Getting CMS 15th details right...

[Platonist]

Hello All,

I am having some trouble getting the Chicago 15th style to work. I am using the reference list style (author-date) as listed in the CMS for my dissertation and my advisor (and program) wants everything 'just-so'. The Chicago 15th B works pretty well in Bookends, and I like the idea of having the database for my citations. However, I cannot seem to get some of the details to come out properly. For instance, I run into problems when:

- there is a volume but no issue, which means the citation would need a colon directly after the volume number and no space between that colon and the page numbers

and

- there is an issue with no volume, which would need a comma after the title of the journal and a "no." before the issue number.

For more on these issues, see the CMS 17.162-169. I know there is a similar post regarding issue numbers but this seems to me (perhaps wrongly) different. I very much want Bookends to work -- any thoughts on how to make this work? Being a neophyte I could be missing something, so feel encouraged to point that out as well.

Many thanks in advance.

[Jon]

It would be helpful if you could provide examples. FWIW, I've added the ability to use the binding punctuation (~~) with Issue, which may help here. But perhaps not, it's hard to say without concrete examples.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Platonist]

Sorry for the delay -- end of term grading can take a while!

Here are some examples:

Bookends:
Wallace, R. Jay. 1999. Three conceptions of rational agency. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 2 217-242.

Should be:
Wallace, R. Jay. 1999. Three conceptions of rational agency. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 2: 217-242.

Most of the problems surround how the issue is handled, methinks. When the issue is present, the colon and spacing is handled one way, when there is only a volume the colon and spacing are handled another way, etc...

Any thoughts on a permanent fix to handle the various ways this can pan out?

[Jon]

That's only one example, you mentioned several different scenarios. I'm not sure if Bookends can do what you want or not, because I'm unclear as to exactly how many variations need to be handled. Basically, it's usually not hard to have Bookends show/hide punctuation when fields are present/missing. But it is not possible to have Bookends rearrange the order of the elements based on missing fields. For that, you need to create your own Type (e.g. article with issue, article without issue).

Jon
Sonny Software

[Platonist]

I took your advice and started playing around with creating my own Types, and it seems to be working -- thanks for the suggestion! I have been editing the Types in the CMS 15thB, but I read in the User Guide that when updating Bookends I have to move my custom Formats to another place in order for them to survive the update. Does this apply to Types as well? I have been working on these things for a while and I would hate to lose them!

[Jon]

Hi,

The Types are stored in Bookends Preferences, so they won't be affected by updates. BTW, you don't need to move custom formats yourself as long as you created them with the Add button -- Bookends does that for you. It's only if you edit an existing format that you would have to move it yourself.

Jon
Sonny Software

[ozean]

Just as a sidenote – if you find that one of the existing types can/should be improved it would nonetheless be a good idea to either just send the improved style to Jon so that he can include it in the next distribution, or (if you are not 100% sure that your editing is an improvement for everyone) you post your changes here for us to discuss and scrutinize and decide if it should be included in the release or not.

That way you will help others using the style, too

[Platonist]

I am more than willing to post my attempts at editing the Types. What is the most efficient way of posting this sort of thing? Should I post the order or what?

[sinjin]

I had the same problem. I think the "Primary Order" code for "Journal article" is wrong. Try this:

Code: Select all

a. d. t. f v|~ (~i~)~|~:~p-`.`

Hope that helps, worked for me.