information being deleted

I have a question/concern/confusion about the adding and deleting of common knowledge. I've just set up my author page and had added a good bit of information to the common knowledge section. When I logged in today, all of my information had been deleted by a "helper." I don't understand why all of my information has been deleted. I've just re-added it, but I'm now expecting it to be deleted again every time I do. I suppose I just need a bit of insight as to why information would be deleted and how to keep it from being deleted. If a "helper" is going to go in and delete all of my information, why complete this section? Can anyone advise? This is my first week on LT, so I apologize for my ignorance. Thank you for your guidance!

For the "Places of Residence" and "Education" fields, you should add a new line for each item, like each place of residence or each university. That is probably why those fields were erased. I've gone through and fixed them for you.

Regarding your "short biography", LibraryThing is mostly a site for readers to enter information about books and authors. It's not a place for publicity (except in a select few places) and my guess would be that someone thought your biography sounded like publicity.

Here's some more information on how you can use LT as an author -

How authors or publishers can use LibraryThing:
http://www.librarything.com/about/authors
http://www.librarything.com/about/publishers

Groups where authors hang out:
http://www.librarything.com/groups/hobnobwithauthors
http://www.librarything.com/groups/writersbragandragbag

I hope you enjoy it here!

I just took that 'biography' out. If you want to put a biography in, it should be a biography, not promotional text that says nothing about your life.

This makes so much sense! Thank you soooo much! I've been checking out other member pages to get a feel for it all and watching some videos, but I'm still terribly awkward at this. I'm getting there, though! With your help! My next step is to figure out the discussion groups. Eager to join some reading groups. I read waaaaay too many romance novels (of course!) and am always wishing I could chat about them with folks, but no one I knows reads HR. Sad day. Excited to be here! Thank you so much for the guidance!

>5 PGolden:

I read waaaaay too many romance novels (of course!) and am always wishing I could chat about them with folks,

Check out this group: http://www.librarything.com/groups/romancefromhistorica

>5 PGolden: There are lots of groups for people who read a wide variety of books, and those often include Romance.
There's also a dedicated group for Romance readers here: http://www.librarything.com/groups/romancefromhistorica

You might also check out the "Welcome to Librarything" group, which is a place for new users to hang out and ask questions.

I've just joined the romance group! Super excited! Thank you for the referral, lilithcat and norabelle414!

Thanks to all for the tips. It'll take me a little bit to gain my bearings, but it's going to be a fun adventure!

Well, pooh. I updated the bio to focus on the books I like to read and a little about my hobbies, but the same helper deleted my biography again. I'm bummed because I followed the bio tips. Not going to add another bio to my page if it's going to continue to be deleted. Super bummed. :(

>9 PGolden: Without having seen your bio I can't judge precisely, but it sounds like your bio is not as -- for lack of a better word -- terse as is generally expected.

What you've got to remember is that your Author page is not your page to do with as you will, it is an accumulation of data and CK as entered by users across the system. It is designed to give readers/catalogers info about an author, but is not and is not designed to be a promotional page. Beyond the fact that you know stuff about yourself that may not be generally known about you by your readers (where you went to school, places you've lived, etc.) which you can enter, it's not a place for you to write about your hobbies. You've got your profile page for that.

It may help if you peruse other author pages to see what is common in the bio section. However, I think you'll find that few have anything in that field. I am an author myself as was my late husband ibonewits. I've entered tons of stuff about us in CK, but not a bio.

Actually, three different members have deleted your 'biographies'.

Right. I won't be adding anything more to my page again and apologize if I've missed the point.

A typical brief biography is 2-5 sentences, and summarizes birth, growing up, important works and awards, and perhaps spouse and children. It's typically not written by the author themselves (or even virtually never) and it's not a portrait of the author but a summary of the important events of their life. And I think it helps if you don't think of it as "your page" but "a page about you".

>12 PGolden: Some useful things that you could (and even should) do are to add a photograph (the one on your profile is fine for this), and I've used your information to add some links (your website, Facebook, and Twitter pages). I'm sure that Wikipedia has not yet taken notice of you, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Please consider filling out the useful information in the CK (such as birthdate, location, and so forth). I've added gender for you. I'd forget about the Bio, personally. With rare exception, that's not so useful for living authors (in my opinion). It would be nice, also, if you added your birthplace. Location (if you're uncomfortable naming a city) can just be a state or province, if you like.

>14 Lyndatrue:

I'd forget about the Bio, personally. With rare exception, that's not so useful for living authors (in my opinion)

Frankly, pretty much anything one would put in the short bio is already included in the other CK fields.

