Organization of Bantam Docs

[Victor De Long]

Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order? For 25
years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues in
original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and omnibuses
(omnibi?) separately. Now that I've moved and am setting up the new library
I was just curious how others do it.

[Kent Allard]

Post by Victor De Long
Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order? For 25
years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues in
original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and omnibuses
(omnibi?) separately. Now that I've moved and am setting up the new library
I was just curious how others do it.

Bantam publication order. I never read them in any particular order anyway...

[Anim8rFSK]

Post by Victor De Long
Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order? For 25
years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues in
original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and omnibuses
(omnibi?) separately. Now that I've moved and am setting up the new library
I was just curious how others do it.

My numbers on the spine seem to be random. They don't correspond to
publication order that I know of, and there are lots of duplicates
(different title, same number)

[The Weary Professor]

Victor,

There are arguments to be made for both approaches, but my advice has to be
in whichever order they are the most meaningful to YOU. If you grew up as I
did, waiting impatiently for each new Bantam to be released, then the Bantam
order has nostalgic value. If you read them in original pulp publication
order, however, then that's probably the way to go.

Please let us know what you decide!

Frank
The Weary Professor (particularly at this point in the semester)

Post by Victor De Long
Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order? For
25 years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues
in original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and
omnibuses (omnibi?) separately. Now that I've moved and am setting up the
new library I was just curious how others do it.

[m***@peoplepc.com]

I prefer to read them in alphabetical order, paying particular
attention to the P's and Q's and I don't know Y. I'd like to post more
but I need to catch some ZZZs before I get Teed off.

[Dave]

I've done it all different ways. Current organization is by the color
of the spine -- black, white, other.

Dave

[Michael Black]

Post by Victor De Long
Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order? For 25
years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues in
original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and omnibuses
(omnibi?) separately. Now that I've moved and am setting up the new library
I was just curious how others do it.

Which bugs you more, having the numbers out of sequence, or knowing that
the numerical sequence doesn't match the order that the stories were
originally printed?

If the numbers weren't there, the question wouldn't come up.

Since the numbers are there, it's an easy way to track the books,
and of course know when a copy is missing. In this computer age,
it isn't hard to keep lists of the books in all kinds of order, using
the number as the key.

Michael

[Victor De Long]

I'm just such an anal retentive that for years I've sorted them by
publication order (and every few years would start out to read them in order
of publication but would rarely make it past the 20s or 30s before getting
sidetracked) but it always bugged me of course that you couldn't quite sort
them that way because of the doubles and omnibuses. In this case, I ended
up going for practicality and pragmatism - I had roughly 200 boxes of books
to put away, I didn't really have time to dig up my list of original
publication dates, and I had people coming over Saturday for our big annual
Cinco de Mayo party, so I did what was easiest, which was put them in Bantam
order and call it good. So far it hasn't bugged me enough to change it so I
think that's what I'll stick with.

Someone above mentioned sorting by color - a few years ago I was going out
of town and my assistants called me to ask if they could "straighten up" my
office while I was gone. I came back and they had reorganized three full
bookcases of law books (I'm a lawyer) by color and size. Books that had
been carefully organized by topic for ease of reference were now pretty much
unfindable until I took them all out and redid the whole thing. They
thought it looked pretty to have all the red books together, and all the
black books together, and then, within each color, to organize them by size.
They're no longer allowed to touch my books . . .

Post by Michael Black

Post by Victor De Long
Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order? For 25
years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues in
original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and omnibuses
(omnibi?) separately. Now that I've moved and am setting up the new library
I was just curious how others do it.

Which bugs you more, having the numbers out of sequence, or knowing that
the numerical sequence doesn't match the order that the stories were
originally printed?
If the numbers weren't there, the question wouldn't come up.
Since the numbers are there, it's an easy way to track the books,
and of course know when a copy is missing. In this computer age,
it isn't hard to keep lists of the books in all kinds of order, using
the number as the key.
Michael

[The Weary Professor]

Victor,

Your story made me wince. My wife did exactly the same thing with my
hardcover and paperback library shortly after we were married.

I think the devastated look on my face caused her more pain than any words I
couldn't muster as I stood there in open-mouthed astonishment.

It took me two weeks to put everything back.

She thankfully never did that again!

