Re: [schemaorg] Vocabulary for comics (#378)

Hi Richard and all,


>  As Jeff indicated, there is some overlap and/or mismatch between your
> discussions of Role and similar concepts from the Library of Congress
> Relator Codes and WikiData.  How these terms are defined/referenced in the
> vocabulary is then a question.  I am always sceptical of statements such as
> “set that covers the major…”, because it is very difficult to a)get
> agreement on what is major and b) what do you do about defying the minor
> ones.
>

In reference to comics, I think these major roles can best be identified by
the various stages in which a comic work is produced: the script, pencils,
inks, letters, and colors, up to the finished, published work. In addition
to editorial credits---and perhaps more comics specific roles like
"plotter"---I believe whats listed in the existing proposal represents the
core set of creative contributions, especially as they relate to stages in
the production process that can then be linked to examples of original
comics artwork. Also I believe they are roles most readily identifiable
with comics, which is why you'll find these credits highlighted
specifically in the majority of comics data on the Web.

All that being said, none of these roles are necessarily comic book
specific, and define contributions to the production of any graphic work
(of note: animated cartoons, comic strips, manga, etc.). I would also argue
that the LC relator illustrator [ill] could be used in place of inker,
letterist, and penciller, which would then give content authors the option
to clarify that role with schema:roleName using the patterns identified
further along in this thread. I'm guessing it would look something like
this (building on Dan's example from the message that follows this one):

  <span property="contributor" typeof="Role">
    <dt><span property="roleName">Pencils</span>:</dt>
    <dd><span property="contributor lcrel:illustrator">Ron Lim</span></dd>
  </span>
  <span property="contributor" typeof="Role">
    <dt><span property="roleName">Inks</span>:</dt>
    <dd><span property="contributor lcrel:illustrator">Ron Lim</span></dd>
  </span>
  <span property="contributor" typeof="Role">
    <dt><span property="roleName">Letters</span>:</dt>
    <dd><span property="contributor lcrel:illustrator">Dave
Sharpe</span></dd>
  </span>

I think most (all?) inkers would argue that they do more than trace the
pencils [1] (see the NSFW clip from Chasing Amy -- "You're a Tracer"), and
play an active creative role in the illustration.

This same pattern could also be used with the LC relator artist [art] for
other types of "minor", or less common credits, such as designer, painter,
etc. For example: http://www.comics.org/issue/250970/ where both the cover
and interior artwork are painted.

So that would leave coverArtist from Jeff's list (a property which is also
relevant for other types of CreativeWork: album covers, book covers, etc.).
Perhaps the following would work (using the example above), or even LC
cover designer [cv]?:

  <span property="contributor" typeof="Role">
    <dt><span property="roleName">Cover Art</span>:</dt>
    <dd><span property="contributor lcrel:artist">Bill Sienkiewicz
</span></dd>
  </span>


So, if the goal in schema.org proper is to not overlap or add exhaustive
roles, the suggestions in this thread would certainly work for comics! But
they would hopefully be called out in the accompanying documentation
examples, as webmasters will certainly be looking for them. And if there
were to be a bib.schema.org extension for comics, maybe they could live
there. Some of the granularity and minutiae, and I'm a big fan of comic
book minutiae---can be fulfilled through a domain vocabulary.


>  Your use of the term name ‘role’ conflicts with the Role
> <http://schema.org/Role> type in Schma.org, which in itself is not a
> problem (you could use creativeRole for example).
>

Actually intended this property to function similar to schema:roleName, so
I will investigate, thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Finally, I'm in agreement with the original GitHub poster, Davide. One of
the most immediately useful features of the comics proposal is the addition
of the comics-specific classes (this proposal covers Manga too, right? via
format?). It would also be nice if it addressed how some of the
bibliographic relationships, like "reprints" or "collects", were able to be
expressed (workExample/exampleOfWork, right?).

Something I would like to see is collected editions like (
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/714725942) connected to representations of the
individual issues they collect in resources like the Grand Comics
Database****, with other providers filling in the minutiae (characters,
stories, historical notes, etc.) downstream. See this example, for what I
think that might look like, and maybe a peek at some other comic book
properties like certification, grades, bindings, etc.

[1]
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seanpetiya/thesis/master/examples/main/fig45-linked-data-main-ex.html

*** I do not represent the Grand Comics Database in any official capacity,
except for the fact that I do contribute to and make use of the
organization's data.

Sean