I will add that for authors who are members of LT, they can put as much information about themselves as they want on their personal profile pages - those are theirs, and they can list as much about pets and kids and hobbies and whatnot as they like.

Somehow, I'm afraid we've scared another author off...

>17 gilroy: If they come here looking for a promotion platform, they're in the wrong place to begin with. We get even more authors who do a hit-and-run; they set up an account, add their own books and never come back again.

>18 PhaedraB: Realize that. This one SEEMED to be trying to work with us, but got frustrated.

She cleared her Author page of everything.

I think PGolden is the type of author that we should encourage. She seems much more interested in talking about the books she's read than the ones she's written.

>19 gilroy: Ah, I missed that part. Bummer.

>19 gilroy: Did she really want to work with us? Deleting everything in a (presumed) huff does not look good.

She was over-eager and didn't really fit in with LT's system where anyone can delete the work of anyone else, without an explanation, I think. I can understand that. I wonder if there's a better way to make new users understand that aspect of LT. On the other hand, everyone knows how Wikipedia works. Perhaps an (optional) way of annotating edits would be a good thing.

Perhaps instead of just straight up erasing things, we should try an edit to make things more palatable first. If the user has a question as to why, a polite explanation would then result.

I felt more and more we're developing a very close minded approach to things and won't try to work with others. We just delete and flag, with limited communication.

>22 PhaedraB: Yes, she was trying, until she left in a huff.

>23 anglemark: didn't really fit in with LT's system where anyone can delete the work of anyone else, without an explanation, I think.
Sometimes I don't, either. But it feels less personal to me because it's not information about me that has been deleted, just information that I have entered.
I do think it was rude for someone to delete her "places of residence" and "education" sections instead of correcting them, though.

>25 norabelle414: I would ordinarily tend to agree, but want to point out that Ms Golden is the person who deleted those items. In fact, other than the Bio, she deleted most of the information that had been added.

I'm including the author link here for myself, since I keep having to go to her personal page to get there, otherwise.

http://www.librarything.com/author/goldenpaullett

>26 Lyndatrue: She deleted them last, but someone else deleted them in message >1 PGolden:. She had put all the entries in one line, which is probably why someone deleted them, but it only took me a minute to fix them in >2 norabelle414:

>27 norabelle414:

She had put all the entries in one line, which is probably why someone deleted them, but it only took me a minute to fix them

That kind of thing is so easy to fix; I often do so. (Though I must say that I don't understand how people miss the "add item" bit when they open the field.)

>27 norabelle414: Ah, well. Pity, but that's the way of things.

She's a professor of English at a school somewhere in the British Isles, and of an age where she ought to be more sensible. I've found out a bit, by looking at the edges, but will just keep it to myself, as is polite.

I wonder if she also showed up on Goodreads...

Well, I just had to delete "mother" from the "Relationships" field on an Author page. Do people not see the examples? How is it hard to realize that the field wants a name and the relationship?

Well, this has all been a fun read!

Just a few points
*Haven't scared me off. :) Had a busy weekend and am finally getting back on.
*Didn't go anywhere in a huff. I veeery much appreciate the thoughtful and helpful comments. Not so appreciative of the not so kind remarks, but I understand personality isn't always easy to read through messages, so if I read those with a smile and a laugh, they're not too bad. ;)
*I didn't have much posted, but after it was made clear the pages were for the readers to fill out, not authors, I thought I might as well delete the few bits that I had added. I figured they'd be deleted soon anyway given each new thing I posted was deleted within a few hours or a day. I've never been part of a page that allowed deletions without explanations, so it's a bit disconcerting when building a page that you think is yours to suddenly have everything you put deleted without explanation. Then deleted again when you re-post. Then reach out for help, follow the guidance, and then still get deleted. I studied other author pages to best understand what to post, but since it all kept getting deleted, I didn't see much point in continuing to add or revise it. Not frustration so much as total confusion. I'll just leave the author profile for readers to add to since that seems the nature of the beast. As forewarned, this is my first week on LT, so I have a HUGE learning curve! Be patient with me. I'll figure it out. The helpful advice is definitely helpful.
*As a few pointed out, not here to promote (though having an author page is nice). Here to join some reading groups. I've had a hectic life with limited time for reading much less reading groups, and have finally gotten to a point where I can focus on my reading and writing. I'm eager to join in. I've worked on my personal profile, as suggested, to reflect that (leaving the author page for readers so I'm not in anyway trying to promote myself). I'll put my attention into the personal profile. :)

So, again, thanks to everyone who has been really helpful.