Frank

Post by Victor De Long
Someone above mentioned sorting by color - a few years ago I was going out
of town and my assistants called me to ask if they could "straighten up"
my office while I was gone. I came back and they had reorganized three
full bookcases of law books (I'm a lawyer) by color and size. Books that
had been carefully organized by topic for ease of reference were now
pretty much unfindable until I took them all out and redid the whole
thing. They thought it looked pretty to have all the red books together,
and all the black books together, and then, within each color, to organize
them by size. They're no longer allowed to touch my books . . .

[Victor De Long]

Here's a tangentially related pondering - I can't tell you how many people,
upon walking into my library, have asked me "have you read all of these
books?" as if the notion of reading them all is foreign. I asked my
receptionist a while back if my box from Amazon had shown up yet. She asked
me what I was waiting for and I told her a couple of books. She said "But
you just got a book a couple of weeks ago." I suspect that my 11 month old
son already has more books in his library than some of my staff own.

Post by The Weary Professor
Victor,
Your story made me wince. My wife did exactly the same thing with my
hardcover and paperback library shortly after we were married.
I think the devastated look on my face caused her more pain than any words
I couldn't muster as I stood there in open-mouthed astonishment.
It took me two weeks to put everything back.
She thankfully never did that again!
Frank

Post by Victor De Long
Someone above mentioned sorting by color - a few years ago I was going
out of town and my assistants called me to ask if they could "straighten
up" my office while I was gone. I came back and they had reorganized
three full bookcases of law books (I'm a lawyer) by color and size.
Books that had been carefully organized by topic for ease of reference
were now pretty much unfindable until I took them all out and redid the
whole thing. They thought it looked pretty to have all the red books
together, and all the black books together, and then, within each color,
to organize them by size. They're no longer allowed to touch my books . .
.

[The Weary Professor]

Tell me about it. Among other things, I teach composition at a community
college. On the first day of class I hand out a contact and interests sheet
for them to fill out. One of the fields is "Name the best book you read in
the last year." More than half the class always leaves it blank. One
student wrote, "I dont read. I just play Madden." Another wrote, "Hary
Poter."

Sigh. Is it any wonder I'm The Weary Professor?

Frank

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Victor De Long" <***@prediletto.net>
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 5:57 PM
Newsgroups: alt.fan.doc-savage
Subject: Re: Organization of Bantam Docs

Post by Victor De Long
Here's a tangentially related pondering - I can't tell you how many
people, upon walking into my library, have asked me "have you read all of
these books?" as if the notion of reading them all is foreign. I asked my
receptionist a while back if my box from Amazon had shown up yet. She
asked me what I was waiting for and I told her a couple of books. She
said "But you just got a book a couple of weeks ago." I suspect that my
11 month old son already has more books in his library than some of my
staff own.

[Dave]

Yeah, I get that too.

"Have you read all of these?"

Yes. These are the books that I read and deemed good enough to take
up space warehousing. The books that I read but did think were good
enough to keep got donated to used book sales, or given away, or were
(rarely) terminated with extreme prejudice (the last Lee Child).

And best not to mention the thousands off books I checked out of
various libraries over the years, read, and returned (almost always on
time).

Funny story: our local Longhorn Steakhouse has the usual western
motif. As part of it, they have three old Zane Grey books up on a
shelf. Zane Grey is a western author, see? Except that one of the
three books is his collection of baseball stories, THE RED-HEADED
OUTFIELD. Every time we go in, I have to resis the urge to reach up
and take it, so much so that I get dirty looks from my wife. (In the
past I have actually asked for and been given books in furniture
stores where they were used as decoration)

dave

[Anim8rFSK]

In article

Post by Dave
Yeah, I get that too.
"Have you read all of these?"
Yes. These are the books that I read and deemed good enough to take
up space warehousing. The books that I read but did think were good
enough to keep got donated to used book sales, or given away, or were
(rarely) terminated with extreme prejudice (the last Lee Child).
And best not to mention the thousands off books I checked out of
various libraries over the years, read, and returned (almost always on
time).
Funny story: our local Longhorn Steakhouse has the usual western
motif. As part of it, they have three old Zane Grey books up on a
shelf. Zane Grey is a western author, see? Except that one of the
three books is his collection of baseball stories, THE RED-HEADED
OUTFIELD. Every time we go in, I have to resis the urge to reach up
and take it, so much so that I get dirty looks from my wife. (In the
past I have actually asked for and been given books in furniture
stores where they were used as decoration)
dave

You could buy 'em a copy of Hondo or something and ask to trade. :)

[James]

Post by Dave
"Have you read all of these?"

