Freebase: Discussion about jeff

Periodical: New property for editors?

2009-12-18T23:46:37.0013Z

I think that's the right approach. I went ahead and added the new properties and types, e.g. Periodical editor. On to updating the documentation!

Periodical: New property for editors?

2009-12-17T22:03:39.0013Z

I think this is a reasonable denormalization. As soon as you do it, people are going to want to add Contributing Editors (i.e. senior writers) as well as Editors-in-Chief, so you might as well go whole hog to begin with and include the title in the CVT.

Split column from tv show

2009-12-17T19:48:54.0013Z

Child did write a column for the Boston Globe, although I haven't been able to determine what it was called. It's not the same thing as the TV show, though.

Newspaper: Writers; Are writers also employees?

2009-12-17T19:22:25.0013Z

Editor-wise, I'm rethinking how editors should be modeled (there was a question about editors on the data-modelers mailing list just a week ago, too). I've started a new discussion about that here:http://www.freebase.com/discuss/threads/guid/9202a8c04000641f8000000012e1884d.

Periodical: New property for editors?

2009-12-17T19:18:19.0018Z

The current schema for periodicals calls for editors (and really everybody else involved in the production of a periodical) to be entered using the "employees" property of the Employer type (thereby making all periodicals into employers). One of the problems with this is that a lot of periodicals don't really have employees (student publications, fanzines, a lot of academic journals, to name a few types). A couple people have commented on this recently in various places, and I'd like to fix this. So, I can think of two ways of dealing with this:

A property on Periodical for "Editors" (linking to a CVT with from/to dates)
Or a similar property for "Editorial Staff" or something similar, again linking to a CVT, with from/to dates and job title.

Both would semi-denormalize the employment model, since for professional magazines, the data would be the same. #1 would be less of a denormalization, since "editor" is a significant role for any periodical, and special-casing it, even for professional pubs probably makes sense anyway. #2, while more of a denormalization, allows for more data to be captured for all periodicals.

I'd love to hear any thoughts or other suggestions about this.

Consumer product: Games "based on" existing works (e.g. films)

2009-12-15T23:09:07.0000Z

I thought about using the Adaptation type too...it would require an uncommon if not unusual interpretation of the word "adaptation". The Lego Star Wars games do follow the films' plot line closely, so I suppose it would make sense. Definitely will cotype with Work of Fiction.

Newspaper: Writers; Are writers also employees?

2009-12-15T20:58:40.0005Z

Using the "columnist" type from krsalis's base is a good way to separate columnists from other writers. Any writer (columnist or otherwise) employed by a newspaper can additionally use the Employer relationship.

Newspaper Issue: Newspaper Columnist

2009-12-15T20:38:27.0027Z

That's a nice base -- I hadn't seen that before. It definitely fills a void in the publishing commons.

Newspaper Issue: Newspaper Columnist

2009-12-15T19:52:29.0013Z

Hi Daniel,

The current publishing domain does not have a newspaper column type; however, I've started a Columns base, which may be what you're looking for. It will allow you to type a person as a columnist and then link the columnist to the name of his/her column. You may then link the column name to a syndication / wire service (Hearst Syndication?). Take a look at the Columns base at: http://www.freebase.com/view/user/krsalis/columns .You should go ahead and add New York Cavalcade as a new column and link that to Louis Sobol, the columnist. Please post a note if you have any further questions / suggestions. Thanks.

Chris

jeff: Should be a CVT

2009-12-15T18:13:51.0000Z

Oops! Fixed now, thanks.

Long list nomination: Should be a CVT

2009-12-15T18:13:51.0000Z

Oops! Fixed now, thanks.

Newspaper Issue: Newspaper Columnist

2009-12-15T08:21:30.0018Z

Louis Sobol was a newspaper columnist, Quoting from his New York Times obituary of February 10, 1986:

Louis Sobol, a Broadway columnist for Hearst newspapers for four decades, died yesterday at Roosevelt Hospital after a long illness. He was 90 years old and lived in Manhattan.
Mr. Sobol wrote ''New York Cavalcade,'' a column that was a chronicle of show business in an era when Broadway still was the center of that industry.

It seems to my (very inexperienced) eyes that the Author type hasn't been created with newspaper columnists in mind.

Is there an alternative type that should be used for Newspaper Columnists or should we Author be adjusted to accommodate newspaper columnists?

Consumer product: Games "based on" existing works (e.g. films)

2009-12-15T08:15:39.0013Z

I'd use adaptation: this game is an adaptation of Episodes I-III while this one is an adaptation of Episodes IV - VI, and they're both works of fiction set in the Star Wars Universe (without personally caring "which" Star Wars universe that is, but I appreciate other people might).

I'm not sure that the LEGO theme and the video game series should be the same topic.

jeff: Should be a CVT

2009-12-15T08:05:05.0013Z

I think the Long list nomination type should be a CVT.

Long list nomination: Should be a CVT

2009-12-15T08:05:05.0013Z

I think the Long list nomination type should be a CVT.

Newspaper: Writers; Are writers also employees?

2009-12-15T07:31:44.0018Z

Is there a standard way to add writers to a Newspaper Type?

Should I follow the instructions for Editors?

Should we also follow this methodology for columnists as well?

