FAQ

From ELOWiki

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: Can I add my own work?
  • A: Yes. You definitely should create a username, log in and enter relevant works, including your own.

• Q: Should I enter my e-book in here?
  • A: No. This is a database of electronic literature: works with important literary aspects that take advantage of the capabilities and contexts provided by the stand-alone or networked computer. Print-based works of writing that are simply published in PDF or a similar ebook format, web sites that publish traditional poetry or fiction as html, or simple audio readings of print literature should not go in this database and will be removed.

• Q: What do you mean by "electronic literature"?
  • A: The ELO's working definition of electronic literature and some examples of the types of forms that fit under that definition can be found here.

• Q: Can I modify records I did not create?
  • A: Yes. If you can add useful information to an existing record, please do so. Click "edit with form" to enter information in the fields or "edit" to add keywords.

• Q: How should I enter keywords?
  • A: You should enter keywords by selecting "edit" and then choosing keywords from those in the cloud at the bottom of the page. If you enter a new keyword, please do so in initial cap format, for example "New Keyword." Also, if you enter a new keyword, please click on it after you have entered it and provide and save a definition for it.

• Q: How should I enter URLs?
  • A: Include the http:// in the url so that the system will recognize it as an external link.

• Q: Why do all the article titles begin with an uppercase letter, even though the title of my work is all lowercase?
  • A: This is a technical issue related to the MediaWiki software, which automatically names all pages with a first letter. We may try to correct this at a future date, but for now we're not going to risk breaking the uniformity of the database's technical format to do so.

• Q: Why are some of the fields showing up as "Not entered or N/A"?
  • A: Fields that are not filled in or not applicable show up in the template pages as "Not entered or N/A." If a field shows up as "Not entered or N/A" but should have applicable information, please edit the record and fill it in.

• Q: What if there is some important information that I want to add but there is no field for it?
  • A: You should use the "additional notes" field to include that information.

• Q: What's with the red links?
  • A: Attributes that define a relation but do not yet have a page defined in the database, such as author's names, appear as red links. You can follow the link and add information to such pages if you would like. If we continue to develop this project beyond the test period, we will add new forms and templates for author information. In the meantime, if you want to add some biographical information about a particular author, feel free to do so by clicking on the red link and writing on the new page. If you create a new keyword/category, you should by all means follow the red link and add a definition for it.

• Q: What should I enter under language if the site includes work in multiple languages?
  • A: You should specify all of the languages that are included in the work and separate the languages with commas. Phrases such as "multilingual" are semantically ambiguous and will be deleted.

• Q: What should I enter as the year of publication for an individual work or site that is ongoing?
  • A: Enter the year of initial publication and include indication that the work or site in ongoing in the "additional notes" field.