[bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was browsing Bookshare I saw that...

  • From: "Roger Loran Bailey" <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 14 May 2011 10:40:49 -0400

It is called metaphor, Kim. It is how most anything new is named. The exception in your examples is the Indians. They were not named that metaphorically. It so happens that Columbus really thought he was in India.



_     _      _

"One of the things that is wrong with religion is that it teaches us to be satisfied with answers which are not really answers at all." - Richard Dawkins

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rogerbailey81


The Militant:
http://www.themilitant.com
Pathfinder Press:
http://www.pathfinderpress.com
Granma International:
 http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
----- Original Message ----- From: "Kim Friedman" <kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 1:30 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was browsing Bookshare I saw that...


Roger, I think this using familiar names we are used to is a tendency
when we meet with something we wish to describe. To give a gastronomic
example, artichokes are members of the thistle family. There is a tuber
related to sunflowers which is called Jerusalem artichokes or sunchokes.
This is confusing because the Jerusalem artichoke in no way resembles
the artichoke. In fact one prepares them differently and the cooking
techniques differ. The tomato was once called the love apple. It is in a
completely different species and family from the apple. Native Americans
were called Indians (the thought being that they must have come from
India.) I think this sort of foible besets us all the time. So nu,
Roger. One more aspect of being human these erroneous naming practices
and misidentifications, wouldn't you say? Regards, Kim Friedman.

-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 9:29 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was browsing Bookshare I saw
that...


I consider it a great injustice, but science fiction and fantasy are
lumped
together on Bookshare as one category. There is a history behind that.
At
some point in the past there was very little American fantasy at all. I
may
have the dates wrong, but I think it was in the sixties that the Lord of
the
Rings by Tolkien became popular. A certain publisher -- I forget which
--
decided to cash in on that by publishing a line of fantasy books. It was
a
kind of Tolkien ripoff. Since they did not have a fantasy line before
that
time they had no editor who specialized in the genre, so they assigned
one
they already had to do the job and because they really did not know if
fantasy was going to sell they did not want to create a whole new
department
for it. Their science fiction editor was one Lin Carter and Carter was
assigned to fantasy and it was lumped along with the regular work load
in
with the science fiction. Well, they apparently never did get around to
seperating them even though by now there are a lot more current fantasy
novels on the market than science fiction. It took long enough, though,
that
everyone in the publishing industry started identifying the two genres
together. The fact that Bookshare, bookstores and libraries still lump
them
together is a legacy of that history.
As for the Pern novels, the dragons are a life form native to another
planet, the planet of Pern. They evolved there and are, within the
context
of the novels, considered to be manifestations of the natural universe.
They
are called dragons because when humans arrived on Pern to colonize the
planet those life forms reminded them of dragons of myth. They reminded
them
of mythical dragons because of their physical form and because of
certain
behavioral traits. In most stories in which creatures called dragons
appear
they are assumed to actually be the supernatural dragons of myth. That
is
why, despite the use of the word dragon, the Pern novels are science
fiction. Since most stories that have creatures called dragons in them
are
fantasy people who have not read the Pern novels tend to assume that
they
are fantasy.


_     _      _

"One of the things that is wrong with religion is that it teaches us to
be
satisfied with answers which are not really answers at all." - Richard
Dawkins

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rogerbailey81


The Militant:
http://www.themilitant.com
Pathfinder Press:
http://www.pathfinderpress.com
Granma International:
 http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
----- Original Message ----- From: "Cindy" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 12:04 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was browsing Bookshare I saw

that...


hmm. Thanks, Roger.  I guess it must have been The Girl Who Heard
Dragons (I
always pre-proofed books I submitted, in the days when I began at
bookshare
by submitting. I thought it was fantasy; I can't remember enough about
it to
know why it would have been science fiction, but then maybe it's the
later
books that are science-fiction?
I think, between what Roger has said and what was explained to me
earlier,
I'll be able to tell the difference between fantasy and science fiction;
if
I can't, then I shouldn't be one to identify PQ categories--or are
science
fiction nand fantasy one category? Of if I weren't certain, would I be
able
to ask one of you  to help me decide?  I'd go by the Amazon synopses and

