Re: Issue variants

Hi Henry:

On Mon, Oct 05, 2015 at 06:59:52AM +0000, hha1@cornell.edu wrote:
> Hi folks,  Variants are an active topic of discussion within the GCD right
> now.  I see that you have a variantCover description field, which handles one
> of the most common cases.  However, there are a number of "variants" in GCD
> terminology.  Newsstand vs direct distribution.  Price variants.  Some
> publishers published versions of issues with ads and without ads.  Etc.
>
> If you want to handle more types of variants than just covers, I would
> recommend considering changing "variantCover" to "variantName" or something
> similar.  Depending on how much detail you want to get into, I can talk about
> how we're considering putting some more structure around variants, as
> collectors care a lot about some types (incentive covers) but less about others
> (newsstand vs direct).

I think each variant should be described as its own full ComicIssue, using the
standard schema:name, schema:description, etc properites. My inclination would
be to use the existing http://schema.org/exampleOfWork and
http://schema.org/workExample properties; that is, have one ComicIssue that
describes the common components, and then link to that with other ComicIssue
instances that include the properties that describe the particular variations.

To extend the existing example in http://bib.schema.org/ComicIssue and link it
to the corresponding live example at comics.org, that would look something like:

<div vocab="http://schema.org/" typeof="ComicSeries">
  <h1 property="name">TRUE BLOOD</h1>
  <div property="description">
    TRUE BLOOD chronicles the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps...
  </div>
  <div property="publisher" typeof="Organization">Publisher: 
    <span property="name">IDW</span>
    (<a property="url" href="http://www.idwpublishing.com">http://www.idwpublishing.com</a>)
  </div>
  <ul>
    <li property="hasPart" typeof="ComicIssue" id="#work">
      <link property="url" href="http://www.comics.org/issue/1115108" />
      Issue <span property="issueNumber">13</span>
      <div property="hasPart" typeof="ComicStory">
        <span property="name">HERE WE GO AGAIN PART 3: FEELING SINISTER</span>
        <div property="author" typeof="Person">Author:
          <span property="name">Michael McMillian</span>
        </div>
      </div>
    </li>
    <li property="hasPart" typeof="ComicIssue" id="#var1">
      <link property="exampleOfWork" href="#work" />
      <link property="url" href="http://www.comics.org/issue/133985" />
      Issue <span property="issueNumber">13</span> [<span property="name">Cover B</span>]
      <div property="hasPart" typeof="ComicStory">
        <span property="name">HERE WE GO AGAIN PART 3: FEELING SINISTER</span>
        <div property="author" typeof="Person">Author:
          <span property="name">Michael McMillian</span>
        </div>
      </div>
      <div property="hasPart" typeof="ComicCoverArt">
        Variant cover:
        <div property="variantCover">Picture of Jason Stackhouse</div>
        <div property="creator" typeof="Person">Cover by:
          <span property="name">Michael Gaydos</span>
        </div>
      </div>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div>

> There is also the question of how to refer to an issue in general, without
> specifying a particular variant.  We haven't actually sorted that out- it's a
> topic from the past week or two.

I think that could tie in nicely with the existing exampleOfWork / workExample
structure that schema.org offers.

Received on Monday, 5 October 2015 15:50:47 UTC