Edited Flea Market Rescues

This month we are proud to announce that five Flea Market Rescues have been Edited!

Florida Sailor has rescued Tonsil Revenge's A2936810 to create Buddy Holly - Singer/Songwriter.

BeowulfShaffer's Brave New World has been rescued as 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley.

theenglishman101's Quintus Sertorius article has been rescued as Quintus Sertorius - Roman General.

Jenny_Tablina's The Sonic The hedgehog series,spin offs and secrets has been rescued as The Sonic the Hedgehog Series and Spin-offs: 1991-1999.

Pheroneous II has rescued earlier incarnation Pheroneous's entry on Charm to create Charm.

This brings the total of Flea Market Rescues to 227, a remarkable achievement considering the total at the start of the year was 202.

Recommended Rescues

Since the last issue, three Flea Market Rescues have been recommended from Peer Review!

• Florida Sailor has written
  How to Star Gaze rescuing How to Star Gaze by JadedGoddess.

• Galaxy Babe wrote How to Smell a Ponderosa Pine, a rescue of How to Smell a Ponderosa Pine by Mew Gull.

• Bluebottle made The Early History and Development of Film, rescuing History of Film by Oberon 2001, Tonsil Revenge and Trout Montague.

We look forward to seeing these on the front page soon!

Interview with a Scavenger

To learn more about the Flea Market, it's a good idea to talk to some of the people who have done it. In this issue we interview Bobstafford, who has eight credited Flea Market Rescue to his name, putting him in joint 4th place for most rescues done (along with Galaxy Babe and Bluebottle):

1. Staffordshire, England, UK
   Original:  Deleted entry by Number Six & others
   

2. The Life Of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
   Original:   Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots by Steffi
   

3. The Battle of Turnham Green 1642
   Original:   The Civil War.Brentford and Turnham Green by OldBerk

4. Japan for the Visitor
   Original:  Japan by Opticalillusion

5. Japanese History and Culture
   Original:  Japanese Culture by U220737

6. Contemporary Japan
   Original:  A Brief History of the Japanese State and its Politics by Dermarschall

7. Citizenship in the Roman Republic
   Original:  Patricians, Plebs and Proles - Class and Citizenship in the Roman Republic by Blackberry Cat

8. Oliver Cromwell: Lord Protector of the Commonwealth
   Original:  Oliver Cromwell by Mr Dreadful

Bluebottle: What made you decide to rescue these?

bobstafford: They were all things I am interested in, and have knowledge of very familiar subjects in some cases. They were notable entries in their own right, landmark entries if you like. Even though the subjects were of some importance though not of interest to all.

Japanese history especially is a neglected aspect in many ways but has strong parallels with, our own being a militaristic in nature, although more extreme example in some aspects.

Why I rescued each entry:

• Staffordshire, England, UK
  
  I live in the area and it just fitted in with other entries I had done on the Saxon kingdoms.

• The Life Of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots
  
  This just had to be finished the seed that was planted and led to the Civil War.

• The Battle of Turnham Green 1642
  
  A forgotten battle of some importance in this struggle.

• Japan:

  • Japan for the Visitor
  • Japanese History and Culture
  • Contemporary Japan
  
  These made a nice set and needed to be linked together as the foundation for future entries on Japan.

• Citizenship in the Roman Republic
  
  This was an entry that described the altitude of the Romans that passed on to later generations to form the structure of western society.

• Oliver Cromwell: Lord Protector of the Commonwealth
  
  Cromwell was at the time a contender in a national vote for the most important Britain(or something like that ) so I felt it needed finishing.

All the entries were things I am interested in, and have knowledge of very familiar subjects in some cases.

The hardest of all the rescues was Mary Stewart it needed to stand out and do justice to the subject I still don't know if it succeeded. The most difficult was sorting the wealth of information and avoiding overloading the entry.