And....now about reading....anyone have a Lisa Kleypas novel to recommend??? I have her on my to-read list for December, but I'm not sure which book to try. Don't laugh, but I've never read her. Always meant to, but never did. Recommendations?

>31 PGolden: I'm not much of a romance reader, but my friends enjoyed Secrets of a Summer Night

>31 PGolden:

after it was made clear the pages were for the readers to fill out, not authors

Oh, but that's not so! We're happy to have authors fill in the fields, because, of course, authors know more of that information, generally speaking. It's authors using fields like the biography for promotional stuff to which we object.

>31 PGolden: Sorry for presuming, and thanks for sticking around. If you need clarity on what is expected in any field, we (collectively) will be happy to help. Really. Snarkless to the best of our ability.

PhaedraB: That last sentence gave me more of a giggle than it probably should have. I needed that giggle after a looooong Monday.

Lilithcat: Oooooooh. Makes sense. I think. I've re-added a couple of basic stuff, but will spend my energy building my personal profile. Will take time to get to know LT a bit better. I'll figure it out. What I really need is a long afternoon of free time to really explore.

Norabell414: Awesome! I'll check it out. I've learned the hard way that the first book you read of an author can be the beginning of a long relationship or a quick end to a first meet. There have been times when I'll hear great things about an author, grab a book with a catchy title, and then hate it and the author all in one fell swoop. Everyone will then protest with, "No, no, you just read the wrong book. That one isn't her best. Try this one!" But at that point the inclination has waned. The first book is so important! I've hit it just right with a few authors so when I come across a bad book of theirs, I just shrug it off and move on to the next one because I know it's bound to be good. Yeeees, first reads are important!

>35 PGolden: If you'd like to get the link to the post to which you are replying, type > and the message number with no spaces.

>35 PGolden: Welcome back! I'm glad to hear that we didn't run you off. I see you added a bit of information to your author page, and you may have noticed I added a random birth year (I exchanged it for "The 20th Century" which another of us is fond of). You can just leave it, if you like, but it would be a kindness if you changed it to an actual birthdate, and even a birthplace to go with it, in that place in CK denoted as (surprise, surprise) Birthplace.

As a side note, you will find that referencing another's comment in a thread is as easy as using the open angle bracket, and the comment number, as I've done with your comment. (I note that I was just beaten to the draw on this by >36 PhaedraB: clever girl)

Again, glad that you're sticking around. :-}

Yeah, happy to see you're still here. I hope the ride will be smoother from now on.

>31 PGolden: I'm very thankful I was wrong!

>37 Lyndatrue: Will do on the birthdate!

>40 PGolden: The text you entered is not what I had in mind. Please change it to an actual birthdate. 20th Century is what is entered by someone who just wants to point out that you are a living author. When Taphophile13 enters it, she's being helpful. I'm very sure you know your birthdate.

At least 1970 was a year. :-{

ETA: On the plus side, I see there's now a birthplace, which is an interesting one, considering where you now live.

20th Century is fine if you don't want to make your actual date of birth public.

Interestingly "University of London, King's College" isn't used as much as the form "Kings College, London" (Don't ask me where the apostrophe is - it seems to be a common construction for a lot of Kings Colleges, Cambridge is the same). Clicking on it in CK doesn't work at all well, CK search is needed to get a better sense of numbers.

I think the formal name doesn't really match either of those. The formal name is "King's College London" and it is considered a university in its own right https://www.kcl.ac.uk/newsevents/news/newsrecords/2014/December/Kings-rebrand.as...

You've attended A&M University, PGolden! I was in College Station in August and was shown the the Special Collections at the Cushing Library, their first edition of The Hobbit, their Second Folio and other morsels. Oh, and their Kelmscott Chaucer!

LyndaTrue (#41):

Not everybody wants their birthdate to be public. "20th Century" is just fine for that, and unlike an arbitrary date is obviously a placeholder.

>45 lorax: Yeah, I know, it's just that having someone say they "fixed" the birthdate and then seeing that 20th Century thing pushed the wrong button.

I'm still grateful for the additional information (and fascinated with Texas as a birthplace for an author now living in the British Isles...now *there's* a story).

I admit to being more sensitized than I might have otherwise been, having the author linking system being "fixed" when I didn't think it was broken, and not having things that are actually broken fixed instead.

Your response elsewhere made me smile, and thank you for that. :-}