Magazine Index Data Formats
This page is a guide to entering magazine table-of-contents
data in a format that is used as input to programs that
automatically generate linked HTML indexes to the data.
Any word processing program that allows output files in .txt
format can be used to enter the data. One such program that
comes as a part of Windows is WordPad, found under Start/Programs/
Acessories/WordPad.
If you have any questions contact William G. Contento (contento@best.com)
There are three basic record types:
"A" for magazine issue information.
"D" for notes.
"E" for story information.
Within each type of record there are various data fields separated
by "~" or some other character or group of characters that do not
appear elsewhere in the data.
The "A" record:
A#~Magazine Title [Issue]~Editor~Issue Date~Date Seen~Edition~Publisher~ISBN~Price~Page Count~Binding/Size~Type~Subject~Title Leading Article~Cover Artist~Series/Character
The "D" record:
D#~Notes...
The "E" record:
E PageNo. A#~Author~Story Title~TyYearMagMthDaMisc~Title Leading Article~Sub-Title Leading Article~Series/Character~Illustrator~Subject
Sample Table-of-Contents File:
A1~Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction [v97 #4&5, No. 578, October/November 1999]~Van Gelder, Gordon!ed.~199910~199908~1~Mercury Press; Cornwall, CT~~$5.95~324~digest~mg~sf[1999FSFOct /Nov]~The ~Bonestell, Chesley
D1~50th anniversary issue.
E 8A0~Van Gelder, Gordon~Editorial~ed1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 10A0~Bradbury, Ray~Guest Editorial: I Was There the Day the World Ended, I Was There the Day the World Began~ed1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 16A0~Shanahan, Danny~Cartoon~ct1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 18A0~Bisson, Terry~macs~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 28A0~de Lint, Charles~Books to Look For~br1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 36A0~Killheffer, Robert K. J.~Books~br1999FSFOct /Nov~~
E 47A0~Le Guin, Ursula K.~Darkrose and Diamond~nv1999FSFOct /Nov~~~Earthsea
E 75A0~Ellison, Harlan~Objects of Desire in the Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 86A0~Goulart, Ron~How Heather Moon Kept My Life from Getting Completely Fouled Up Again~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~~~Moon| Heather
E 105A1~Merril, Judith~Real?] Writer— Homage to Ted Sturgeon~ar1999FSFOct /Nov~A [~~~~(Sturgeon, Theodore)
E 105D1~a portion of this essay previously appeared in {The New York Review of Science Fiction}.
E 143A0~Sturgeon, Theodore~New York Vignette~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 147A0~Jonik, John~Cartoon~ct1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 148A0~Silverberg, Robert~Hero of the Empire~nv1999FSFOct /Nov~A ~~Roma Eterna
E 181A0~Carroll, Jonathan~Fish in a Barrel~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 191A0~Cheney, Tom~Cartoon~ct1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 192A0~Di Filippo, Paul~Plumage from Pegasus| History of Snivelization~cl1999FSFOct /Nov~~The
E 198A0~Anderson, Poul~Shrine for Lost Children~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~The
E 213A0~Long, Bill #2~Cartoon~ct1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 214A0~Waldrop, Howard~Dynasters, Vol. I, On the Downs~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~The
E 223A0~Wilson, Gahan~Cartoon~ct1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 224A0~Sheckley, Robert~Kenny~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 231A0~Long, Bill #2~Cartoon~ct1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 232A0~Wilhelm, Kate~Happiest Day of Her Life~nv1999FSFOct /Nov~The ~~Manetti| Tony
E 253A0~Cotham, Frank~Cartoon~ct1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 254A0~Wolfe, Gene~Fish Story~ss1999FSFOct /Nov~A
E 259A0~Benford, Gregory~Scientist's Notebook| Expecting the Unexpected~ar1999FSFOct /Nov~A ~
E 269A0~Emshwiller, Carol~Acceptance Speech~ss1990*StrtEnd~
E 278A0~Shepard, Lucius~Crocodile Rock~na1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 320A0~Farris, Joseph~Cartoon~ct1999FSFOct /Nov~
E 322A0~Rusch, Kristine Kathryn~Curiosities| Seeing I" and Other Gems~cl1999FSFOct /Nov~~"The ~~~(Beaumont, Charles)
Magazine Fields:
"A" Record:
1. Record Identifier: "A#"; "A" identifier and number "#"
indicating the number of D records to follow (0-9).
