WoT Interview Database Integration?

[Kurkistan]

Hey guys,

I just want to get the ball rolling on a discussion on what we're doing to integrate non-interview material into the Interview Database.

I know that, last time I looked, the forum Q&A wasn't in there. I doubt that we have much stuff that Peter or Inkwing have said on the forums, or that the current round of Twitter updates about Brandon's world-building is certain to make its way in.

There's also the question of the degree to which we have a backup of the data on the database. I know we all like Terez (hi Terez!), but I think it would be proper for some number of purely Sanderson fans to keep their own copies of the compiled data currently on that site; Terez could be hit by a bus tomorrow and then his/her successor could turn out to hate Brandon and purge all non-WoT stuff from the database--then never to be seen again unless painstakingly re-compiled.

I don't mean to tell the people currently managing this how to do things, but I am eager to see everything Cosmere-related in one place, both so that it's more easily searchable and so that new members don't suffer, knowledge-wise, versus older members who know where to look for this or that tidbit of information that never made it onto the interview database.

Incidentally, I have some free time coming up and would like to help out with importing stuff into the database, if anyone wants to give me godlike powers over there.

Kurkistan

Edited December 15, 2012 by Kurkistan

[Windrunner]

I understand your concern dude, but these things take time. Do you know how much work goes into putting an interview on the database? Josh and Mi'ch spend hours helping Brandon out and recording every second of audio possible. Then they have to go through the whole thing, cut out the irrelevant parts and upload it to the site. If someone offers to transcribe it, we have to wait for that to be finished. Then we have to go through and listen to it again for quality control on it to make sure that it's as accurate as possible. And then we get to spend time putting the questions in on at a time in the Interview Database, having to put in each questioner's name and then tag every single one, while trying not to duplicate a tag. In addition to that, we just lost Zach for two years, and he was the interview master. We're in an interim period right now, so if things aren't moving as fast as you'd like I'm sorry about that but it's going as fast as possible right now. I've also got a backlog of other things that need to be put in there, annotations aren't exactly quick.

Terez does not run theoryland single-handedly. Everyone on here who needs access has it. This is a long term cooperation we've got going on here. Do you know how difficult it is to separate Brandon's question on his cosmere books and Brandon's questions on WoT? He gets asked about both, often simultaneously. That's why this partnership is a smart thing, we've all got a vested interest in this going well. It would be extremely difficult for this hypothetical jerk to got through and pick out all the cosmere stuff, not worth anyone's time. And even if at some point we decided to split (not going to happen) what kind of person is going to abruptly dump all of Brandon's stuff without giving us a heads-up on what's going on? That's extremely unlikely. And even in this ridiculous scenario, we've got Google docs of the interviews that we use when compiling them. There is not going to be a problem.

I think it's really awesome that you're concerned about new members and rightfully so. We didn't always have the interview database though, and we didn't always have the Brandonothology. There were really helpful and kind people that helped them, and there are really helpful and kind people here right now. I'm confident that no one who is confused about someone will find anything but a willingness to point them in the right direction. Since Zach is gone, I've basically become the primary guy for entering stuff in the database. Things have been hectic lately for me, juggling work, school, and 17th Shard stuff isn't cake. Wikiing has been my priority of late, trying to get Stormlight stuff and important articles done. I am still slowly chugging along on this though, and it will be finished "soon".

-Windrunner

[Kurkistan]

I didn't mean to imply that you're not doing enough Windrunner. I understand that your overworked and understaffed over there. Also, the "those WoT fans will betray us all!" part was more of a paranoid doomsday scenario than anything else.

To reiterate, I would be happy to help out for awhile, if you'll have me. While I doubt "easy" is a good word to describe it, it will probably be a bit less time-intensive, at least, to find and copy-in purely text-based "interviews," like the Q&A and random comments by Peter and Inkwing here on the forums, and I would be willing to commit some time to doing that.