Is it possible to create a Listopia list for a publisher-specific series?

[Alaina]

rivka wrote: "It's only a series if all editions of each work are part of the series. So no, that would not be a series by the GR definition."

In a separate discussion this week about multiple-author series from a single publisher (in which cases later editions of the books from other publishers might not be part of the series), it was suggested that I create a Listopia list for those cases. That sounded just fine.

Except that I'm finding it difficult to use Listopia to create a list for a publisher-specific series. I can add a specific edition of a book to a Listopia list when it comes from my own "My Books" shelves, but I don't seem to be able to add specific editions for anything I don't have on my own shelves. If I try to add a book from Listopia itself, there's no option to choose an edition and it adds the default edition of the book. Is there a way to choose a specific edition and I'm just missing it?

Here's the list I was starting. I'd intended to seed it with a few entries from WorldCat and let the world do the rest (the series has several hundred books in it).

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/30...

[Banjomike]

I think you could try using the ISBN in the listopia search box. I've just tried it with a minor edition of Animal Farm and it found the correct one.

[Alaina]

The ISBN trick is great to know. Thanks, Alex and Banjomike! It won't work with most of the books in the particular publisher-specific series I was working on (which ran from 1948 - 1967, so pre-ISBN), but it's a good start and also useful to know for the next time this comes up. And thanks also, Alex, for the tip about curation. Alaina

[Lobstergirl]

I guess for non-ISBN books not on your shelves you could temporarily shelve it, add it to the listopia, then delete it from your shelves.

[Alaina]

Thinking about it a little more, I suppose in a lot of ways it doesn't really matter if the Listopia list for Boardman's Bloodhound Mysteries (1948-1967) is only the Bloodhound editions. It might be just as good or better if the default editions are the ones shown, since those are probably the ones people can more easily get their hands on and read. So perhaps the best solution to this problem might actually be to just change the Listopia list description to reflect that the books in the list were part of the series, even if some of the specific edition shown in Goodreads aren't.

Does that sound like a good solution to this particular problem? The list becomes less historical record and more tip of a historical hat, but Listopia can have that flexibility, so that could be fine.

[Banjomike]

I think Lobstergirl's suggestion is probably best. Create a shelf called "The List", add the specific editions to it, build the Listopia from the shelf.

If you create a Listopia with a description that suggests the list creator (you) couldn't be bothered to create the list with the correct books then who is going to want to read/use it?

Just a thought. Make a short list, the first 20 books say, but make it accurately. Add to it when you feel like it.

[Alaina]

Yes, I can see what you mean, Banjomike. So perhaps I'll try Lobstergirl's suggestion and see how it goes.

[Cait]

Asloo wrote: "Does that sound like a good solution to this particular problem? The list becomes less historical record and more tip of a historical hat, but Listopia can have that flexibility, so that could be fine."

That also sounds like a reasonable setup for a list. I suppose it depends on whether you're interested in having the exact publisher's edition (or one of them, at least, if they've reprinted under the same banner) or just in knowing which books have the historical association.