2. Title. (mandatory)
Magazine title with leading articles and special
characters stripped off and moved to field 14.
Issue information follows the title by two spaces and
is enclosed in brackets. It follows the general format
[volume, issue#, whole number, month/season (day,) year]
3. Editor. (optional)
Magazine editor as follows-
Last-Name, First-Name(, Suffix)(!ed.)
Suffix is any part of the name that is always
kept to the right such as Jr., III, Ph.D., etc.
Multiple authors are separated by a "/".
ex: Baen, Jim/Pournelle, Jerry E., Ph.D.!eds.
4. Cover Date. (mandatory)
Format YearMoDa. ex. Sept. 15, 1934 = 19340915.
Month and day are optional.
ca. 1950 would be entered 1950ca
If unsure of year can use ?, ex. 194?.
5. Date Seen. (optional)
Date issue was available for sale, same format as Cover Date.
6. Edition. (mandatory)
Always 1 for magazine.
7. Publisher. (optional)
Entered as Publisher; City, State
8. ISSN. (optional)
9. Price. (optional)
ex: $1.95, 20¢, A$2.50 (Australian), C$2.50 (Canadian)
£1.95, 1/6 (shillings/pence), etc.
10. Pages. (optional)
Number of pages in issue. If covers are included in printed
page numbers (first page no. is 3) include 2 pages for
inside/outside back cover. If first page number is 1 then
add a + to page count to indicate ### pages + covers.
ex: 144, 140+
11. Format. (mandatory)
Size and binding of magazine:
A4 297mm x 210mm
A5 210mm x 148mm
digest approx. 5¼" x 7½", square-bound
e/s edge-stapled
large 8½" x 11", square-bound
octavo 5½" x 8½", saddle-stapled
pulp 7" x 9½", square-bound
quarto 8½" x 11", saddle-stapled
s/b square-bound
s/s saddle-stapled
tabloid 11¼" x 17"
12. Type. (mandatory)
Always mg for magazines.
13. Subject. (mandatory)
This field is a catch-all for various identifiers.
Mainly holds source ID for this issue: [YearMagMthDaMisc].
Year year published
Mag abbreviation for magazine title
Mth month/season published
May optionally contain:
v## volume number
### whole number
Da day published. Leave 2 spaces if not used and have Misc.
May optionally contain in combination with volume above:
## issue number
Misc miscellaneous issue identification:
text here is placed between month (day) and year
unless preceeded by a ( in which case it is placed
after year.
ex: 1960GALJan = {Galaxy} Jan '60
1955BOGWin = {Bogus} Win '55
1955BOGFeb23 = {Bogus} Feb 23 '55
1955BOG# 5 = {Bogus} #5 '55
1955BOGv 510 = {Bogus} v5 #10 '55
1955BOGOct /Nov = {Bogus} Oct/Nov '55
1955BOGDec (/Jan '56 = {Bogus} Dec '55/Jan '56
Book abbreviations are formatted "Year*BookAbr"
There is also a 5 character magazine abbreviation that was
created when the supply of available 3 character abbreviations
began to run out: Year+MagazMthDaMisc
14. Title Leading Article. (as needed)
Contains leading "The ", "A ", special characters, etc. from
Title to aid sorting by title.
15. Cover Artist(s) (optional)
Formatted same as editor except no !ed.
16. Series (usually just for books)
"D" Record: (optional)
1. Record Identifier "D#"
2. Notes
Story Fields:
"E" Record:
1. Record Identifier, Page No., Sub-ID. ("E pgno. A#")
pgno. field is not fixed. Instead of "0123" could have:
" ix", " 123-7", " 123(5) ", "123-4, 151-4",
"ifc." (inside front cover), etc.
