New forum idea for books

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Ruy,

I faced this same organizational problem when I created the "References & Reference Materials" forum on LWAG which, as you know, is primarily transfers in from TOCH!.

Organizing book topics under major groupings I found to be virtually impossible. For instance, where would you put Manfred Boehme's book JG 7? It's about a Luftwaffe unit, so it could be put under a section on units or operations. But, it is also a book about the Me 262, so it could just as well fall under books on aircraft types. Making matters worse, think of books on Walter Nowotny, which could be sorted by pilot, unit, and aircraft.

Further complicating matters is that, in the discussion on almost any topic, there can be references to one or more books. Quite frequently, there is a great surprise that a book on "X" contains information on "Y" and it is only that someone familiar with this fact shares it with us. So, a book might actually be referenced yet a fourth way, by some gem buried deep inside.

Up until the change in TOCH! format, I was hand laboring to try to disperse the commentaries into LWAG, frequently doing multiple entries, although, at the end, I tended to pick the one I thought most germaine and then entered directors to this thread under the other possible subjects.

In the end, what truly was needed was a search engine that could search for entries like JG 7, i.e., something less than 4 continuous characters. The phpBB2 software of LWAG is not so equipped, a real drawback forcing folks to laboriously search page after page of index if a unit is sought after. Pilots' names are much easier to search for and, in the end, it is the search engine, rather than a title, author, or subject grouping that bails you out. Being one who likes organization, this is a huge mental shift.

One of the real strengths of TOCH! is the commentary on a specific book. People want to know whether it is worth shelling out a large sum of money for a new book. TOCH! members are pretty mercilous in their reviews, canning bad books, but also praising good ones. Sometimes the comments are fair, sometimes not. It is for the eventual purchaser to decide, much as reading movie reviews and considering whether the subject content is still of sufficient interest in the face of a bad review to be worth the price of admission.

There can also be disagreement as to whether material contained in a book is factual or not. These disagreements have led to some classic flame wars. But, cutting through the flames, being aware that there are disagreements is to the good. Taking everything in a book as factual can be a huge mistake. So, commentary pro and con is most welcome.

And, one last word. Look for references. A book with good references can be worth its weight in gold. It also helps to buttress what the author has to say. However, even with references, one has to be rather careful as to what they are and the general subject matter the author is trying to support. If, for instance, the book covers a topic attempting to cross into the Twilight Zone and the references are predominantly secondary sources or unrelated to the thesis being proposed, then the reader should be extremely cautious, if not downright skeptical. Just because an author puts a reference after a particularly unusual assertion doesn't necessarily say that the reference supports the assertion. It may, in fact, support a very non-important element within his text, rather than the point he is trying to make. Generally, the tenor of a book provides the best clues as to whether one is drifting off into la-la land.

Regards,
Richard