Bluebottle: There seem to be recurring themes – Japan and history - Britain in the 16th and 17th Century. Was this a conscious decision?
bobstafford: Yes it was a very conscious decision. People forget 16th and 17th Century was the turning point for England the birth of empire had roots in the Civil War, the birth of a strong Navy, and the reorganisation of the army.

Bluebottle: Would you only rescue articles about subjects you know well?
bobstafford: Yes there is no point if you don't know or are not very interested the subject, the entry will be hard going both in the writing and for the reader. Everyone is very polite I hope as others do that the entries are readable and of some interested. But to tell the truth they are as much personal notes about things I am interested in, or sorting out a chronology of a complex subject an example of which was the Roman invasion of Britain.

Bluebottle: Have you approached a Flea Market Rescue any differently to how you write an article from scratch?
bobstafford: Not really every entry needs a framework or plan, subject, order and theme. With a rescue that is there already it may need amendment but with a rescue half the work is done, The downside is that you have to check for mistakes and go over the ground again, but at least it is like following a signposted path even if you have to take a different route every now and then.

Bluebottle: Is it easier or more difficult? When you write a Flea Market rescue, how do you decide what to keep and what to edit, and how much of a right do you feel that you have in making decisions about the article?

bobstafford: It's easier, there is no doubt about that right up to the point you start writing your contribution. From this point it becomes the same as writing any entry with the added aspect of the trying to respect and support the previous author’s endeavour.

The idea is to retain something of the original, if you like not overwhelm it, remember what attracted you to the entry and try and keep it. If something has to be changed or edited out however it has to go. Happily facts are facts and seldom have to go unless they are wrong. If in doubt trust Peer Review, an unbiased opinion will be forthcoming.

There is a point where an entry is little more than a bookmark and then you have more of a free hand. When you have written more than 70% of the content, you have to decide if you contributing to their entry or are they contributing to theirs; it’s a moot point.

Bluebottle: Would you recommend doing Flea Market rescues to other researchers?
bobstafford: Yes, if nothing else it will get you started and if you can't finish you can always get help, at the last resort you always return the entry to the Flea Market with your amendments.

Bluebottle: How do you think you would feel about being on the other side, about someone else making changes to an entry you had written, if someone tried to rescue this entry?
bobstafford: Help yourself please, better a co-author than not at all and the entries are what is needed, it is what H2G2 is about. And you might be able to help by simply co-operating with someone who wants to rescue or update one of your old entries . If I did not want this to happen I could delete the entry. So if I leave it unfinished I am inviting rescue even by default.

Bluebottle: Would you rescue another article from the Flea Market?
bobstafford: Oh yes indeed, if I could rescue another I would definitely would.

Thank you very much Bobstafford for your insight into your experience in Flea Market!

New Entries to the Flea Market

These two entries have entered the Flea Market, ready to be rescued, since the last issue:

• 
  Entry: Cyberculture (Especially Second Life)
  
  Author: DudeStarship
  Flea Market Thread


• Entry: The Pit Bull
  
  Author: MachineGunRodeo
  Flea Market Thread

Flea Market Rescues Currently in Peer Review

These are the articles being rescued from the Flea Market that are currently in Peer Review. Why not help by reviewing the new version of the article?
Aricles in Bold are new entries which have been submitted since Issue III of SuperMarket was published.

Everyone who reads through and comments upon these articles helps to make it the best it can be!

Articles about ?

Here is a selection of Articles remaining in the Flea Market and awaiting a rescuer. To tie in with Create, this month's theme is Travel and Places.

So if you have been to any of these places, why not rescue one of these?

Browsing Flea Market

Thanks to an idea by Florida Sailor, browsing the Flea Market is easier than ever! Before, researchers were expected to scroll through endless pages of entries, which is very discouraging when you want to quickly look through all the available entries. Now a link to help view all the entries in Flea Market has been added to the Flea Market page. This makes it easier to see all of the listed entries contained within!

And Remember...

The Flea Market needs You!

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