User talk:Gandalf
Welcome!
Hello, Gandalf, 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:
- Help pages
- Field-by-field guide to entering new publications into the database
- Help:Getting Started
- What the ISFDB Wiki is for
- FAQ
- Wiki editing help - Tips on how to use the wiki-specific features when editing wiki pages.
- Wiki Conventions - How things are usually done on this wiki.
- Help:How to upload images to the ISFDB wiki
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! Mhhutchins 14:23, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
Publication submissions
Hi. I have a few of your submissions on hold. In all four cases (two for Atlantis Rising, one for Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, and one for Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt), it looks to me like you're trying to create a publication entry for a single work contained in a magazine or book. Is that true? You can answer here by editing this section: Indent your response by adding a colon (":") to the beginning of the line -- one colon per level of indentation -- and "sign" your response by adding four tildes (~~~~).
Assuming that is the case, what you have submitted will at least need to be reworked. It's also possible some of the submissions may be outside of the scope of what the ISFDB wants to track (see below), I can't quite tell.
- The general comment about all of the submissions is that the ISFDB "publication" is for a physical (or electronic) entity, such as a book or magazine. A publication always contains one or more works, which we represent by "title". We represent the relationship between publications and works as publication "contents". For example, a retail paperback release of a novel might contain just the novel, while an anthology or magazine issue might contain many different pieces. So if "Indians and Aliens" appeared in an issue of Atlantis Rising magazine, we would record the magazine issue at the publication and make one of its content entries be "Indians and Aliens". More on magazines below.
- Also see bullet #4 in ISFDB:Policy#Rules_of_Acquisition, which deals with the inclusion of short non-fiction works (essays, forewords, etc). If the work itself is not about speculative fiction and does not appear in a publication that otherwise qualifies for inclusion, we would not record it, no matter who wrote it. I suspect this might apply to the foreword to the Dunn book, although you are in a better position to judge than I.
Magazines fall into one of two categories: "genre" or "general interest" (a.k.a. "non-genre"). The former is something like Analog, primarily dedicated to things speculative fiction. The latter is something like Atlantic Monthly, dedicated to something non-speculative or to broader literature. We record both types of publications. The major difference is that for genre magazines, we record the entire contents, while for general interest magazines, we record only the speculative fiction content. See Help:Entering non-genre magazines for instructions about the handling of the latter. (We use a similar speculative-fiction-content-only approach to anthologies.) It is ok to enter a genre magazine but to include only the portion of its contents that is known -- a complete set of contents is not required to get a magazine entry going.
Take a look at the above and see what you think. If you tell me more about what those submitted pieces are, I can make some suggestions. Also, you can ask for help anytime at ISFDB:Help_desk, which might get you a faster response than waiting for me and gaps in my holiday schedule. Thanks, and thank you for contributing. --MartyD 12:22, 25 December 2013 (UTC)
- In the absence of any feedback, I'm afraid I am going to have to reject your submissions. I will deal with each in separate sections below. If you return, please feel free to re-submit as you deem appropriate. Thanks. --MartyD 01:53, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
"Indians and Aliens"
Your submitted information:
| Column | Proposed Values | Warnings |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Indians and Aliens | |
| Authors | Arlan Andrews, Sr. | Pseudonym submitted |
| Year | 2011-00-00 | |
| Publisher | Atlantis Rising Magazine | Unknown Publisher |
| Pages | - | |
| Binding | Magazine | Uncommon binding |
| PubType | NONFICTION | |
| Language | English | |
| Isbn | - | |
| Price | - | |
| Artists | - | |
| Image | - | |
| Wikipedia | - | |
| PubSeries | - | |
| PubSeriesNum | - | |
| Note | Atlantis Rising magazine is a bi-monthly publication of Fortean and paranormal articles. | |