description ofcategory
Cindy

--- On Fri, 5/13/11, Roger Loran Bailey <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Roger Loran Bailey <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was browsing Bookshare I
saw
that...
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Friday, May 13, 2011, 7:15 PM
Here is the difference Cindy. Both
fantasy and science fiction are speculative fiction. That
is, the question is asked, what if ... then .... The premise
following the word if is likely to be a fantastic element.
That which follows the word then is the story. A fantastic
element is a thing, event or being that is outside of our
experience and may not be theoretically possible or even
possible at all. The difference lies in the nature of the
fantastic element or elements. The word science in science
fiction is not there for nothing. Science deals with the
real universe that we find ourselves in. That means that if
the fantastic elements in a story of speculative fiction are
assumed within the context of the story to be manifestations
of the real universe then the story is a science fiction
story. If the fantastic elements are assumed within the
context of the story to be supernatural then you are reading
a fantasy. The difference is profound. It is the difference
between riding an airplane and riding a magic carpet. That
is why -- even though all genres tend to overlap a bit
-- science fiction and fantasy are about as far apart
as any two literary genres can be.


_ _ _

"One of the things that is wrong with religion is that it teaches us
to be satisfied with answers which are not really answers at all." -
Richard Dawkins

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rogerbailey81


The Militant:
http://www.themilitant.com
Pathfinder Press:
http://www.pathfinderpress.com
Granma International:
 http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
----- Original Message ----- From: "Cindy" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 9:51 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was browsing Bookshare I
saw that...


o.k. I, too don't know what a user tag; please explain
Cindy
P.S. I proofed, I think, a long time ago, one of the
dragons of Pern novels, but when I clicked
on my name I only found one I submitted and the synopsis doesn't sound

like the story I vaguely remember. Anyway, I thought the story I read
and series were fantasy, but then I haven't always been able to tell
the difference, though in the receent past, when I wondered about some
books, people explained to me how to tell.
Cindy

--- On Fri, 5/13/11, Roger Loran Bailey <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
wrote:

