GUI and more fields- a discussion

[Jon]

Yes, I agree, and it's done. The old ISBN field (for book-related Types) will be restored to User4, and a new ISSN/ISBN field will be created.

Jon
Sonny Software

[frvs]

I assume that ISSN means here "ISBN/ISSN"?

For backwards compatibility, I had not planned to map that anywhere else.
Jon
Sonny Software

It is the case that some of us at least will have to move fields about, anyway. For example, I'm using user-defined fields for translator, number of volumes, and reprint edition, so I will have to move data in these fields to the brand-new ones. In such a context, moving ISBN data to a new ISSN field is like a drop in the ocean.... Anyway, MANY THANKS for the dramatic increase in fields, which is most welcome.

[Jon]

Hi frvs,

Yes, ISSN/ISBN will move to a new field (and you can use Global Change -> Move Field to quickly fix your existing db). The old ISBN field will be renamed to User4. I'm leaving Translator where it is. Note that the extra fields are really User5-User16. It's just that many will be assigned default labels -- you can, as always, modify these to taste.

Jon
Sonny Software

[frvs]

Hi frvs,

Note that the extra fields are really User5-User16. It's just that many will be assigned default labels -- you can, as always, modify these to taste.

Jon
Sonny Software

Sounds wonderful—a dream come true.

[Shayne]

Trans Author (Translated Author): If the author's name is in a non-Roman language (e.g. Chinese), you can use this field to enter the translated name.

Trans Title (Translated Title): If the title is in a non-Roman language (e.g. Chinese), you can use this field to enter the translated title.

Jon,

Thanks for considering this whole issue. I post below the point that we already discussed in the hope of getting other CJK user input.

I am not entirely sure of the utility of Translated Author. I suspect you mean transliterated author (Chinese, etc., names are not translated (usually), but transliterated into a roman script). But the author’s name in roman script normally goes in the author field. I think that it would be more useful to have a field dedicated to--and I think this is what you were wanting--Author’s Name in Original Orthography (i.e., non-roman script). But, to be honest, the only time I, for instance, use this (CJK characters for names) is directly after the author’s name in a bibliography. If that is the desired output, Bookends 8 already does that, well, perfectly (Horiike Shunpō 堀池春峰,---this is how I input Asian names with both roman and non-roman scripts in the author fields--it is perfect). The only advantage I can see of having a dedicated author field in non-roman script is if one does not wish to output the non-roman part of the name and therefore wishes to separate the two.

Again, congratulations on the decision to increase the number of fields.

Kindest regards,
Shayne

[Jon]

I found this comment on a web site concerning the "Translated" fields as it pertains to EndNote (http://www.library.uq.edu.au/endnote/unicode8/):

"In EndNote 8 and 9, all reference types have a Translated Author and a Translated Title field. This gives the user the option of storing more than one form of the author and title, and modifying the output style to include that data.

In English-language publications it is common practice to transliterate non-Western data, but the vernacular form is sometimes added in brackets. This is particularly the case with languages like Chinese and Japanese, where a transliterated syllable may correspond to multiple characters in the vernacular. If the EndNote user inputs transliterated data in the Author and Title fields, and stores the vernacular forms in the Translated Author and Translated Title fields, an EndNote output style can be modified to produce output like this" (image follows...)

I DO think that the extra Volume Title field I proposed to add is unnecessary, though. So at the moment, the new fields (for a book) are

Call Num
ISSN/ISBN
Language
Trans Auth
Trans Title
Orig Pub
Reprint Edn
# of Vols
Vol #

The other, existing fields, are

Author
Title
Ser Editors (was Editors)
Volume
Pages
Publisher
City
Short Title
URL
Edition
Translator
Abstract
Keywords
Notes
Plus 4 user-defined fields

I will probably post images of the new look before release for final comments.

Jon
Sonny Software

[ozean]

Excellent - my needs would be covered by this

looking forward to seeing how the interface will evolve to reflect these changes…

[danzac]

Will I be able to put on my resume that I started a forum thread that has been read more than the raison d'etre thread?

[Jon]

To those following this thread, you might want to see and comment on the new thread, GUI sneak peek.

Jon
Sonny Software