SF>I have a chance to do some good for a local library - namely to fill in
SF>the gaps in their science fiction collection. Except for a few
SF>H.G.Wells books in their YA collection they don't really have any
SF>Science Fiction classics att all.
Hi Patty! I know what you are going through. I recently did a Science
Fiction retrospective collection for my library. I would like to
recommend a couple of WWW sites which I found extremely helpful while I
was making my choices:
1) A site which lists Hugo award-winner AND nominees (as well as other
book awards):
www.city-net.com/~lmann/awards/index.html
I thought this site was very well organized and easy to follow.
BTW, in the URL, after the ~, it is "l" as in "Linda."
2) Science Fiction classics
http://home.mem.net/~jwharris/classics/classics.htm
I cannot say enough good things about this WWW site. Believe me, I
looked at a lot of sites that purported to list "the best science
fiction and fantasy ever!" When I got there, I discovered that it was
maintained by a 13-year-old who hasn't read anything but _Dragon Lance_,
Star Wars and Star Trek. (Disclaimer: This is not a disparagement of
13-years olds, Dragon Lance, Star Wars or Star Trek.)
And what is Mr. Harris' method for determining a classic? Well, he
compiled surveys from SF critics, SF fans (from magazine surveys), and I
think he included awards (Hugos and Nebulas) as a factor as well. He
put it all together and made up a list! Plus, and I found this very
helpful, he did another list where he organized the titles according to
how many lists they appeared on. There were a total of 12 lists in all,
so if a book appeared on 12 lists, *everybody* considered it a classic.
It continued all the way down through 11, 10, etc. A book had to appear
on at least 3 or 4 lists to be considered a classic.
This site also includes a very thoughtful essay on what makes a SF book
a classic.
Sorry, I was a little bit long-winded, but I wanted to make everyone
aware of these sites.
Kristen Valyi-Hax
Reference Librarian
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