| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Ozreth |
Posted - 14 Jul 2012 : 23:34:06
Do you attack your source material with highlighters, pens etc when taking notes or prepping games? Do you wait until a product is a certain age or beaten up enough? Or do you keep them all in plastic baggies and wear gloves when you handle them?  |
| 26 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kuje |
Posted - 24 Jul 2012 : 07:49:38
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
I've severely simplified my lending process now. Basically, you can only "lend" my books in my house. I won't even allow any of my books to leave my library. It just makes it all easier for me to keep an eye on who is reading what, and when they're reading it.
Oh I like that idea! Id do that myself but I don't have many people who are interested in my novel any more. |
| WalkerNinja |
Posted - 24 Jul 2012 : 03:40:42
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Varl
I do keep modules and products that fit in those top loading sheet protectors. They're great for storage, as you can mark them up with the product's name on the tab area for much easier locating.
I used to put covers on all of my hardcover books, but I don't do that any more... I do, however, still put anything softcover into a polybag. Done that for years... Originally, I stored the softcover books in folders, before getting into the polybag gig.
I got into that habit because when I was a teenager, my dad's second wife was death on D&D. I discovered, though, that even during the summer, she'd not pay attention to a book with a plain brown paper book cover on it.
Once she was out of the picture, I no longer needed to do that, but I kept it up with the hardcovers for a long time. I started bagging the softcovers because it protected them but still kept them accessible.
I actually cut apart several books with a box cutter, put the pages into page protectors, and put them in three ring binders. Usually only after the binding was going bad or if I knew in advance that I would be using them a lot. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 24 Jul 2012 : 02:36:53
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
My "no-writing-in-my-books" policy is as well known around these parts, as is my "no-dog-ears" policy.
Quite simply, if you write in one of my books, you can expect that I'll hound you until you've replaced it with a new and unblemished copy. 
If I need to mark important passages, or source material for later perusal, I'll use "stickies" or my own specialised non-adhesive markers. Nothing permanent.
This is me as well and I've made friends buy me new copies of novels that they've ruined either by cracking the spine or dog earring the pages. Now, I just don't loan out my books except to a handful of people.
I've severely simplified my lending process now. Basically, you can only "lend" my books in my house. I won't even allow any of my books to leave my library. It just makes it all easier for me to keep an eye on who is reading what, and when they're reading it. |
| Thrasymachus |
Posted - 24 Jul 2012 : 02:08:17
I don’t don little Baggies on my hands with the sourcebooks, but I do treat them like I would like them to last longer than me.
Novels are a different story. I have a set that I treat kindly like sourcebooks, and then I have duplicates that because of how I use them in my campaign land up pretty much ruined. |
| Kuje |
Posted - 23 Jul 2012 : 16:44:39
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
My "no-writing-in-my-books" policy is as well known around these parts, as is my "no-dog-ears" policy.
Quite simply, if you write in one of my books, you can expect that I'll hound you until you've replaced it with a new and unblemished copy.
If I need to mark important passages, or source material for later perusal, I'll use "stickies" or my own specialised non-adhesive markers. Nothing permanent.
This is me as well and I've made friends buy me new copies of novels that they've ruined either by cracking the spine or dog earring the pages. Now, I just don't loan out my books except to a handful of people. |
| LordXenophon |
Posted - 22 Jul 2012 : 20:04:43
quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
Making that stuff stand out makes it easier to find it later on. If you leave it alone, then you have a wall of uniform text to wade through whenever you want to find it again. I like it to pop out at me. Plus, the process of underlining makes it more memorable, too.
When you reach the point where half of every page is yellow and half the rest of the text is underlined, nothing stands out any more. And yes, I have an old DMG in that condition, bound with duct tape. It came in a box of other D&D books, some of which I actually wanted, for only $20 at a yard sale.
