Choral Public Domain Library

I'd hate to see http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Category:Requested become a graveyard and while reducing it below 2 pages have started pondering <strike>a couple of</strike> various questions:

1) Should requests for works hosted externaly be kept in "Requested"? Some might be nice to have at CPDL as well, or in a different format, but I can't imagine myself as an excited volunteer duplicating Chrysander's editions of Handel operas.

2) I seem to have last checked in 2013! The Luddite in me might prefer requests in a single list that could be on my watchlist and archived from time to time, but I've seen some impressive feats of programing here. Can Category:Requested be sorted by date, or recent requests be lised on main page?

3) Most requests seem to be from unregistered users, with no email addresses for clarifications that might help. Should we require contact info from requesters?

4) Some requests moved to Category:Copyright-restricted will soon enter PD; nice if status could be automated!

5) I don't suppose AddWork could check for existing requests?

My first random test (Telemann: "Ach wie flüchtig") showed that an edition is available on IMSLP (part books in C clefs, text in "currente" script). Certainly usable by musicians accustomed to early music, but not the average parish choir. BUT, what prevents the requester from creating an edition him/herself and upload it on CPDL?

I would thus agree with Richard's point 3) that requests should be restricted to registered users. This would allow to point the requestor to the freely available third party edition and to suggest preparing a CPDL edition thereform. Can someone please explain how the following actions are achieved momentarily?

1. Add a link to an external freely avalable edition on the Request Page
2. Remove a request that is done (either on CPDL or elsewhere)

(Sorry, I did not figure out how to create a numbered list: I have tried a number of imaginable ways for the second entry, but none succeded)

For 1) template:request makes no provision, so one improvises:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php?titl ... id=1199304

For 2) the status parameter of the first line can be edited by hand:
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php?titl ... did=443642

Honestly speaking, I'm not sure that this "score request" feature should be maintained, or, at least, that it should be maintained as it is now. The introduction of these forums, as well as the availability of alternatives (e.g., IMSLP), may suggest to adopt a different approach.

I would propose to create a new main section of these forums, devoted to score requests. We may probably split the existing "Music Requests and Questions" section into two sections, with a section devoted to score requests only. A "sticky" post, which remains on top of the dedicated section, should list the names/usernames of editors that are available to create new editions upon request. Editors may freely add/remove their name/username depending on their availability at any given time. By doing so, whoever may be willing to submit a score request would also know who is available at that time, and possibly refrain from submitting a request when no one is available to process the request.

Then, new requests are supposed to be submitted as new forum topics. This automatically puts the newest requests on top of the list, and one can search for older requests using the standard forums functions. The person who submits a request may add details, and discuss with candidate editors (either publicly on the forums or via PM) about time constraints, source edition preferences, etc.

Maybe the newest requests present on the wiki (are there any? I only found very old requests) can be migrated to the new system, while the oldest may be just ignored, as they are probably outdated.

What do others think about this approach?

Max

I remember only now this thread:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=323&start=15
Better to continue there, probably.

choralia wrote: ↑03 Nov 2020 09:24 I would propose to create a new main section of these forums, devoted to score requests. We may probably split the existing "Music Requests and Questions" section into two sections, with a section devoted to score requests only. A "sticky" post, which remains on top of the dedicated section, should list the names/usernames of editors that are available to create new editions upon request.

What do others think about this approach?

I beg to differ, Max. Here are the disadvantages I see in migrating the system:

• The forums require a separate registration that could potentially discourage occasional CPDL visitors from creating a request;
• Linking to composers and works pages from the forums is not as simple as using plain wiki syntax on CPDL;
• Maybe it's just a wrong perception of mine, but I feel that requests here on the forums would have way less overall visibility than they have on the wiki (including for potential contributors of the requested editions);

And talking of visibility, an idea just came to me: what about creating a new section on composer pages to list pending requests?

I have a similar perception: the forum is someplace I visit maybe once a month (unless I get an email about a specific thread like this one) and there's no watchlist to show me what's new so I dip into a few random threads with newish dates. I'd imagine anyone wanting to make a request would start from the main wiki page Score requests: link, which still points to Category:Requests. A weakness of using a category is that new additions don't show up on watchlists, but maybe a Recent requests on the main page would do the job, since I check Work pages with new editions daily. I like the idea of adding pending editions to composer pages; I sometimes use the talk pages to alert others, as at https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Tal ... n_des_Prez