Publications accepted on BB

I have encountered a couple of comic book submissions. Currently it is not possible to categorise them by Type, so I am wondering if BB accepts them at all.

This is one example: https://bookbrainz.org/work/cb9ae2ff-bc0f-4f21-864d-4afe5e58f2c5

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If you have a look at the relation list, you will find “inked”, “couloured” and “pencilled” where comics are mentioned in the description. So the answer is: Yes.

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Thanks.

It would be helpful to have a Comic Book Type, because there is nothing on the list that adequately describes this form of publication.

It would also be helpful to have a list of acceptable publications somewhere in the guidelines. I have come across user manuals, comic books, graphic novels and I have wondered if these belong on BB.

Theoretically, someone could submit anything that has a written word on it.

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I would love to see someone submit their package of cereals!

I’m not sure about user manuals, but I’d assume at least all the others do belong, as do scientific papers and probably even letters (I mean, if a book of collected letters belongs, you’d expect a letter on its own would too?)

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You haven’t lived. There was user on Bookogs that was submitting IKEA catalogues and other rubbish. Unless there is a rule that forbids certain publications then the field is wide open.

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I’m lurking from the MB side - but wanted to mention that I love that kind of weird stuff :joy:

Only if it’s entered correctly and it’s clear what it is of course.

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To be fair, IKEA catalog metadata might be very useful for a researcher in 2500 who wants to see how people bought furniture back in 2000! (If we manage not to go extinct before 2500 that is…)

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Each to his own. Some people have a fascination for telephone books, IMO this sort of material doesn’t equate to literature.

There are sites where you can list all sorts of things like that, e.g. toe nail clipping collections, belly button fluff collections. IMO that’s where ephemera like product brochures belong, not amongst books, magazines, etc. However, I am just a lone voice.

Other publications that were listed on Bookogs included sheet music, theatre programmes, user manuals, etc. I just wonder if these are the type of publications BB wants?

Based off MB discussion history, what pops up every few years, it would actually be good for BB to be quite clear about this from the get go.

" BookBrainz is a project to create an online database of information about every single book, magazine, journal and other publication ever written"

This reads like it really is ‘anything’ with written material, literature or no - but it’s not fair to let someone enter their collection of 10k IKEA manuals and then decide later that they’re not allowed.

Having worked in a Library I also know that inevitably some overworked Librarian will be desperately to order the series from this new and intriguing Swedish mystery author. I really do love that stuff haha

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It certainly does! There is already a user manual in the DB: Dell Poweredge 4300 Systems User’s Guide (Edition) – BookBrainz

I take it that some people feel that IKEA catalogues have some intrinsic value. No doubt there is someone that feels equally passionate about ALDI weekly catalogues.

How about the 1,000 letters that Uncle Bob wrote to his sweetheart Rose back in the 1950s?

Add to that foldable maps, timetables, newspapers, spare parts catalogues, handbooks, high school year books, user manuals (ranging from multiple page documents to a leaflet explaining how to change the batteries in a flash light), the list goes on and on.

On a serious note, how about audiobooks?

Unless it is open slather, then some parameters need to be set.

Audiobooks are currently on MusicBrainz, not sure whether BookBrainz would like to deal with them in some way or not, but that’s certainly an interesting discussion to have :slight_smile:

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How about linking the book in BB to the audiobook in MB?

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That is exactly what we can already do, through identifiers.
Editors can add a MusicBrainz ID identifier for authors, works, edition (-> MB release) and publisher (-> MB Label).
Similarly, we can add a BookBrainz identifier in MusicBrainz entities:

As an example, Sir Terry Pratchett:
https://bookbrainz.org/creator/7638da5d-7175-41da-b6bc-493cfcc92839

It works pretty well as is, but might need some reviewing once it is properly used and we run into thorny cases.

For example, do we want to create an edition entity on BB to link to the audiobook on MB (an example of that here*), or do we rather want to link the BB work entity to the MB audiobook, like it’s been done for The Martian?

*In the Transformers case, there is a physical book accompanied by an audiobook cassette. It looks like the Prime example (pun intended) of having an physical edition on BB and an audiobook on MB.
However, what if there is just an audiobook and no book? Do we then create an audiobook edition that will link to the MB release, thus somewhat duplicating the data?

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If an “audiobook” is not based on an existing book I wouldn’t call it “audiobook” and keep it separate in MB.

I assume most audiobooks are based on a specific book (work) but some might not be based on a specific printed and published edition.

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They do exist: Editions of The Starling Project by Jeffery Deaver

I’m fairly certain I came across a Work in the DB the other day that was for an audiobook only release. I can’t remember the title at the moment.

You could call a movie an audible and watchable book with the same reason as your example is called an audible book :wink:

An audiobook has a particular form. Try following the plot of a movie with your eyes closed😌

Maybe you are confusing the terms audio (sound, especially when recorded, transmitted, or reproduced) and audible (can be heard).

Audible is an online audiobook and podcast platform owned by Amazon where you can purchase audiobooks: https://www.audible.com

This is tricky. The only form I can see is that it is called “audiobook”.
There are books that consists of interviews that are written down. If you release a recording of these interviews would this be an audiobook?
Any recorded radio documentation or radio play could be classified as audiobook (some of them exist in printed form and others not).
For me, the only think to differentiate with some safety is the media it is presented in/on. Movies to movie db, audios to MB and printed or E-books to BB. Of course there also Mixed Media that has to be represented in more than one db.

I’m not an authority on the usage of the term audiobook, but that is the usual name given to a recording of a book or other work being read out loud.

I have never seen a radio play classified as an audiobook, but never say never.

The consensus might be to only list audiobooks on MB, but I know that a sizeable quantity of audiobooks were submitted to Bookogs, and Goodreads includes audiobooks along with all other book formats. I am not saying that is the right way to go, but some consideration needs to be given as to how BB deals with audiobooks.

P.S. I think my language style is confusing you. All I was trying to say is that an audiobook is not the same as a movie.