When I owned a used bookstore, people would come in, look around at the
80,000 or so books, and ask that same question in all seriousness.

James

[T***@redbridge.gov.uk]

Tell me about it.  Among other things, I teach composition at a community
college.  On the first day of class I hand out a contact and interests sheet
for them to fill out.  One of the fields is "Name the best book you read in
the last year."  More than half the class always leaves it blank.  One
student wrote, "I dont read.  I just play Madden."  Another wrote, "Hary
Poter."

(T Guy):

The rather obvious question which occurs to me is: why are these
'people' in a composition class to begin with?

Do half the people who apply to be on the basketball team spend most
of their lives in wheelchairs?

T Guy

[Joy Beeson]

Post by T***@redbridge.gov.uk
Do half the people who apply to be on the basketball team spend most
of their lives in wheelchairs?

Among the jocks at the gym where I used to work out, there was a
twisted-looking girl who got off a handicapped bus with the aid of two
canes. She said her doctor sent her.

I myself got the mobility in my broken shoulder back. <checks> That
arm still moves as freely as the other. Hurts a tad more, though.

Joy Beeson

[T***@redbridge.gov.uk]

(***@redbridge.gov.uk):

Do half the people who apply to be on the basketball team spend most
of their lives in wheelchairs?

Post by Joy Beeson
Among the jocks at the gym where I used to work out, there was a
twisted-looking girl who got off a handicapped bus with the aid of two
canes.  She said her doctor sent her.  
I myself got the mobility in my broken shoulder back.  <checks>   That
arm still moves as freely as the other.  Hurts a tad more, though.  

Joy Beeson

(Tim):

A good point. I apologise for any offence in my previous message and
shall work at trying to be less insensitive in future.

Post by Joy Beeson
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

(Tim):

Now, if you want me to apologise for viewing your message on a
website, you'll have to convince me.

I shall, howe'er, be happy to pass on any apology I receive from
Richard Branson regarding his terminating my ability to go send posts
on usenet.

Tim

[The Weary Professor]

Post by T***@redbridge.gov.uk
The rather obvious question which occurs to me is: why are these
'people' in a composition class to begin with?

Because Composition I and II are required courses for students to eventually
graduate and earn their associates degrees. Unfortunately, many never get
that far, having neither the skills nor drive to succeed. The attrition
rate by mid-semester in Composition I is nearly 50%. Sad, but true.

Frank
The Weary Professor

[Dave]

Post by The Weary Professor

Post by T***@redbridge.gov.uk
The rather obvious question which occurs to me is: why are these
'people' in a composition class to begin with?

Because Composition I and II are required courses for students to eventually
graduate and earn their associates degrees.  

Not only that, in many colleges today, 2 and 4 year, a large number of
students are in "Remedial" or "Special" or "Preperatory" or "Bonehead"
English, which they have to pass before they can even take English 1
for credit.

Rereading THE KINGMAKER right now -- DOC is introduced while reading
in his library on the 86th floor -- described as having "hundreds" of
nookcases filled with books. Yeah, DOC says he avoids female contact
to keep them from danger from criminals, but that's simply for public
consumption -- it's the threat to his library that really concerns him

dave

[T***@redbridge.gov.uk]

("The Weary Professor" <***@msn.com>):

Composition I and II are required courses for students to eventually

graduate and earn their associates degrees.  Unfortunately, many never get
that far, having neither the skills nor drive to succeed.  The attrition
rate by mid-semester in Composition I is nearly 50%.  Sad, but true.

(Tim):

My suggestion would be that this sort of creature is not allowed to
attend the institution in the first place.

Tim

[The Weary Professor]

Tim,

I don't know if you have the equivalent in the U.K., but in the U.S. most
counties have two year community colleges where the only admission
requirement is a high school diploma. The cost of tuition is lower and the
idyllic idea is to give every interested adult an opportunity for higher
education. Students are given placement testing and supposedly placed in
appropriate classes for their skill sets, but it often doesn't work out that
way. This is frustrating for both the students and the instructors. If
they do manage to complete all the requirements, in roughly two years they
earn an associate's degree. Some then go on to transfer to a four-year
college or university to get a bachelor's degree. As I said, there's a
large attrition rate. Many don't make it that far.