> From: Roger Loran Bailey <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was
browsing Bookshare I saw that...
> To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Friday, May 13, 2011, 5:09 PM
> I am not familiar with Dragonsdawn,
> but if that is the premise then I would
> expect that that would be another one that would be frequently
> miscategorized as fantasy. With the user tag system,
> though, that could be
> quickly corrected.
>
>
> _ _ _
>
> "One of the things that is wrong with religion is that
it
> teaches us to be
> satisfied with answers which are not really answers
at
> all." - Richard
> Dawkins
>
> Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rogerbailey81
>
>
> The Militant:
> http://www.themilitant.com
> Pathfinder Press:
> http://www.pathfinderpress.com
> Granma International:
> http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kim Friedman"
<kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 7:58 PM
> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was
browsing
> Bookshare I saw
> that...
>
>
> > Hi, Roger, I'd say that people who tag books
should be
> familiar with
> > their content so the information is accurate.
Great
> catch with the
> > McCaffrey books. I don't know if you ever read
> Dragonsdawn, but dragons
> > were genetically modified fire lizards (at least
I
> think that's the
> > premise). Regards, Kim Friedman.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Roger Loran
> > Bailey
> > Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 4:48 PM
> > To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was
> browsing Bookshare I saw
> > that...
> >
> >
> > There is always the danger of vandalism, but it
> appears that at
> > Wikipedia it
> > is removed very quickly. Wikipedia, though, has a
very
> large participant
> >
> > community. I have a watch list there and when I
check
> it I am always
> > hoping
> > to get a chance to delete vandalism, but I notice
that
> when it does
> > happen
> > someone removes it usually within five minutes or
so.
> At least twice,
> > though, I was quick enough to remove it myself.
> Wikipedia is not the
> > model
> > that I am thinking of for Bookshare though. As I
said,
> I am thinking of
> > Open
> > Library as the model. I have never seen a tag
there
> that appeared to be
> > deliberate vandalism and even at Wikipedia the
> deliberate vandalism is
> > only
> > a very small minority of the edits. I do disagree
with
> some of the Open
> > Library tags now and then though. Recently I was
> looking at The Dolphins
> > of
> > Pern by Anne McCaffrey. One of the subject tags
> identified it as a
> > fantasy.
> > Well, a lot of people think the Pern novels are
> fantasy because most of
> > them
> > have the word dragon in the title and dragons are
a
> fantasy trophe. If
> > you
> > actually read the books, though, it will be
apparent
> that they are not
> > fantasy. I improved the Open Library listing by
> removing the fantasy tag
> > and
> > replacing it with a science fiction tag. This
> illustrates the fact that
> > the
> > tagging process is a continuously dynamic thing.
Tags
> that are there one
> > day
> > may be gone the next day and nothing is set in
stone.
> I suppose some
> > people
> > might consider this to be a disadvantage, but it
does
> not strike me as
> > much
> > of one since mistakes can always be made and the
real
> disadvantage would
> > be
> > to be stuck with those mistakes. I do think that
this
> would be a very
> > strong
> > remedy for the problems we have with the
Bookshare
> classification
> > system.
> > Want a subcategory? Add it. Find a book that has
not
> been categorized?
> > Categorize it on the spot.
> >
> >
> > _ _ _
> >
> > "One of the things that is wrong with religion is
that
> it teaches us to
> > be
> > satisfied with answers which are not really
answers at
> all." - Richard
> > Dawkins
> >
> > Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rogerbailey81
> >
> >
> > The Militant:
> > http://www.themilitant.com
> > Pathfinder Press:
> > http://www.pathfinderpress.com
> > Granma International:
> > http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
> > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Regina
Alvarado" <regina.alvarado6@xxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 4:56 PM
> > Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I was
> browsing Bookshare I saw
> >
> > that...
> >
> >
> >>I have seen this. Sometimes I wonder if what
> is put in is true, but it
> >>seems to be, and as you said Roger tags
giving
> incorrect information
> > can be
> >>removed. I like that idea. Scott? Think
> we could someday?
> >> Reggie
> >>
> >>
> --------------------------------------------------
> >> From: "Roger Loran Bailey" <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
> >> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 11:17 AM
> >> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when I
was
> browsing Bookshare I
> >> saw
> >> that...
> >>
> >>> A number of sites have user added tags,
like
> Paperbackswap.com,
> >>> Amazon or
> >>> OpenLibrary.org. Open Library uses them
in a
> way that is closest to
> > what
> >>> I think Bookshare should have. At Open
Library
> they are trying to
> > create
> >>> a page full of bibliographic data for
every
> book that has ever been
> >>> published. So far they have just short of
25
> million listings, most
> > of
> >>> which have been gathered with bots. That
means
> that a lot of that
> >>> bibliographic data is inconsistent or
> incomplete. They, therefore,
> > invite
> >>> anyone who might be browsing their site
to
> improve the entries. It is
> >
> >>> similar to Wikipedia in that respect. One
can
> add a description,
> >>> publishing history, tables of contents,
number
> of pages and so forth.
> > One
> >>> of the things that is editable by users
is
> categorization. They have
> >>> categories of tags already available such
as
> topics, dates, places or
> >
> >>> people mentioned in the book. The user
will
> simply type in the
> > missing
> >>> category and click save. Then on the page
for
> the book that category
> > will
> >>> be displayed. Click that tag and every
book
> that any user has given
> > that
> >>> tag for will appear. When you search the
> entire collection for any
