Fic Finding Community

A fic finding community (or fic finder, story finder, or fic search community) is a journal community set up to help fans searching for the title, author, or URL of a specific piece of fanfiction they have read previously but don't remember all the details of (or otherwise can't find themselves). Posts in these communities usually take the form of "that one story where character X is in Y situation and Z happened". Fic finding is sometimes considered to be distinct from situations in which the fan doesn't have a particular story in mind and is looking for multiple fics that are in the same category (which may be called "genre finding").
==Entertainment Value==
For many of their readers, fic finding communities are more than only utilities for finding lost fics. Reading the posted story memories can be entertaining on its own. As Jinjur remarked on the LiveJournal Stargate Atlantis community sgastoryfinders: 
A both amusing and insightful reflection of the condensed surreality of these request are linabean's meta poems Found (McShep-focused) Dec 28th 2008. linabean. Poetry! (All around us!). Accessed 28 December 2008. and Searching (non-McShep-focused) Dec 28th 2008. linabean. Found Poetry: It Doesn't Stop. Accessed 27 March 2011., which are compiled from lines from posts to the sgastoryfinders community. A due South storyfinders version was made by travels-in-timetravels-in-time. Finding the Fics, posted on 4 March 2010. Accessed 7 March 2010. and a merlin_finders version by callowyn.callowyn. The Quest for Camelot, 23 December 2009. (Accessed 07 March 2010)
==Fic Sharing Policies==
Some fic finding communities have stated policies about requesting copies of stories that have been taken offline by their authors; the comms that have such policies usually request that comm users respect authors' wishes."[...] if an author has removed her work from the internet and asked that it not be shared publicly, then this is not the place to request her fic." at the comm rules of Potterverse ficfinding comm hpstoryfinders. (Accessed 12 April 2011)"[...]she has taken her fiction off the net and asks that no one pass it around. Please respect this and do not ask for it to be sent to you on here I will just delete the post." -- Rule 7 in the comm rules at Draco/Harry ficfinding comm drarryficfind (Accessed 12 April 2011)"This community respects the authors' right to decide what happens with their own work. If the author doesn't want their stories or fanworks shared then posts and comments asking for them will be deleted. Please refer to this post and its lists of such authors. If there is no such indication, then asking and sharing them here is all right. Please check this tag for details on which authors' fanworks can and already are being shared." at comm rules for Merlin Finders (Accessed 12 April 2011)"We ask that people in this community respect the wishes of retired fen." in List Of Fen Who Have Retired From Stargate Fandom at Stargate Search (Accessed 12 April 2011)"[...]you may ask for copies of multiple works by a particular author if they've taken their stories down, provided they allow the sharing of those stories." in The Rules at SGA Genrefinders (Accessed 12 April 2011)"It's okay to ask members about a fic you remember the author and title of, but can't find online. However please note that authors occasionally have reasons for removing their fanfiction, and that the link you are looking for might not exist. To members: If you can find it publicly on the internet -- even through something like archive.org -- you can share the link. Please don't share friendslocked fic or the text files on your computer. If you want to email the poster privately to share your copy of a much-beloved, formerly public fanfiction that has been tragically lost to the sands of time...well, I can't stop you, can I? However, I don't want to know about it." -- Rule 3 in the comm rules at multifandom ficfinding comm whatwasthatfic (Accessed 12 April 2011) Other communities do not explicitly state that fans must cease sharing fan fic at the author's request, preferring rather to address the issue from the request end: if an author has asked that their fiction should not be shared, their name will go on a list and fans are asked to check that list before making further requests."I was contacted by an author the yesterday to delete a comment that had a download link to her fic that she didn't want shared. So if an author asks or where it states in this post that they don't want their stories shared, please don't search for it." Supernatural storyfinders mod post at spnstoryfinders (accessed 12 April 2011)
For more on this topic, see Sharing Deleted Fanworks.
==Related Links==
* List of Finder Communities
* List of ficsearching communities (and a guide to using them)
* Searching for Fanworks on the Internet
==Notes==
Category:Glossary
Category:Fan Activities
Category:Fanwork Sharing