If I am correct when I say that a writer is someone who from time to time has articles published under their name, while a columnist is employed by the newspaper to produce a regular product, then should we make a distinction with another type?

Consumer product: Games "based on" existing works (e.g. films)

2009-12-15T00:45:51.0005Z

Hi,

How should I use to link a video game that either exists within the realm of or extends that of an existing work, such as a film? For example, I would like to say that the Lego Star Wars game series is derived from the Star Wars films, and is a part of the Star Wars franchise. There are several Franchise types but none pertains to video games. There's also Consumer Product with property Product Line that can probably be used to link books and films and games and toys of the same theme together.

Another possibility is to use Fictional Universe to indicate that a game is defined within a fictional universe. However, some fandoms are quite sensitive about Canon vs. Expanded Universe. Video games can be problematic when it comes to continuity.

Suggestions?

jeff: Employment Tenure...variation of?

2009-12-12T12:02:58.0030Z

I'd really rather not end up with two properties to determine who worked where when: that's just going to make the life of anybody searching for data that much harder. I know it's not perfect, but how about just setting "start end" and "end date" to the year in question?

jeff: Employment Tenure...variation of?

2009-12-12T00:00:05.0004Z

Well, here it is -- not so enlightening after all. The main issue, schema-wise, is that the same problem potentially exists for all types with a date range, and is related to the perennial "circa" problem with single dates.

jeff: Employment Tenure...variation of?

2009-12-11T23:37:39.0047Z

But the admins are always open to suggestions for improvements! The best place to make the suggestion is on the discussion board for the type in question.

On the larger question of known good dates, I'm pretty sure this has come up before. Let me see if I can find the old discussions, in case they shed any light on the issue.

jeff: Employment Tenure...variation of?

2009-12-11T22:47:29.0026Z

Spencer: I thought you were in Toronto? If so, I am in fact planning to be there in February and was going to talk to you about having a Freebase meetup while I'm there. It would probably be during the week starting Feb 8th.

jeff: Employment Tenure...variation of?

2009-12-11T22:38:25.0029Z

welcome to freebase dan~ the pink stuff comes from the schema documentation, which in the case of /people/person is locked with admin permissions so its only possible to improve documentation for types that you've created yourself... frustrating i know, because schema builders don't always properly document things. @workshop - lucky! those guys never seem to travel up to northern Ontario....

jeff: Employment Tenure...variation of?

2009-12-11T22:03:34.0009Z

...could also just name it During.

@ this point I am just getting my feet wet with FB (what's the preferred acronym that avoids confusion with Facebook?); Yesterday I attended the New York Freebase Workshop http://wiki.freebase.com/wiki/Freebase_Workshop_NYC_2009 where I met: Robert Cook, Jamie Taylor, and Will Moffat

Alas, I am currently doing my edits by hand and I am not a possessor of a large data-set with Freebase Potential...@ least not anything obvious, yet.

Here's a new question: Where can I suggest, or edit, the Help Text that displayed when you click on the (?) button...here's a link to a screengrab: http://aviary.com/artists/dme212/creations/freebase_helptext

--Dan

jeff: Employment Tenure...variation of?

2009-12-11T21:34:49.0034Z

i like this idea. we could just hide the property. (cc-ing jeff) do you have much data?

jeff: Employment Tenure...variation of?

2009-12-11T20:45:35.0031Z

Currently, Employment Tenure is defined by two dates that connote the start and end of the tenure. I would like to be able to add supporting data to what is an unknown tenure that would assist future contributors. I suggest that we add a field called KnownToBeInPositionDuring. In this manner I could add a year that I believe someone held a position, but was not necessarily the first, or last, year of their employment. Alternatively we could always resort to the handy-dandy multi-purpose field name that is suitable for just about every occasion: Notes.

Beowulf: co-type as a book?

2009-12-07T23:51:34.0020Z

You're making some good points, and I'm not quite sure how to best address them right now. But I think we might need to reconsider the relationship between books and translations (and therefore between translations and other kinds of works) now that we have so much more data and can see how it's being created and used.

Beowulf: co-type as a book?

2009-12-07T19:13:12.0021Z

hmmm - if a user is using filtered views based on books that won awards (because they aren't a programmer and don't write queries - or don't know to use literature) they won't find it.

It also just seems counter-intuitive for a book award winning work to to not be a book.

What about the 60 or so other Beowulfs currently typed as books - are they all unique books or are many of them also translations?

Beowulf: co-type as a book?

2009-12-07T18:59:20.0006Z

It should show up in queries for awards -- use the award category "subject or discipline" property, and filter for "literature". One of the main reasons translations aren't books is that a Book Edition can only be an edition of one book; if Translations are Books, then the edition has to be an edition of two Books -- the original book and the translation.

There might be a case for making Translations also be Written Works, and delegating "Translator" from "Author"; there was a reason I didn't do it that way, but it might not pertain any more -- I'll have to see if I can find my notes.

Beowulf: co-type as a book?

2009-12-07T01:49:45.0017Z

I would be inclined to type this translation as a book but haven't yet as that seems contrary to the use of the translation type. However, this particular translation has won several book awards but won't show up in any book award queries or views that are book based without adding the book type.

Thoughts from publishing admins or others?