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How you can help
I don't really want this to be just "Ed's Music Database". I'd like it
to be a collaborative effort between lots of different people
on the net, each lending his or her own particular expertise and
knowledge. If that interests you, read on.
Obviously, this thing is going to be a perpetual work-in-progress.
I'm constantly updating the database based on information from
the net and elsewhere, but I certainly can't cover all the bases.
With that in mind, here are a few more specific things that would help:
-
Pick a particular artist and look it up in the index. If you didn't
find it, let me know and I'll add it. Am I missing anything in the
Releases or Compilations list? Do you know of a home page (or any
other Internet resource that has a URL) that isn't listed there?
Better yet, write up a description of the artist that includes a
brief review of the artist's significant releases (Look under
Format for more information about
what the entries are supposed to look like).
As far as these descriptions go, I think anything at all is better than
nothing at all. If you know something about a group but can't be bothered
to write anything more than "noise band from Albuquerque" (for example),
go ahead and send it to me anyway. Perhaps later you or someone else
will come up with more than that.
-
Take that same artist and try to find it in the category index.
Do you think it's in the right category? For that matter, are there
other categories you think would be useful? Take a look under
Categories for my general
philosophy on how things are divided up.
-
There are lots of compilations that I know about but don't have any
data for. Two specific examples would be the "Technopolis" and
"Body Rapture" series of EBM compilations. Look up the
Compilations Index and see if
you can add anything there.
-
Do you have your own record collection in a computer file of some
kind? Is it locatable via ftp or the Web, or would you like to mail
it to me? There are various ways for me to import data from lots of
formats (Excel, dBase, etc.) into my database.
-
I'm trying to think of an interesting name for this site. "Music Database"
is just a placeholder for now, but that's not very exciting, and it doesn't
really tell you what kind of music is in here. Can you think of a cooler
name that I can use?
-
There isn't any way to do searching in the database. I think it would
be really useful to be able to enter partial band names and get a list
of matching artists. I'm a real newbie when it comes to CGI scripts
and searches, so if you're knowledgeable about that stuff, let me know.
I don't really know what I can offer you in return for helping me out,
but at least you'd be listed on the
Credits Page
(how's that for incentive?), and of course your name would appear
along with anything you write for the artist narrative descriptions.
I almost forgot one of the most important points. Right now there
isn't any way for you to update the database automatically.
The way to do it is to just send me mail (to the address below)
and I'll incorporate the changes into the next version (I update it
about once every two weeks or so).
Ed Klein
eklein@kzsu.stanford.edu