Oh, yeah. I did write in the alternate names of certain planes on the graph in the Manual of the Planes. Half the outer planes were re-named for 2e. |
| Tyranthraxus |
Posted - 22 Jul 2012 : 12:28:29
I usually use sticky notes or I write with pencil. I don't want to leave any permanent marks in my D&D and Realms books. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 22 Jul 2012 : 04:33:30
quote:
Originally posted by LordXenophon
I really don't understand why people fill their books with notes, highlighting, underlining, annotations, etc.
Making that stuff stand out makes it easier to find it later on. If you leave it alone, then you have a wall of uniform text to wade through whenever you want to find it again. I like it to pop out at me. Plus, the process of underlining makes it more memorable, too.
And I just don't feel bad about marking the page of paper. It's paper--not Bob Salvatore, himself. I'm not defiling something sacred. It's just a copy of something from him and WOTC. If I mark it up too much, I can always go get another. No big deal.
Now, if I had a one-of-a-kind edition of something ancient, sure, I'd treat that with kid gloves. But I can't afford anything like that, so that's a non-issue.
There are editions of some Drizzt books going for $50-150, in like new condition. I buy them used for $1-20, and proceed to mark them up to my heart's content.
Maybe it's my decided lack of religiosity that keeps me from viewing and treating books as sacred?
quote:
Once, I even bought a used book that turned out to have several of the major characters altered. Somebody had repeatedly crossed out their levels, HP and even some of their attributes and written in new values as they leveled. It's as though this DM had never heard of character sheets.
OK, now that's just stupid. It's not a notebook. It's not scratch paper. Use separate pages of paper for that sort of stuff! |
| LordXenophon |
Posted - 22 Jul 2012 : 01:19:31
I've been known to make corrections to the books, but that's about it. And only minor corrections. For the big errata, I stuff another page in the relevant part of the book.
I really don't understand why people fill their books with notes, highlighting, underlining, annotations, etc. Once, I even bought a used book that turned out to have several of the major characters altered. Somebody had repeatedly crossed out their levels, HP and even some of their attributes and written in new values as they leveled. It's as though this DM had never heard of character sheets. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 21 Jul 2012 : 21:16:39
You guys and your veneration of paper and ink!
I am reminded of that South Park episode spoofing "WOW", in which the designers saved a super sword onto a flash drive and made a big show out of handing it over to Stan's dad, like it was some sort of ancient relic.
Dude, it's a $10 flash drive! |
| Neil Bishop |
Posted - 21 Jul 2012 : 10:42:53
No way.
You don't write in books. You don't crease their spines. You don't dog-ear the pages or fold the covers.
You also don't borrow books from me unless I know for absolute certain that you treat your books as well as I do. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 19 Jul 2012 : 22:11:51
As a kid, I was raised to treat a few material things with awe and reverence. They were usually one-of-a-kind things, like really old books that nobody knew how to come by again, or cute newspaper clippings, or nice posters of airplanes, or my dad's models.
But I just never did make that connection to most books. To me, the value of a book is mostly in its textual/pictorial communication of ideas, and not in the physical stuff of which it is made. That's just paper and ink. It's the thoughts and idea and emotions that the author put into it that really matters.
I suppose that the neverending parade of editions of Bob's books kinda spoils me into not feeling too attached to any particular book, too. I can always just go out and get another one! I've got 4 different versions of The Crystal Shard, as we speak. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 19 Jul 2012 : 20:45:08
quote:
Originally posted by Varl
I do keep modules and products that fit in those top loading sheet protectors. They're great for storage, as you can mark them up with the product's name on the tab area for much easier locating.
I used to put covers on all of my hardcover books, but I don't do that any more... I do, however, still put anything softcover into a polybag. Done that for years... Originally, I stored the softcover books in folders, before getting into the polybag gig.
I got into that habit because when I was a teenager, my dad's second wife was death on D&D. I discovered, though, that even during the summer, she'd not pay attention to a book with a plain brown paper book cover on it.
