Sonny Software

Hello, all! I have encountered some unexpected behavior while using the SBLHS2 format. Specifically, in the Formatted Reference pane, records of the Book Chapter type are displayed inconsistently. Some are displayed correctly as chapters in edited books; some are displayed incorrectly and seem to be using the Journal Article template. If I output a bibliography to the Bibliography Window, or scan a document with footnotes, the resulting output appears to be perfectly fine; all of the records act the same way. It’s only in the Formatted Reference pane where I see a difference. And it is only with SBLHS2. With Chicago 17th A or any other format, I get exactly what I expect and the chapters’ references look exactly the same in the Formatted Reference pane.

I don’t understand the format coding/patterns well enough to troubleshoot this. I can’t see any difference between the entries in terms of which fields are filled in, etc. This happens with multiple entries, and I cannot predict which ones will display in the Formatted Reference pane as chapters in edited books and which will display like journal articles. Some of the Book Chapter entries were created by starting with an Edited Book entry and using the Duplicate as Book Chapter menu item. Others were imported from a RIS export from an online database. For one of the “offending” entries, I tried recreating it using Duplicate as Book Chapter (on the Edited Book, of course) and got the same results.

If anyone has a solution for how to get consistent output from SBLHS2 in the Formatted Reference pane for this type of entry, I’d love to hear it. Again, the final output after scanning appears to be correct in all cases, so it’s live-with-able but not preferable.

This one looks good: This one is incorrect:

Before spending any time trying to figure this out, Rebuild the library. If internal database links are mis-wired you can get unexpected results like this.

Jon
Sonny Software

Thank you for that suggestion, Jon. Unfortunately, it did not produce any changes. I also tried the following:

Import into a New Library

1. Created a new library
2. Imported the book using Bookends web search
3. Changed the type to edited book
4. Duplicated as book chapter and edited data

Create in a New Library

1. Created a new library
2. Made a new reference of type edited book
3. Typed in the info by hand
4. Duplicated as book chapter and edited data

In both cases I got the same behavior I previously observed. Color me confused!

Here is just a little bit more information. The behavior isn’t just unexpected, but the exact opposite of what is expected. As the screenshots below illustrate, the Book Chapter entries format properly when they are not linked to their Edited Book; they format improperly when they are linked to their Edited Book.

I see the SBL2 format uses metatypes for Book Section [Book]. This is a powerful feature that lets you mix information from two different sources in one bibliography (or footnote) entry. Please refer to the User Guide (Help menu) and search for "metatypes". Read the description starting on p. 252. It also mentions why the output in the formatted display may not match what you see when you scan.

So your options are to (1) use the format as its author intended (it was contributed by a user), or (2) remove the metatype from the format and create a substitute for Book Chapter.

Jon
Sonny Software