| Synopsis | Some Cherokee legends are suggestive of prehistoric extraterrestrial encounters. |
In addition to the general issue I noted above about recording a publication and its contents, it appears this may be a non-fiction article in a non-genre magazine? If that's the case, it would not be eligible for inclusion in the ISFDB. If you tell me more about it, I'll be able to provide better advice. Thanks. --MartyD 01:53, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
"Interstellar Colonization"
Your submitted information:
| Column | Proposed Values | Warnings |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Interstellar Colonization and Multi-Generational Spaceships: Getting There is Half the Fun | |
| Authors | Arlan Andrews, Sr. | Pseudonym submitted |
| Year | 2013-00-00 | |
| Publisher | Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, vol. 66, No. 7/8 | Unknown Publisher |
| Pages | 213-217 | |
| Binding | Journal | Uncommon binding |
| PubType | NONFICTION | |
| Language | English | |
| Isbn | - | |
| Price | - | |
| Artists | - | |
| Image | - | |
| Wikipedia | - | |
| PubSeries | - | |
| PubSeriesNum | - | |
| Note | - | |
| Synopsis | Based on a slide presentation given at the NASA/DARPA 100 Year Space Ship Symposium, Orlando, Florida, 1 September 2011. |
In addition to the general issue I noted above about recording a publication and its contents, it appears this may be a non-fiction article in a non-genre magazine? If that's the case, it would not be eligible for inclusion in the ISFDB. If you tell me more about it, I'll be able to provide better advice. Thanks. --MartyD 01:53, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
"Technology and the Hieroglyphs"
Your original submission:
| Column | Proposed Values | Warnings |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Technology and the Hieroglyphs | |
| Authors | Arlan Andrews, Sr. | Pseudonym submitted |
| Year | 2012-00-00 | |
| Publisher | Atlantis Rising Magazine | Unknown Publisher |
| Pages | - | |
| Binding | - | |
| PubType | NONFICTION | |
| Language | English | |
| Isbn | - | |
| Price | - | |
| Artists | - | |
| Image | - | |
| Wikipedia | - | |
| PubSeries | - | |
| PubSeriesNum | - | |
| Note | - | |
| Synopsis | - |
In addition to the general issue I noted above about recording a publication and its contents, it appears this may be a non-fiction article in a non-genre magazine? If that's the case, it would not be eligible for inclusion in the ISFDB. If you tell me more about it, I'll be able to provide better advice. Thanks. --MartyD 01:53, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
"Shifting Paradigms"
Your original submission:
| Column | Proposed Values | Warnings |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Shifting Paradigms, (foreword to the book, LOST TECHNOLOGIES OF ANCIENT EGYPT) | |
| Authors | Arlan Andrews, Sr. (foreword); Christopher P. Dunn, (the book) | New Author |
| Year | 2010-00-00 | |
| Publisher | Bear & Co. | Unknown Publisher |
| Pages | - | |
| Binding | Trade paperback | Uncommon binding |
| PubType | NONFICTION | |
| Language | English | |
| Isbn | - | |
| Price | - | |
| Artists | - | |
| Image | - | |
| Wikipedia | - | |
| PubSeries | - | |
| PubSeriesNum | - | |
| Note | This piece was also reprinted in Atlantis Rising Magazine, July 2010; in UFO Magazine #157, 2011, in my column, "Arlan's Arcanae"; and in the collection LOST WORLDS OF ANCIENT AMERICA, (New Page Books, 2012) | |
| Synopsis | A foreword and introduction to Chris Dunn's groundbreaking book about his discoveries and analyses of the advanced engineering achievements of ancient Egypt. |
In addition to the general issue I noted above about recording a publication and its contents, it appears this is an introduction to a non-genre book. As such, even though the introduction is by someone we consider "above the threshold", whose complete body of book-length works would be included in the ISFDB, we do not record short non-genre works that appear in publications not eligible for inclusion. Assuming that's the case with this book, the foreword is not something we would record. Please let me know if I have misinterpreted this situation. Thanks. --MartyD 01:53, 11 March 2014 (UTC)
Arlan Andrews Update
I accepted the removal of your birth-year, but declined the addition of www.sigmaforum.org to the webpage field.
- Birth-Year: We try to honor authors' requests to remove birth information. However, we don't have away to prevent data from being entered and we have a number of editors who are diligent in adding author information. You may wish to check back from time to time.
