ISFDB talk:Chapterbooks with No Other Contents

Some observations based on completing the first part
On the whole, the process is pretty simple. There were a few hitches.


 * I discovered that you can't make a collection of poems into a chapterbook, regardless of the size, binding or page count, otherwise it shows up on this list, even if the poems are entered as contents, like this pub. (Bill, was your script only looking for shortfiction contents?) If a chapterbook is only one poem, the type works, like this pub. This follows the ISFDB standard that poetry collections be entered under the COLLECTION type (although I personally disagree with the standard).  A book of one poem therefore is not a collection and can be entered safely as a chapterbook. Mhhutchins 17:23, 23 April 2011 (UTC)


 * A collection of poems can either be a COLLECTION and show up in that section, or a CHAPTERBOOK and show up in that section. There's no functionality to allow a CHAPTERBOOK publication of a COLLECTION title - I guess such could be developed as we cope with MAGAZINE/EDITOR and NONGENRE/NOVEL mismatches. BLongley 18:31, 23 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I came upon a few publications that reprint a single essay, like this pub (I added the essay content, otherwise the script would not have found this, unless it was only looking for missing shortfiction records). Some editors may feel this should be entered as NONFICTION type instead of CHAPTERBOOK, but I disagree.  I believe the NONFICTION type should be reserved for book-length works or collections of essays. By "book-length" I mean similar to the standard we have for designating a single story pub as a CHAPTERBOOK: approximately less than 100 pages and/or previously published as a novella in another publication or designated a novella for an award.  In fact the number of pages could be even lower for the NONFICTION type, but it comes down to pointing at something and saying "That's a book" or "That's an essay". Mhhutchins 17:23, 23 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Again, there's no functionality for NONFICTION/CHAPTERBOOK mismatches. It's either NONFICTION for title and publication, or CHAPTERBOOK for both. BLongley 18:31, 23 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Another question for Bill: would your script find a chapterbook with an interiorart record but not a shortfiction record? The list seemed pretty short at the time you ran it, and I've not found a listed pub that has an interiorart record. Is is possible there are more chapterbooks without a shortfiction content record because they contain interiorart records and the script overlooked them? Mhhutchins 17:23, 23 April 2011 (UTC)


 * The script literally looks for CHAPTERBOOK publications with only a CHAPTERBOOK content record. I can look into a version that spots Chapterbooks with only INTERIORART as well. BLongley 18:31, 23 April 2011 (UTC)


 * It appears there are none, at least in my backup. I'll refresh the lists when this week's backup is available - I think we've managed to correct most in time. BLongley 19:03, 23 April 2011 (UTC)