Once she was out of the picture, I no longer needed to do that, but I kept it up with the hardcovers for a long time. I started bagging the softcovers because it protected them but still kept them accessible. |
| Varl |
Posted - 19 Jul 2012 : 19:32:44
I do not write in my books. If I ever feel the need to use/remove a passage from any sourcebook, rather than mar and highlight something, I use MS Word and the nice sized catalog of fonts I've acquired to get the effect I want.
I do keep modules and products that fit in those top loading sheet protectors. They're great for storage, as you can mark them up with the product's name on the tab area for much easier locating. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 18:28:11
Simply seeing, reading, or hearing something is usually not enough for me to really learn and remember it. I need to highlight or underline it, and usually jot it down as a note in a margin and on a separate piece of paper/notebook somewhere before it really sinks in.
I remember noticing typos in my textbooks as a kid and being royally peeved that adults got away with that when they were getting paid, but we kids got graded off for it and we weren't being paid squat! I was so tempted to edit my textbooks just like my teachers did with my school papers, but my teachers and parents always told me not to mark them up unless I paid for them.
Well, I pay for my books now, and I darn well mark them up good!
I suppose there's a little latent schoolboy angst and rage that gets some release from marking up books now.
But it's not all about catching mistakes. I love to underline poignant passages, too, for future ease of recall.
And with me being decidedly irreligious, you should see my copies of the Bible. I think I must've doubled the weight of them with all the red ink! Remember River Tam from Firefly? Yeah, that was me!  |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 17:28:07
quote:
Originally posted by Thauranil
I never deface my books by writing and or drawing in them. Well at least not novels, my textbooks are another matter.
I was in college before I ever marked up a textbook, and even then, I didn't do it oft. |
| GRYPHON |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 15:04:28
I write in my books... |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 14:19:42
I never write in or mark books in any form. And to be honest I never bother to take notes from rulebooks either, unless it is something I plan to use in an adventure in the near future. |
| Thauranil |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 12:58:37
I never deface my books by writing and or drawing in them. Well at least not novels, my textbooks are another matter. |
| Irennan |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 09:02:27
I used to write on my textbooks a lot, but for some reason I'd never write on setting sourcebooks (or novels, or rulebooks). Rather, I'd write what I wish somewhere else, noting the book and the page I refer to. |
| Ozreth |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 06:23:42
I like that the two moderators appear to be the tidiest of the bunch |
| The Sage |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 05:48:15
My "no-writing-in-my-books" policy is as well known around these parts, as is my "no-dog-ears" policy.
Quite simply, if you write in one of my books, you can expect that I'll hound you until you've replaced it with a new and unblemished copy.
If I need to mark important passages, or source material for later perusal, I'll use "stickies" or my own specialised non-adhesive markers. Nothing permanent. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 04:55:29
I do not write in my books. And I will not allow them to be written in, at least until I get the chance to get Ed to sign something.  |
| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 02:07:19
I tend to write more then I should in my generic D&D sourcebooks and Realms books. I write house rules into my core rulebooks and also line-out material that has errata.
I won't write in anything I've paid a premium for (for collecting purposes).
I try to purchase used copies of older books if I intend to use them heavily. I have four copies of the DM's Sourcebook of the Realms and the Cyclopedia of the Realms (which ought to tell you how useful those two books are even though they are twenty five years old).
I write heavily in the margins of adventures. My copy of Into the Dragon's Lair is filled with extra ink.
EDIT: I don't write in my novels, whether soft cover or hardcover. |
| BEAST |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 01:52:53
I mark up my books to hell.
I recently bought a bunch of the hardcover collector's editions of the novels, in part to ensure that they will be able to hold up to my abuse for a long time to come! |
| WalkerNinja |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 00:38:30
I have frequently written notes in my campaign resources to note where my continuity has diverged from the standard continuity. Modules are totally marked up with highlighters, postits, and tabs.
Eventually two other DMs merged continuities with me (we had a lot of the same players, and all played in one anothers' games, and everything was starting to cross-pollenate extensively), so eventually my notes were transcribed into a campaign expansion that also incorporated the work of the other 2 DMs.
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