- Webpage: This field is for websites specific to the author. As this is an organization site, it is not really applicable for our uses.
Below, I have copied the comments / questions you left in the note to moderator field:
- 1. Arlan Keith Edwards is not a pseudonym of mine. Where did this come from? 2. You were correct about the four non-fiction, non-genre articles I submitted. Please remove them from the submitted list. 3. I have another short fiction to add: "Foundation and Zombies," (short story), Stupefying Stories Magazine, December 2014 4. Upcoming shortly in ANALOG will be a short story, "In the Mix," and a guest Alternate View column, "The Limits of Belief." 5. Later, TBD, ANALOG will also be publishing the third novella in my "Thaw" and its sequel, "Flow" series, "Fall." 6. "Flow" is on the Hugo ballot as Best Novella of 2014, the decision to be announced at Sasquan, the WorldCon in Spokane, Washington, in August 2015. 6. I did not see a link whereby I could add short fiction.
The note to moderator is designed for adding comments about the specific edit you are submitting. It is to allow an editor to provide clarification, etc. that could remove questions regarding the edit. It is not designed for this type of general questions. In the future, you should use ISFDB:Help desk or ISFDB:Community Portal.
However, here are the answers:
- In ISFDB usage, pseudonym means any alternative name an author was published under. It does not mean a true pseudonym. This is a result of how the software grew to handle issues in published names. In this specific case, the Italian translation of your story Glossolalia is listed as being published under Arlan Keith Edwards. This seems confirmed by [1] and [2]. We enter information as published. When publishers make mistakes in author names, we enter the 'error' and use the pseudonym function to associate to the correct author.
- I assume this is in reference to messages MartyD left you before? If so, they were rejected. If it refers to something else, you will need to provide some context.
- I could not find a December 2014 issue of Stupefying Stories Magazine on their website. It goes from August 2014 to March 2015.
- Analog issues are added when they are released. We have a number of editors that enter magazines and I'm sure it will get entered. However, when the magazine comes out and you wish to enter it, you would click the "Add New Magazine" button and follow the instructions at Help:Screen:NewPub. That said, magazines can be one of the more complicated items to enter so it's not a type I would recommend you starting with.
- See previous answer.
- Congratulations! Someone has already entered the 2015 Hugo information. You can see the nomination listed at the Flow title record.
- Short fiction is not individually added. Instead, publications are added that contain short fiction. If the publication meets our criteria for inclusion, you would use the applicable "Add New ..." publication link and enter all the applicable information (see Help:Screen:NewPub).
I hope that helps. Thanks. -- JLaTondre (talk) 00:09, 27 April 2015 (UTC)
Foudation and Zombies
Hello, I've put your submission on hold. I suppose that you wish to enter this text. Our ROA (here) seems to indicate that your story is not eligible. Have you any additional elements (a "physical" publication, a downloadable option, a nomination?) that can fit in our ROA? Thanks. Hauck 04:18, 15 January 2018 (EST)
- Without reply, I've rejected your submission. Do not hesitate to resubmit (with adequate data) if you feel that your text should be included. Hauck 09:55, 17 January 2018 (EST)
MAGA 2020 & BEYOND
Hello, instead of adding a poorly formed submission that had to be heavily doctored (missing editors, twin ISBN, TITLE IN ALL CAPS, etc...), please simply update the already existing entries here. Note also that it's considered quite auto-centric for a contributor to enter only his own texts in anthologies. Hauck 13:13, 29 January 2018 (EST)
The Great Moon Hoax
Hello,
A few small changes to your recently submitted and approved:
- Added ASIN - as the book does not have an ISBN, it is identifyable by ASIN so I added that.
- "and other" is capitalized: And because it is the first word in the subtitle and Other because we always capitalize the word.
Are you adding a cover? If not, we can link to the Amazon one. And you may want to add a note about the spelling of the author(you got it from the title page which is correct but when it does not match the cover, we add a note to that effect). And I cancelled the second duplicate submission.
If you have any questions, do let me know! Annie 20:14, 22 September 2019 (EDT)