> > key
> >>> word you want, at the bottom of the
results is
> a list of tags that
> >>> various users have given books in your
search
> results. You can then
> >>> narrow your search by clicking any of
those
> tags. I think that would
> > be
> >>> an excellent solution for Bookshare for
both
> the books that have a
> >>> paucity of categorization and for the
paucity
> of categories
> > available.
> >>> Bookshare has a number of categories as
it is,
> but I am sure that you
> > or
> >>> anyone else could think of additional
> categories that would be
> > helpful or
> >>> subcategories within any of these
categories,
> The problem with that,
> >>> though, is that the category structure
would
> become entirely
> > unwieldy.
> >>> With user generated tags, though, as
many
> categories and
> > subcategories as
> >>> you could think of could be added and, if
you
> thought any of them was
> >
> >>> inappropriate, could be removed.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _ _
> _
> >>>
> >>> "One of the things that is wrong with
religion
> is that it teaches us
> >>> to
> >>> be satisfied with answers which are not
really
> answers at all." -
> > Richard
> >>> Dawkins
> >>>
> >>> Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rogerbailey81
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> The Militant:
> >>> http://www.themilitant.com
> >>> Pathfinder Press:
> >>> http://www.pathfinderpress.com
> >>> Granma International:
> >>> http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: "Regina Alvarado" <regina.alvarado6@xxxxxxxxx>
> >>> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 10:34 AM
> >>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So when
I
> was browsing Bookshare I
> > saw
> >>> that...
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> Roger:
> >>>> What is a user added tag? Enlighten
this
> fossil, please. Thanks
> >>>> Curious in Dearborn Heights
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> --------------------------------------------------
> >>>> From: "Roger Loran Bailey" <rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx>
> >>>> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 10:29 AM
> >>>> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: So
when
> I was browsing Bookshare I
> >
> >>>> saw
> >>>> that...
> >>>>
> >>>>> I have noticed that a lot of
publisher
> quality books have a paucity
> >
> >>>>> of
> >>>>> metadata. I wonder if making a
quality
> report with the suggested
> >>>>> categorization would help. By the
way,
> I think this is an
> > additional
> >>>>> argument for my idea of user
added
> tags.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> _ _
> _
> >>>>>
> >>>>> "One of the things that is wrong
with
> religion is that it teaches
> >>>>> us to
> >>>>> be satisfied with answers which
are
> not really answers at all." -
> >>>>> Richard Dawkins
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rogerbailey81
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The Militant:
> >>>>> http://www.themilitant.com
> >>>>> Pathfinder Press:
> >>>>> http://www.pathfinderpress.com
> >>>>> Granma International: http://www.granma.cu/ingles/index.html
> >>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Nat Barrett" <hawaiianstar@xxxxxxxxx>
> >>>>> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>>>> Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 7:16
AM
> >>>>> Subject: [bksvol-discuss] OT: So
when
> I was browsing Bookshare I
> > saw
> >>>>> that...
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Hello,
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I was wondering about something.
And I
> didn't know where else to
> > throw
> >>>>> this out except the volunteer
list.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Anyway, just now I clicked on the
new
> to collection page. I was
> >>>>> surprised to see quite a few
publisher
> quality Harlequin books.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The thing is, I didn't remember
seeing
> them earlier, when I cruised
> >
> >>>>> through the romance category
Thursday
> afternoon.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thinking maybe they were
recently
> added since the date of addition
> > was
> >>>>> 5/13/2011 and where I am it's
only a
> little after 1 a.m. Friday
> > morning
> >>>>> as I type this, I thought maybe
it was
> very recent.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> However, I clicked to browse the
> romance category again, and I was
> >>>>> correct. Those books I saw on the
new
> to collection page were not
> >>>>> listed in the romance category.
In
> fact, when I clicked on one of
> > the
> >>>>> books listed on the new to
collection
> page, they didn't have a
> > category
> >>>>> selected at all. Or at least, not
that
> I saw.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Is this a simple oversight or is
there
> a reason for this? I'm just
> > a
> >>>>> little confused because normally
when
> I want a romance, I look at
> > the
> >>>>> romance category page for new
> additions.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I'll work through this if this is
the
> way. But I'm going to find it
> > a
> >>>>> little more time consuming to
check
> out what's done by Harlequin
> > and
> >>>>> what's a fiction novel with
heavy
> romantic influence. If that makes
> >
> >>>>> sense to everyone. Lol.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thanks for listening to me
ramble,
> >>>>> Natalie
> >>>>> To unsubscribe from this list
send a
> blank Email to
> >>>>> bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>>>> put the word 'unsubscribe' by
itself
> in the subject line. To get a
> >
> >>>>> list of available commands, put
the
> word 'help' by itself in the
> >>>>> subject line.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> __________ Information from ESET
Smart
> Security, version of virus
> >>>>> signature database 6119
(20110513)
> __________
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The message was checked by ESET
Smart
> Security.
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> >>>>>
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> >>>>>
> >>>> To unsubscribe from this list send a
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