NEWSLETTER #1
28th June 1995
edited by Col Needham
Welcome to the first issue of the IMDB newsletter. Based on a suggestion
by team member Murray Chapman this newsletter is
intended to keep users of the system informed of the latest news from the
management team. Comments and suggestions are welcome and should be
directed to me at the address above.
See the further information section at the end of this newsletter for
more information about The Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
We'll see how it goes before deciding how often to publish this - every
other week seems right to me. We will also look into alternative delivery
mechanisms via an e-mail distribution list, via the WWW and maybe an ftp
archive. If you have the resources to manage an automatic mailing list
and would be willing to handle the distribution of the newsletter, please
let me know.
Contents
This is a regular section giving information about the current size and
growth of the IMDB. We receive between 15,000 and 30,000 additions
every week from users all over the world so it grows at an incredible
rate.
Number of filmography entries: 610,674
Number of people covered: 166,876
Number of movies covered: 46,987
Size of the database (Mb): 43
by Col Needham
A new feature in the WWW interface makes it easy to see when each
section of the database was updated at that site. Some of the mirrors
are already supporting this feature, the
rest will follow shortly.
by Col Needham
Murray Chapman
, manager of the trivia and goofs
sections has agreed to take on the additional role of WWW publicity
manager within the team. This involves promoting links to the IMDB from
other movie related sites around the web as well as checking existing
links are set-up correctly. If you spot a movie site which doesn't have
links to us, please let Murray know.
by Col Needham
After an extended hand-over period, the quotes section has been
relaunched with a new manager,
Bob Glickstein If
you've been saving any additions,
now's the time to send them in.
by Col Needham
The title additions interface now has a "pick and mix" menu on it's
entry page. This enables users to get a simplified, custom form tuned
to the sections for which they have new information. Hopefully people
will find the new interface much less daunting. Again, this is already
available at the UK, USA, German and Australian sites.
by Mark Harding
After a recent suggestion by one of the users there is now a new field
in the Biographies section - the "Where are they now?" field. It's
purpose is to document the activities of people that have retired from
the movies. Additions can be made via the usual routes. So, if you know
what some ex-film star is up to, why not let us now . . . comments or
questions to Mark Harding
by Mark Harding
In an attempt to satisfy user demand for a mailing list, I am now
willing to accept requests to add people to a weekly mailing of my two
lists. Please send subscription requests directly to me at the address
above.
by Col Tinto
The plot summary list has just burst through the 6000 barrier...
It now covers over 6000 different movies, with over 6300 summaries.
Pretty good, you may think. But no - remember there are over 47,000
movies in the database. To cover every movie, at the current rate of
150 summaries a week, would take over 5 years !
So we need your help ! I have worked my way through the ratings list,
and extracted some of the more popular movies that don't have summaries
yet, and listed them below. Why not pick a few you've seen, write a
short summary, and submit them in the usual way...
...And Justice for All (1979)
Accidental Tourist, The (1988)
All of Me (1984)
Casualties of War (1989)
Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
Cousins (1989)
Crossing Delancey (1988)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Falcon and the Snowman, The (1984)
Fright Night (1985)
Hair (1979)
Hairspray (1988)
Mermaids (1990)
NeverEnding Story, The (1984)
Omen, The (1976)
Paper Moon (1973)
Return of the Pink Panther, The (1974)
Steel Magnolias (1989)
Westworld (1973)
World According to Garp, The (1982)
Watch out for more plot-less movies in the next issue of IMDB-News.
by Col Needham
As part of my on-going quest to complete the directors section of the
database, I'm looking for volunteers to help research the directors for
the remaining 3,000 or so movies which lack this information. I can
break the missing information down by year or decade if you have a
particular interest in an specific era. A listing of the number of
titles in each year is available on request. If you like serious
challenges, I have only a handful of 1940s titles left, but no one so
far has been able to complete them - a great task if you're a trivia
nut. Please contact me via e-mail
This is a regular section listing some of the enhancements we're
currently looking at. Please bear in mind that some of these may take
quite a while to come to fruition or even fail to materialise because
the original volunteer decides not to proceed.
- a new business information section for the database to store
distributors and rights holders contact details, box office
grosses and other information concerned with the business side
of the industry.
- an alternative versions section grown from the current holdings
in the trivia section in this area. The section will cover
details and differences between directors cuts, video versions,
censored versions of movies in the database.
- a LaserDisc availability section. Note: this section will be
strictly limited to LD's only and not grown into any kind of
generic video catalog.
- a locally installable MS-Windows interface to the database is
under final testing for those of you who want to reduce your
phonebills!
- new "professional" looking icons under construction for the WWW
interface.
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