2. Author(s). (mandatory)
Last-Name, First-Name(, Suffix)
Suffix is any part of the name that is always
kept to the right such as Jr., III, Ph.D., etc.
Multiple authors are separated by a "/".
ex: Niven, Larry/Pournelle, Jerry E., Ph.D.
Different authors who have the same name are separated
by adding a "#" and unique number after the name.
See "Long, Bill #2" in sample.
Translators are entered the same as co-authors with
" ,trans." appended.
ex: Hanstein, Otfrid von/Currier, Francis M. ,trans.
Cross-references are automatically generated for known
pseudonyms. Actual authors of anonymous stories, house
names, ghost writers, unattributed co-authors, etc. are
entered as follows:
"given author ,(code:actual author)"
Codes:
by = actually by
hp = house pseudonym of
gh = ghost written by
ps = pseudonym of
sb = substitute (in author index)
with = unattributed co-author
ex: Anon. ,(by:Sloane, T. O'Conor, Ph.D.)
Steber, A. R. ,(hp:Palmer, Raymond A.)
Binder, Eando ,(ps:Binder, Earl|Binder, Otto)
Traditional ,(sb:Anon.)
Heald, Hazel ,(with:Lovecraft, H. P.)
Note that multiple authors in an actual-author note are
separated by | instead of by / used for co-authors.
If author is not given use "Anon." for fiction.
For unattributed articles, reviews, fillers, etc. use "[Misc. Material]"
3. Story Title. (mandatory)
Story title with leading articles and special
characters stripped off and moved to field 5.
May contain notes in brackets as to original story title and author:
["Original Title"], [as by Original Author],
["Original Title", as by Original Author]
4. Type, Source ID: TyYearMagMthDaMisc. (mandatory)
Type (Ty) indicates story length or type of non-story entry:
vi = vignette under 4 pages, under 1,000 words
ss = short story 4-20 pages, 1,000-7,499 words
nv = novelette 21-45 pages, 7,500-17,499 words
na = novella 46-100 pages, 17,500-39,999 words
n. = novel over 100 pages, over 40,000 words
sl = serial (total length unknown)
pm = poem
pp = prose poem
ed = editorial
ar = article
cl = column
iv = interview
br = book review
mr = movie review
fr = fanzine review
gr = game review
in = introduction
fw = foreword
pr = preface
aw = afterword
si = section intro.
is = intro. to story
bg = biography
bi = bibliography
pi = pictorial
cs = comic strip
ct = cartoon
ms = miscellaneous
YearMagMthDaMisc is formated the same as in A-13 above,
and should be identical to the A-13 for the issue in which
the story appears, unless the story is a reprint.
5. Title Leading Article. (as needed)
Contains leading "The ", "A ", special characters, etc. from
Title to aid sorting by title.
6. Sub-Title Leading Article. (see p.322 in sample above for example)
7. Series. (optional)
Series name and/or lead character(s).
Lead characters are entered in the same format as authors, except
commas are replaced by the | character. This is necessary because
commas may appear in a series name.
8. Illustrator(s). (optional)
Same format as authors.
9. Subject. (optional)
Contains a list of authors who are the subject of an article,
interview, biography, or other entry. Same as author format
except enclosed in parentheses. The parentheses are used to
separate authors from non-author subjects which may appear in
this field in the future.
"E" Record, "D" sub-record. (optional)
1. Record Identifier, Page No., Sub-ID. ("E pgno. D#")
Identical to preceeding "E...A#" field except "A" replaced by "D".
2. Notes.
Miscellaneous:
Text to be displayed in bold and italic is enclosed in <> and {}.
ex: {italic}, <bold>, <{bold italic}>.
Abbreviations Lists:
A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, H, I, J,
K, L, M, N, O,
P, Q, R, S, T,
U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
Accented and Special Character List
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