Publisher name discrepancies

[Jérémie]

Hello,

I noticed that the same publisher is listed with at least 6 different names :

Éditions J'ai lu
Editions J'Ai Lu
J'ai Lu
J'ai lu
J'ai Lu (Editions)
J'ai lu (Editions)

I did a quick search and it appears the correct name is "J'ai lu", the second word not capitalized. There is a lot of work involved here, and I took just one example among many other duplicate publishers.

My questions are :
- Shall I ask librarians to correct the editions having the incorrect publisher name, knowing how much work there is ?
- Shall I suggest a new feature to the developers that would help reduce the mistakes when entering a publisher name (ideally a drop down list) ?
- How can I know which name is correct ? (Arrow or Arrow books? Pan books or Pan publishing ?)
- Shall I drop the matter altogether ? :)

Thanks for your answers

Jérémie

[Arenda]

Jérémie wrote: "My questions are :
- Shall I ask librarians to correct the editions having the incorrect publisher name, knowing how much work there is ?"

There is no way to search for publisher, so I wouldn't bother first searching all relevant editions and asking for a correction. I assume you see it in the export of your books. You can ask for it if your really want them to be all the same.
Or when you have another request about a book, you can include correction of the publisher.

- Shall I suggest a new feature to the developers that would help reduce the mistakes when entering a publisher name (ideally a drop down list) ?
That would be a way to prevent issues like this.

- How can I know which name is correct ? (Arrow or Arrow books? Pan books or Pan publishing ?)
When in doubt, I check Worldcat/National Library. Although Worldcat is not always consistent in naming the publisher.

- Shall I drop the matter altogether ? :)
I don't consider this the most urgent issue to correct. When I work on Dutch books, it is something I always check, because I know most Dutch publishers.

Even when we fix the editions that are on your shelves, because the publisher field is not a dropdown field, there will always be new editions that have a different spelling of the publisher. Goodreads importing books from several sources is probably also not helping in keeping this field always the same.

[Scott]

More functionality regarding publishers has been requested but I don't remember what the official response has been. I would love to be able to search and sort by publisher on my shelves.

I think rather than a drop-down list I'd prefer they be handled like authors, where we can correct and combine them. As for the "official" name, I would look at how it reads in the front of the book as the primary guide. Of course, this depends on the publishers themselves being consistent!

[lethe]

In library land, it is customary to choose the shortest name for a publisher and leave off designations like Éditions, Publishers, Books, anything that means "publishing company" really. Abbreviations, such as Ltd, Co. and generally also initials, should be left out.

Example: not W.W. Norton & Company, Inc
but simply Norton

Usually the spine of a book is a good place to check the correct name for a publisher.

I can't really see a dropdown menu for this. Do you mean a list with the correct names of all publishers? There are far too many. A popup stating that (the equivalents of) Publishing Co. may be left out, would be more helpful, I think.

[Renske]

I would think a dropdown menu for publishers is not very realistic. Too many publishers and changes of names.

[Jérémie]

I was thinking of a dropdown menu in which you can type to narrow down the choices.
Or a textbox that would suggest the publisher name, just like google search. For example i would type "nor", and I woud be prompted with "Norton" "Northwind", Nor neither".

[Sophie]

I like lethe's idea of a pop-up. We have them for many other fields in the book record, why not the publisher field?

[lethe]

Scott wrote: "More functionality regarding publishers has been requested but I don't remember what the official response has been. I would love to be able to search and sort by publisher on my shelves."

I think we have an official answer now: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

ETA IMO personal preference is fine for a private library, but in a gigantic database used by millions, not so much. Having a standard way of doing things is better. We have standards for practically every field, why not for publishers?

[Barbara]

My latest book, How to Write a Book & Tell Your Story, is under another author named Barbara Miller. How do I get it back?

[Scott]

While I agree that we don't need the Inc, LLC, etc., I don't think going the other way and using the shortest name for the publisher is a good idea. What if there are two publishers named Norton?

For the OP I would go with Éditions J'ai lu.

[lethe]

Scott wrote: "I don't think going the other way and using the shortest name for the publisher is a good idea. What if there are two publishers named Norton?"

Those are the official rules that libraries have established and work by. In the case of there being more than one publisher with the same name, the rules say the initial(s) can be kept. So if there was more than one Norton, W.W. Norton would be used.

Éditions is completely superfluous, as is Publishers, Publishing Co., Uitgeversmaatschappij, Verlag, Förlag, etc. J'ai lu, as Jérémie found, is correct.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

A drop down menu might not be a real drop down menu, but could work the same way as settings and characters do.

I think many times we don't keep the same rules as libraries have and work by. I don't know that they have as many users as GR, or perhaps their needs are different. I would like to see publisher names standardized.

[lethe]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I think many times we don't keep the same rules as libraries have and work by."

Yes, it's like reinventing the wheel.

The ISBD (International Standard Bibliographic Description) is a world-wide standard which has been in use since the '70s.

[lethe]

One thing I forgot is that GR doesn't state the place of publication, so that may make it more difficult to distinguish between publishers.

If people think it's better to add the initials (where applicable), it's fine by me. But please, please, not the rest. It's just clutter.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I understand they are looking at making publisher profiles. For that to work, there needs to be some standardization much the same way that authors are standardized, with librarians needing to merge entries.

[lethe]

That would be great! (If they do it the way I want, of course :P )

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

lethe wrote: "That would be great! (If they do it the way I want, of course :P )"

I suspect we'll win some and lose some. ;-)