Dear Collecting Hivemind:

I asked awhile ago regarding the best way to track a collection i.e. database vs. excel etc. I decided on excel mostly because I am lazy and can always export a CSV file for later use.

Here is my minor issue . . .

In the process of cataloging, I have stumbled across I14 Swords of the Iron Legion, the Battlesystem Anthology. I count 8 authors listed in the table of contents (oddly in parentheses after their respective section and not in the credits). However, the product's author(s) is one of the fields (if not the most important of the fields) that is necessary. If you were me, and I know you don't want to be, would you include all eight authors in the database field, or would you only credit the editor ("Skip" Williams in the case)? Maybe do something else? Fill me in, please.

I know I am being nitpicky, but I am confident that many of you are more nitpicky than me .

A not very interesting side note- One of the authors listed in I14 (Rick Swan) also wrote the book that I read extensively back in the day regarding RPG's in general, The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games. I loved that book and read it extensively . . . until I discovered Heroic Worlds .

Anyway lemme know what you think.

Nogrod

For me, x=2... I'd use the editor in this case... and no, not nit-picky at all, imho

FWIW, I would probably list something like "various authors" or "multiple authors" and then go to a secondary field to list them out:  that way I could easily sort by author to filter anthology or team-type products in or out.  And I'd still have the authors in the secondary field for text matching later.

But that's just the information architect/knowledge engineer in me talking

grodog wrote:FWIW, I would probably list something like "various authors" or "multiple authors" and then go to a secondary field to list them out:  that way I could easily sort by author to filter anthology or team-type products in or out.

Depends on which query you want to make easier.  Finding "anthology or team-type products" is easier but finding all works by author X is more difficult - now have to check a secondary field if primary author field = "various authors".  Still have to parse secondary field for names, etc.  Maybe better to separate names by a semicolon and then autogenerate a field "number of authors" by counting semicolons in a field.

You can if it will take a lifetime to enter.

I'd probably have "editor" and 'contributing author' and use shorthand.