CZ:Catalogs

Coders: for this we need a script: a table template generator!

What are Catalogs?

Citizendium catalogs are lists and tabulations of information--similar to pages you might find in an almanac. Information can often usefully stated in a tabular form, or other highly structured form; we put such presentations of information in what we call "catalogs." Note that mere lists of related terms and definitions belong on Related Articles pages.

Currently, catalogs take several forms. See the original discussion thread at [1] for ideas. Some examples are provided as a guideline below.

Examples

A well laid out catalogue using tables

• Tennis/Catalogs/Famous players

A catalog with annotations but no pretty template or citations

• Religion/Catalogs

Where the cluster is large or complex, the catalog may list subcatalogues

• History/Catalogs
• Christmas/Catalogs

Heading and format standards

Catalogs should not stand alone, they should be linked to a specific topic as subpages of that topic. This was not clearly defined at the beginning of the project, so you may still find a "list of..." floating out there. If any of these relate to a topic you're working on, by all means MOVE or REDIRECT them, if you can, or ask for help. Likewise, if you create or have already created a "List of...", do not be offended if someone moves it to an appropriate cluster.

For example, famous tennis players has now been redirected to Tennis/Catalogs/Famous players.

Note that the titles of catalogs should not be redundant, so this table is not called "List of Famous Tennis Players."

As our project grows, some clusters will become complex, and there will be instances of crossover. Some of the issues we have to decide is, when does a topic merit its own cluster, as opposed to being a subtopic in another cluster? Literature provides some interesting cases: let's look at one of them. Suppose you wanted to read or write about the 1951 filmed version of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens? Well, it is listed in http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Christmas/Catalogs#Film under the film section. But it actually lives in the A Christmas Carol cluster, at A Christmas Carol/Catalogs/Plays and films based on A Christmas Carol, and you can access it from either the Christmas cluster or the A Christmas Carol cluster. Perhaps one day it will be referenced at Charles Dickens and Literature as well.

Guidelines for editing

You cannot create a properly-linked catalog unless there is a metadata page, which generates subpages. The catalog page does not appear by default; you must click on the TALK page tab, chose "show unused subpages" in the blue box, and then select "catalog".

Catalogues may contain lists, lists of lists, annotated lists, glossaries, indices, charts and tables.

The default spelling is "catalog", but you may use "catalogue" in your writing (though not for naming) if you write in a variant of Commonwealth English.

Clusters and subpages are still new at Citizendium, so policy is developing. Please use the forums and the discussion pages, and feel free to contact an editor for help.

Back to Subpages.

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