Frank

Post by The Weary Professor
Composition I and II are required courses for students to eventually

graduate and earn their associates degrees. Unfortunately, many never get
that far, having neither the skills nor drive to succeed. The attrition
rate by mid-semester in Composition I is nearly 50%. Sad, but true.

My suggestion would be that this sort of creature is not allowed to
attend the institution in the first place.
Tim

[Anim8rFSK]

Post by The Weary Professor
Tim,
I don't know if you have the equivalent in the U.K., but in the U.S. most
counties have two year community colleges where the only admission
requirement is a high school diploma. The cost of tuition is lower and the
idyllic idea is to give every interested adult an opportunity for higher
education. Students are given placement testing and supposedly placed in
appropriate classes for their skill sets, but it often doesn't work out that
way. This is frustrating for both the students and the instructors. If
they do manage to complete all the requirements, in roughly two years they
earn an associate's degree. Some then go on to transfer to a four-year
college or university to get a bachelor's degree. As I said, there's a
large attrition rate. Many don't make it that far.

At least locally, the community colleges are pretty much of a joke.
When I was at ASU I was taking the same econ 101 course with the same
text that my girlfriend was taking at Phoenix (community) College. Her
credit transferred over to ASU and was theoretically equivelant to mine.
The problem was, in practice, they only covered half the textbook that
we covered all of. She didn't have a clue what to do with econ 102.
She dumped me, dropped out, married a total loser, and destroyed her
health and her life. Maybe that's not *all* the fault of the community
college system, but hey. :)

Scottsdale Community College actually teaches courses in being a pet
medium. Yes, you too can defraud the public by claiming to talk to dead
animals. Your tax dollars at work.

[Kent Allard]

Post by Anim8rFSK
Scottsdale Community College actually teaches courses in being a pet
medium. Yes, you too can defraud the public by claiming to talk to dead
animals. Your tax dollars at work.

Reminds me of the fortune teller who sued the brain surgeon who saved her life,
but took away her "powers".

(I should have seen that coming....)

[Anim8rFSK]

Post by Kent Allard

Post by Anim8rFSK
Scottsdale Community College actually teaches courses in being a pet
medium. Yes, you too can defraud the public by claiming to talk to dead
animals. Your tax dollars at work.

Reminds me of the fortune teller who sued the brain surgeon who saved her life,
but took away her "powers".
(I should have seen that coming....)

heh

[Anim8rFSK]

Post by Victor De Long
Here's a tangentially related pondering - I can't tell you how many people,
upon walking into my library, have asked me "have you read all of these
books?" as if the notion of reading them all is foreign.

Hah! Yeah, I get that all the time. Nowadays it's "have you watched
all these movies???" too.

[Anim8rFSK]

Post by The Weary Professor
Victor,
Your story made me wince. My wife did exactly the same thing with my
hardcover and paperback library shortly after we were married.

While he was off at college, a friend of mine's mom decided to
reorganize his Tom Swift Senior books, tossing out the first editions in
favor of the reprints that were in better shape, and tossing out all the
original dust jackets in favor of laser reprints, effectively reducing
what was at the time probably a $1000 collection to about a $5
collection. But it would be prettier.

I stopped her.

[John M]

I have always ordered my Bantam's by the Bantam release date because the
Doubles and Omni's make it pretty much impossible to do it by original
publication date. Also, the Bantam dates are the order I read them in the
first time and I don't see any reason to change it now.

My miscellaneous fiction books are alphabetized by author, then publication
date. I have a separate book case just for my Stephen King books, another
bookcase for my Arkham House and other small press books. A third and fourth
case are for 'series' and specific authors - Series include Dune, Harry
Potter, Dragonriders, graphic novels, and, of course, Doc. There are three
specific authors I keep in those shelves - Harlan Ellison, Clive Barker and
Stephen Donaldson.

:)

[Victor De Long]

sniff< After reading all the replies I don't feel quite so alone in the
world . . .

My library is pretty eclectic, with most of it organized by genre, then
author, then publication date, though with the books on art and photography,
it's a mixture of name of the artist for those devoted to a single artist
and title of the book for those that are anthologies. Some are organized by
art style also.

