science

Science Fiction Awards Database

Science Fiction Awards Database is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Science Fiction Awards Database rather than just read about it. In short: The Science Fiction Awards Database (SFADB) is an index of science fiction, fantasy, and horror awards compiled by Mark R. Kelly and published by the Locus Science Fiction Foundation.

Key takeaways

Science Fiction Awards Database belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Science Fiction Awards Database to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Science Fiction Awards Database from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Science Fiction Awards Database (SFADB) is an index of science fiction, fantasy, and horror awards compiled by Mark R. Kelly and published by the Locus Science Fiction Foundation. Known formerly as the Locus Index to SF Awards, it has been cited as an invaluable science fiction resource, and is often more up-to-date than the awards' own websites (according to The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction).

History The Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards was established in 2000 by Mark R. Kelly, the founder of Locus Online. The Cornell University Library has described it as a comprehensive listing of science fiction awards, including "reader polls, fan awards, inactive awards, academic awards, award statistics, and more". Despite the title, the index has always covered fantasy and horror in addition to science fiction. In 2012, coincident with Kelly's retirement as an aerospace software engineer, the website received a redesign and expansion, and was renamed the Science Fiction Awards Database (SFADB).

Reception The index has received praise from authors and editors of speculative fiction, including Jo Walton and Gardner Dozois. Walton has said that her book An Informal History of the Hugos would not have been possible without the existence of the index. The Orion Publishing Group called it "extraordinary, and to our mind, criminally under-appreciated", and cited it as a primary source for Gollancz's SF Masterworks and SF Gateway series of books.

Ever wondered who won the Hugo Award in 1963? (Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle) Or how many Nebula Awards Connie Willis has won? (Seven) Or whether Ursula K. Le Guin ever won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award? (Yes, in 1995 with novella Forgiveness Day) Then you need to visit the Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards. We do. Every week. – Orion. Writing in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Peter Nicholls and David Langford called the index invaluable, and noted that it was often more up-to-date than the awards' official websites. Locus Online, which hosted the index, received the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Website.

Contents The SFADB compiles over 100 literary awards for science fiction, fantasy, and horror, from 1951 to date. It includes both nominees and winners, with a separate page for each person and award. Awards are displayed as three groups: Major Career Awards, Major Awards and Other Awards, and can be sorted chronologically, by nominee, and by category. Statistics such as "Total Wins", "Total Losses" and "Never-Winners" are also listed. The following table lists a subset of 29 awards that are featured in the "Awards" dropdown (as of 2021):

The SFADB also has a citations directory for each author, containing a list of critical works and reading guides where their books have been cited. In 2018, it added indexes for "Year's Best" anthologies of short fiction, with contents linked to the individual author pages.

References

Sources

External links Locus Index to Science Fiction Awards (archive) Science Fiction Awards Database

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Science Fiction Awards Database

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Science Fiction Awards Database claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Science Fiction Awards Database before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Science Fiction Awards Database ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Science Fiction Awards Database

In research: Science Fiction Awards Database appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Science Fiction Awards Database in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Science Fiction Awards Database is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bibliographic databases and indexes, Fantasy awards, Horror fiction awards, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Science Fiction Awards Database outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Science Fiction Awards Database in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Science Fiction Awards Database means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Science Fiction Awards Database out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Science Fiction Awards Database in simple terms?

The Science Fiction Awards Database (SFADB) is an index of science fiction, fantasy, and horror awards compiled by Mark R. Kelly and published by the Locus Science Fiction Foundation.

Why does Science Fiction Awards Database matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Science Fiction Awards Database?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Science Fiction Awards Database.