YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Discuss the historical aspects of magic, including memories, or favorite stories.
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Richard Kaufman
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YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 25th, 2002, 8:00 pm

Graham Nichols has been working on a gigantic project called the Open Genii Index. It is an attempt to create a database/index for all 66 years of Genii. We can only do this with your help! If you have some older issues of Genii and can contribute a little time, here is the link:
http://www.contrast-software.com/genii/genii.php
Thanks so much!
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Dustin Stinett
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Dustin Stinett » December 26th, 2002, 12:04 am

I just did another couple issues. You know, if we all do one or two a week, we'll have this close to done in no time! Only the really early issues would be a problem. C'mon guys, kick in!

Dustin

Van
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Van » December 26th, 2002, 9:07 pm

What format do I use to submit an issue and how detailed info do you want?

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Dustin Stinett
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Dustin Stinett » December 26th, 2002, 10:48 pm

Graham has set up a very nice database entry template to follow at the site:

http://www.contrast-software.com/genii/genii.php

Check some of the finished issues (they are in the green shaded boxes in the index) to get a feel for how to go about entering the data.

Thanks!

Guest

Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » December 27th, 2002, 7:21 pm

I forgot all about this project and will start checking my old Genii's for you and contribute as much as I can thanks for a great idea and will help as much as I can.
Rennie

Guest

Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » December 28th, 2002, 3:05 am

Originally posted by rparcesepe@cs.com:
I forgot all about this project and will start checking my old Genii's for you and contribute as much as I can thanks for a great idea and will help as much as I can.
Rennie
Many thanks Rennie. Your help is much appreciated!

Linds
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Linds » December 29th, 2002, 1:52 am

If just posted half a dozen from the late forties and early fifties. My collection from that time is not complete by any means, but it was interesting to trawl through these old issues again - much of interest.

I'll keep them coming over the next few weeks. Thumbs of the covers are next.

Regards
Linds

Guest

Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » December 29th, 2002, 5:00 am

Originally posted by Lindsay Carroll:
If just posted half a dozen from the late forties and early fifties. My collection from that time is not complete by any means, but it was interesting to trawl through these old issues again - much of interest.

I'll keep them coming over the next few weeks. Thumbs of the covers are next.

Regards
Linds
Lindsay,

You are just the calibre of Genii reader we need. One who is prepared to climb out of the passenger seat and take their turn at the wheel. Many thanks for helping out! It's much appreciated.

best, Graham

Guest

Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » December 29th, 2002, 10:23 am

Originally posted by Dave Egleston:
Mr Nichols:
I sent an email yesteday - I'm in the process of doing some issues from the '30s - But your matrix doen't allow for the way GENII was published then - For instance: Vol. 4 No. 2 is October 1939 - Not Feb. -
Is there a way to change the Vol#?
And a bunch of articles seem to have no author - Do we just credit GENII?

Perfect project for a rainy Sunday -

Dave Egleston
The volume and issue number are entered by the contributor entering their issue into the project, and often bear no relation to the 1 thru 12 you see for any given year. I guess I could re-code the display to show Jan thru Dec instead of the current format if it is found confusing. Heck I'll do it anyway :)

If there is no author credited just put a - please.

Yep. it's soggy here in the UK too.

kind regards, Graham

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Richard Kaufman » December 29th, 2002, 10:50 am

Hey, you folks are the best!
I've just gone over to the index project and had a peek. It's going really well.
Here are some tips if you're going to contribute:
"Genii Speaks" is ALWAYS written by William Larsen, Sr. until his death in 1953 (unless he specifically states that someone else is writing it). After 1953 it is ALWAYS written by William Larsen, Jr. until sometime in early 1990s (can't recall at the moment). Thereafter it is written by Dante Larsen or Erika Larsen.
In other words, even if there is no attribution, it is always written by the editor unless someone notes otherwise for a particular issue.
Also, if there is no by-line for a particular article, then please use the term "Anonymous" instead of stuff like, "None Listed," "Unknown," etc.
Many many thanks!!!
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Dave Egleston » December 29th, 2002, 12:51 pm

Please accept my apologies - I went back and tried to enter Oct 1939 - And it came out OK -

So Far: Oct 1939, Feb 1941, Jan 1940, and Aug 1980

The (problem?) is as I enter the info - I find myself reading the whole article. - Takes about an hour per issue!

Dave

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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » December 29th, 2002, 2:29 pm

Originally posted by Dave Egleston:
Please accept my apologies - I went back and tried to enter Oct 1939 - And it came out OK -

So Far: Oct 1939, Feb 1941, Jan 1940, and Aug 1980

The (problem?) is as I enter the info - I find myself reading the whole article. - Takes about an hour per issue!

Dave
No apology required Dave, I'm glad it worked out OK for you.

I have 50-60 back issues here to enter, and am reading "The Vernon Touch" columns for the first time. These are really GREAT, containing nuggets of practical advice in every issue. I agree, they are very hard to put down. Genii has always been excellent value for money.