The comic and pulp-related books are as above, in series order.

I've got a whole section of books on the history of English, on words, on
etymology of words, basically what you'd find in a word nerd bookcase.
They're geologically arranged, meaning whichever one is the most recent one
I bought and read goes on the top of the pile.

My wife is amazed that I can find anything at all out there, but it all
makes sense to me. There is, of course, the irreducible 5%, those last bits
that just don't fit anywhere, so I've got a bookcase that's the functional
equivalent of a junk drawer.

I have always ordered my Bantam's by the Bantam release date because the
Doubles and Omni's make it pretty much impossible to do it by original
publication date. Also, the Bantam dates are the order I read them in the
first time and I don't see any reason to change it now.
My miscellaneous fiction books are alphabetized by author, then
publication date. I have a separate book case just for my Stephen King
books, another bookcase for my Arkham House and other small press books. A
third and fourth case are for 'series' and specific authors - Series
include Dune, Harry Potter, Dragonriders, graphic novels, and, of course,
Doc. There are three specific authors I keep in those shelves - Harlan
Ellison, Clive Barker and Stephen Donaldson.
:)

[T***@redbridge.gov.uk]

Post by Victor De Long
My wife is amazed that I can find anything at all out there, but it all
makes sense to me.  There is, of course, the irreducible 5%, those last bits
that just don't fit anywhere, so I've got a bookcase that's the functional
equivalent of a junk drawer.

(Tim):

As I discovered some time ago, whenever you start categorising things,
you start by having a category called 'miscellaneous.' I have found
that this makes life much easier.

Tim

[Anim8rFSK]

Post by John M
There are three
specific authors I keep in those shelves - Harlan Ellison, Clive Barker and
Stephen Donaldson.

You afraid they'll infect the others? :-D

[Dave]

Post by John M
There are three
specific authors I keep in those shelves - Harlan Ellison, Clive Barker and
Stephen Donaldson.

QUARANTINE!

I had a friend, a decided non-reader, who somehow got hooked on
Donaldson, and then tried to get everybody else hooked. I made it to
page two, but not far down the page.

Dave

[Victor De Long]

I haven't gotten into most of Donaldson's stuff, but I'll cop to having read
the first Covenant series a half-dozen times, the second maybe 3 times and
I'm picking up the third series at the glacial pace they're released.

Post by Dave

Post by John M
There are three
specific authors I keep in those shelves - Harlan Ellison, Clive Barker and
Stephen Donaldson.

QUARANTINE!
I had a friend, a decided non-reader, who somehow got hooked on
Donaldson, and then tried to get everybody else hooked. I made it to
page two, but not far down the page.
Dave

[John M]

Post by Anim8rFSK

Post by John M
There are three
specific authors I keep in those shelves - Harlan Ellison, Clive Barker and
Stephen Donaldson.

You afraid they'll infect the others? :-D

They already have.
;)

[T***@redbridge.gov.uk]

Post by Victor De Long
Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order?  For 25
years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues in
original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and omnibuses
(omnibi?) separately.  Now that I've moved and am setting up the new library
I was just curious how others do it.

(T Guy):

Bantam numerical order. It's just easier. Plus I first came across Doc
in theBantam editions, so that sort of 'feels right' to me.

T

[Steven Prange]

On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:38:29 -0700, "Victor De Long"

Post by Victor De Long
Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order? For 25
years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues in
original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and omnibuses
(omnibi?) separately. Now that I've moved and am setting up the new library
I was just curious how others do it.

I'm just OCD enough to put them in Bantam numerical order......

Steve

[Victor De Long]

It was my OCD-ness that made me want to put them in original publication
order (and that drove me nuts when I got to the doubles and omnibuses!)

Post by Steven Prange
On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:38:29 -0700, "Victor De Long"

Post by Victor De Long
Just curious - do you sort your Bantams in order of publication by Bantam
(i.e. by the number on the covers) or by original publication order? For 25
years I've done the latter as best I could, putting the single issues in
original publication order and then dealing with the doubles and omnibuses
(omnibi?) separately. Now that I've moved and am setting up the new library
I was just curious how others do it.

I'm just OCD enough to put them in Bantam numerical order......
Steve