non-genre contents inside of it - for genre magazines we add EVERYTHING regardless if it is is genre or not; for non-genre we only add the genre contents. That is why for Analog we index all the Science fact articles for example regardless if they have any speculative content; while for The New Yorker we index only the stories and relevant articles. The Duelist is like The New Yorker - most of the contents does not belong here. So it is a non-genre magazine and follows the rules for those. Hope this makes sense.

I will approve Issue 2 and fix it the same way. That should make it a lot easier to add these. Let me know if you have any questions and/or concerns. :) Annie 19:00, 19 March 2021 (EDT)

And Issue 2. I fixed the story title (we have series for the short fiction in this game world - so I added it there and cleaned the series from the full title). Let me know if you have questions or something is unclear or if you have any concerns at all :) Annie 19:10, 19 March 2021 (EDT)
We add the individual editors only if they are SF authors/editors. The reason why we use "Editors of XXX" is so we do not fill the DB with every editor out there that happened to print a single story in their magazines. Adding them defeats the idea. So I rejected the two edits. That is why they first issue kept its editor but #2 lost them. I tend not even to add the ones that have a few publications (I will add a major writer but not someone with a couple of stories unless they also edit a genre magazine). Annie 18:06, 20 March 2021 (EDT)

The Duelist, Fall 1994

Hello,

A few changes:

  • Cleaned up the editors - see my previous note. You can add them to the notes if you want but they do not get author credit unless they are known SF authors.
  • We do not use the series number for magazines so I cleaned that up. If you want to indicate that this is issue 3, it needs to be added to the notes
  • excerpts do not get lengths - they are just short fiction.

I also added it to the yearly record (always a second step). The result is here. Question: Is the cover related to the story you added? If not, it will need to be removed. Let me know if you have any questions. Annie 18:12, 20 March 2021 (EDT)

Same question for the cover here and here? I am also cleaning all the editors from the issues I am approving :) Annie 18:19, 20 March 2021 (EDT)
No, the covers aren't related to the stories. Bob the Wikipedian 18:50, 20 March 2021 (EDT)
I will pull them out. The covers are recorded as separate entries only if they are related to the genre contents we are adding OR if they are from a well known genre writer (think Rowena for example). Thanks! And thanks again for adding these to the DB! Annie 19:01, 20 March 2021 (EDT)

Magic: The Gathering: A Fantasy Trading Card Game

Rule books are not eligible unless they contain our type of fiction inside or non-fiction about our type of fiction inside of them or are written by above threshold writers. Anything that will make this eligible? Thanks! Annie 22:07, 21 March 2021 (EDT)

Yes, the introduction is an untitled piece of fiction that later became known as "Worzel's Story". Bob the Wikipedian 10:17, 22 March 2021 (EDT)
If it is untitled, we go with [untitled] or or something like that. I will approve and fix. Annie 13:26, 23 March 2021 (EDT)

Magic: The Gathering: Pocket Player's Guide

This one is a bit weird. The non-fiction part is not eligible. The two stories are. So I converted to anthology (non-fiction usually does not have fiction inside). Also - "Editors of XXX" is only valid for magazines; for books we either list all the editors if known, or add uncredited when we do not know or unknown when we do not know if they are credited. In this case, using uncredited makes the most sense I think but I can change it if you disagree.

The result is here. Let me know if you have any questions :) Annie 22:14, 21 March 2021 (EDT)

Well, the editors are known, so should I add them? Bob the Wikipedian 10:19, 22 March 2021 (EDT)
Yep - if they are referenced on the title page. Annie 10:36, 22 March 2021 (EDT)
They're on the credits page page 5 of this file following the title page and copyright page. The title page oddly only shows the illustrator's name. Bob the Wikipedian 16:33, 22 March 2021 (EDT)
If this is an essay, it is not eligible for addition. Only fiction will be eligible from these guides. Unless it is an essay about the fiction as opposed to the game. Can you clarify? Annie 13:25, 23 March 2021 (EDT)
It is an essay about the fiction, not about the game. Bob the Wikipedian 17:57, 23 March 2021 (EDT)
To clarify, it explains the "science" of the Multiverse and planeswalking, concepts that are needed to understand the story, but not relevant to the game at all. Bob the Wikipedian 18:03, 23 March 2021 (EDT)
Then it is non-fiction about the fiction so it is in. I will add a note. Annie 18:08, 23 March 2021 (EDT)
Done. Feel free to edit if you prefer different wording. Thanks for the patience about all these :) Annie 18:17, 23 March 2021 (EDT)
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