Can contributors please check that the page numbers shown in the index are correct against the actual content? I've found a few misprints, and in one case a completely missing article!

Dave Egleston
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Dave Egleston » December 29th, 2002, 4:57 pm

Just Added 4 more - Mar. 41 -Jan. 42 - Feb. 42 -Mar 42

Interesting spelling - As a note to all - I spelt the titles as in the original text -
In Particular: Legerdemain has at least 4 different versions

There are a couple of Authors who have also varied the way they are identified

Dave

Linds
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Linds » December 29th, 2002, 11:10 pm


Originally posted by Dave Egleston
The (problem?) is as I enter the info - I find myself reading the whole article. - Takes about an hour per issue!
Yes, indeed. Those old issues didn't have an issue index: you just have to page through them to list the contents. But to accentuate the positive, I have found some very interesting potential repertoire in the few issues I've keyed so far.

Given Richard's comments, and my own experience with some of the vagaries of mechanical pate-ups, ;) I think I'll continue this way even when entering later issues that are indexed.

Cheers
Linds

Van
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Van » January 1st, 2003, 7:51 pm

Once you enter an issue in the database, how long does it take to become available??

Dave Egleston
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Dave Egleston » January 1st, 2003, 10:39 pm

Finished 1942! What a great way to spend an evening - I love reading about "the old days" and William Larsen wasn't afraid to make his opinion known - He and Mike Kanter (Kanter's Komments) got into a "spitting contest" Even back then, people were worried about what Genii was giving away -(As far as Ads were concerned) and a lot of folks had a real problem with Genii being the magazine of record for S.A.M..
Too bad there wasn't a "Letters to the Editor" section back then - You can only piece together what was going on, from the GENII SPEAKS column

I'll do another year next week

By the way, I found I have 3-4 extra copies from 1942 - If someone needs to round out their collection - contact me and depending on my mood that day - I might send them to you
Dave

Guest

Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » January 2nd, 2003, 4:05 am

Originally posted by Van McGee:
Once you enter an issue in the database, how long does it take to become available??
Once entered, an issue is immediately available.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Richard Kaufman » January 3rd, 2003, 7:10 am

Hi folks, just took another look at the index and am thrilled to see the way it's shaping up. I hope more of you can contribute a few hours to enter a few issues from your collection. We have many issues from the 1980s and 1990s that need to be entered, so even if you have only recent issues, you're help is needed.
I must mention that I hope that people are not using the table of contents at the front of the magazine to enter things. It's a much better idea to turn the pages and enter each item you come to.
Also, PLEASE use "William Larsen, Sr." and "William Larsen, Jr." as the manner of entering their names.
Also, if you see something like Alan Wakeling's "The Magical Traveler," please enter the name of the trick or the country visited: SOMETHING to differentiate it from the other Magical Traveler columns!
Thanks all.
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Jacky Kahan » January 19th, 2004, 4:16 am

Hello,

Anyone knows what happend to the link?

Cheers

Jacky

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Rennie
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Rennie » January 29th, 2004, 7:03 am

Anyone knows what happend to the link?

Ditto
The effect is the important thing, how you achieve is not !!

Guest

Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » July 16th, 2004, 8:25 pm

Has this project been forgotten? I would love to keep it going. I'd like to contribute to this project any way I can.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Richard Kaufman » July 17th, 2004, 7:56 am

The guy running it no longer wanted to pay his server to keep it up, and not enough people were contributing to make it viable.
Which is a real jumbo bummer!
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Guest

Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » July 17th, 2004, 10:41 am

I am more than willing to host the Genii Index on the same sever as The Magic Files if there is any interest. I think it'd be an invaluable resource. Perhaps Graham still has the database backed up and we won't need to re-enter all the previously entered information?

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Richard Kaufman » July 17th, 2004, 6:50 pm

I've e-mailed Graham, perhaps we'll get a reply.
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magicam
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Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby magicam » July 18th, 2004, 12:25 am

Guys, this thread triggered some related but more general thoughts on the topic of data loss on the internet. Rather than shifting the focus of this thread, I posted my thoughts under "The Internet: The High-Acid Paper of the 21st Century?" Hope it's of some interest. Clay

Guest

Re: YOUR HELP NEEDED ON THE GENII INDEX!

Postby Guest » July 18th, 2004, 12:01 pm

After receiving Richard's email I have sent him the required files and data.

As you will see, Richard's original plee for assistance was posted December 2002. After which, well, not a lot happened really. Many liked to use the index, but very few wanted to contribute to the project. Such is human nature I guess. Those who did contribute were very generous with their time and I, for one, salute you!

The general apathy, coupled with problems I had with an unruly business client sharing my server facilities, gave me several issues which prevent me for continuing the hosting.

I apologise for this, and am saddened not to be able to continue with the hosting, especially as I instigated the project. However, heartened that Cameron is willing to accept the baton and carry on to the finishing line, I ask that you will all make time to put mouse to desktop and reward his generosity with your input.

kindest regards,


Graham


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