Primus Pilus Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Based on previous recommendations by DanM... In order to facilitate changes in our current 'library' of Roman books, we need to come up with some systems to help bring the plan together. First off, the current program which we use will not be able to provide the sort of in depth database that we will need. We haven't really even discussed this with Moonlapse yet, as he is hard at work revising our wallmap, but we will need a new program which can handle organizing entries by several categories, sub categories and of course being fully searchable. And to make sure we have more heads involved we'd like to have the ability for our own community members to make entries into the system. Regardless, thats just to give an idea of the challenge ahead. What we'd like to get for the time being is a list of main header categories for the collection. For now we will stick with Roman, but assuming that it will be a successful and useful tool we will try to expand it into other cultures and time periods. You may be thinking... but there is already a database, even if limited, at such places as amazon or bn.com. Yes, in a way, our database will mirror that of the online booksellers but will also include titles not readily available there. More importantly though, if you go to amazon.com and search for books about 'Roman Religion' your results may be all over the map because the database they use is far too generic in nature and not designed for such specific searches. This has been very frustrating to me personally and we hope that people can use our library to find specific and extremely relevant books in certain categories then make their own choices on where to buy it or find it in a physical library. With all that being said... the point of this post. I'd like to get some suggestions for both main and potential sub categories. While it may be some time before we are ready to get going on this, we would rather go in with some preparation than trying to make alot of decisions on the fly. Obviously the top Category will be Roman so as to allow for additional topics in the future without reinventing the wheel. After that though the whole thing is pretty wide open. Right now we have Fiction, Non-fiction, Movies and Games in our book section and this need to be expanded. Movies/TV and Games can stay, but perhaps documentaries shoud be added. Obviously Fiction and Non-Fiction are completely inadequate and we will need to have more descriptive and organized topic categories perhaps like Culture, Religion, Warfare, Republic (early and late), Empire (early and late), Biographies (or famous people, emperors, icons, whatever), Atlases, Ancient Sources, Fiction categories for time periods or styles liek mysteries that are quite a popular genre, etc. etc. Consider, what would make this something you would use. As of right now we want the actual entries to be simple: Title, Author, Category and subcategories and perhaps a short description. We will essentially provide the categorized list and once the list is there, its up to the searcher to determine which to 'buy' and where to find more information. Of course our own expanding list of featured reviews will continue to provide help in this regard, but as there will be thousands of entries, we can't review them all Anyway, this is my extremely long winded way of saying that your feedback and ideas are greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursus Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 Roman Books I. Non-Fiction 1. Biographies 2. History and politics a. Republic b. Empire 3.Military and Warfare 4. Religion, Mythology and Philosophy 5. Latin and its literature (including translations and textbooks) 6. Geography and Atlases 7. Economy and Trade 8. Everyday Life and Culture II. Fiction 1. historical fiction 2. adventure 3. mystery 4. alternate history 5 etc. etc. etc. III. Media 1) Computer Games 2) Board games 3) DVD/VHS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted December 6, 2005 Report Share Posted December 6, 2005 What Ursus said, except maybe to simplify the first section somewhat I. Non-Fiction 1. History and politics ____a. Republic ____b. Empire 2. Military and Warfare 3. Philosophy and Science 4. Latin and its literature (including translations and textbooks) 5. Geography and Atlases 6. Economy and Trade 7. Art, Architecture, and Culture This seems a bit simpler to navigate. Biographies can be split up among the other sections (e.g., a biography of Caesar under history, of Augustine under philosophy, of Catullus under Latin). Also, mythological works fall under literature pretty well, and religion could be put under philosophy or culture as appropriate. I tested this scheme on my own collection of books, and it worked without a hitch. (What's *really* weird is that the order of my collection is almost identical to Ursus' scheme!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted December 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 We think we have a solution that won't be a nightmare to create. With the holiday season approaching it might take a bit to implement but hopefully it won't be long. Also just bumping this as a reminder that more suggestions are appreciated. DanM, you are conspicuously absent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Favonius Cornelius Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 My only suggestion is don't blend Republican and Empire history into one lump. Ursus' section I should be for instance all contained therein for the Republic, II the Empire with the same sections, III Fiction and IV media. There is just too much content to lump them together, and have distinct differences that should be noted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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