Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
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How to separate authors with same name?
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Christina
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May 02, 2019 07:32AM
How would I separate books written by two authors with the same name? For example, only the first four books listed here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list... are written by this Liz Moore. The other books co-written by Thomas Moore are a different Liz Moore. Thanks!
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See https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/2...On the 'similar names' list (available from the edit page on the author profile) you can see how many authors there are with this name, and how many spaces each profile has: https://www.goodreads.com/author/simi...
lethe wrote: "See https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/2...On the 'similar names' list (available from the edit page on the author profile) you can see how many authors there..."
Thanks so much for your response. I don't understand what you mean by "spaces each profile has" -- can you clarify? Thank you!
You would add additional spaces between the first and last name of the author, to disambiguate between different ones with the same name. These spaces are only visible on the edit pages, but they will keep all the books from showing on one profile.
Scott wrote: "You would add additional spaces between the first and last name of the author, to disambiguate between different ones with the same name. These spaces are only visible on the edit pages, but they w..."Got it, thanks!
https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/2...I don't know if this link will work after the end of the month, but this is the help page for separating authors with the same name
(oops, lethe already linked to this!)
Alison wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/2...I don't know if this link will work after the end of the month, but this is the help page for separating authors with th..."
I had already linked to that in msg #2 :)
Alison wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/help/show/2...I don't know if this link will work after the end of the month, but this is the help page for separating authors with th..."
Yes, lethe already linked to it, but it's good to put it up and to note that looking at the manual is always a good thing, something you acknowledged to have done before applying to be a librarian.
How do I remove an author from a placeholder profile so he has his own profile? If you click on the link below, then select the author, you’ll see the profile with all the William Harris’ but the book in the link is the only one by this specific WH. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Rose wrote: "How do I remove an author from a placeholder profile so he has his own profile? If you click on the link below, then select the author, you’ll see the profile with all the William Harris’ but the b..."The first empty profile seems to be the one with 9 spaces between William and Harris.
You will need to add the spaces to each of the editions of the book you linked to. Since the one in the link is a duplicate and needs to be merged with the Kindle edition with an ASIN, you may want to separate those two first and put in a merge request in the superlibrarians thread.
Thanks Lethe. Worked perfectly. You are a genius :)
Rose wrote: "Thanks Lethe. Worked perfectly. You are a genius :)"*bows* :)
I now see that there are also two editions with William R. Harris as the primary author: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Since the primary author should be the same on all editions and William Harris is encompassed by William R. Harris, you can merge the William^^^^^^^^^Harris profile into that. Or do a reverse merge to keep the photo (is it free of copyright?) and the author bio and then change to William R. Harris again.
“I now see that there are also two editions with William R. Harris as the primary author: https://www.goodreads.com/auth..."I wasn’t finding that profile until you sent that link but I merged it. Thanks. Info is all from Amazon but I sent the publisher the GR author link with a request for more info if available.
Rose wrote: " “I now see that there are also two editions with William R. Harris as the primary author: https://www.goodreads.com/auth..."I wasn’t finding that profile until you sent that link but I merged it..."
Only now the profile needs to be changed to William R. Harris, because the middle initial appears on two of the covers :)
lethe wrote: "Rose wrote: " “I now see that there are also two editions with William R. Harris as the primary author: https://www.goodreads.com/auth..."I wasn’t finding that profile until you sent that link bu..."
The publisher set him up on Amazon without the initial so I’m going to wait on anymore updates until I hear back from them.
Yes, but if the cover shows the initial that is how the (primary) author should be listed on GR. It can cause system problems if the primary author is not the same on all editions.
Mod
Yes, regardless of how they are listed on Amazon. We have different policies on many things.
lethe wrote: "It can cause system problems if the primary author is not the same on all editions."
Very true.
rivka wrote: "lethe wrote: "Yes, but if the cover shows the initial that is how the (primary) author should be listed on GR."Yes, regardless of how they are listed on Amazon. We have different policies on many..."
The original self published cover had an initial. The book has been re-released by a publisher and there is now no initial on the cover. The publisher set up the book and author name on GR - I added the bio and pic. I didn’t think I should be messing with the name to make it match the old cover when the publisher put it out this way.
Yes, you should. Publishers have no say in how books are registered on Goodreads (or in any library).On Goodreads, the policy is that the primary author must be the same on all editions (or else it can cause glitches in the system).
For non-Goodreads Authors, the most complete name a book was published under should be the one registered here (with an exception for classic authors published by public-domain publishers, who keep the name they were published under in their lifetime as primary author).
(Goodreads Authors can choose whether they want their name to be merged into the most complete version, or whether both versions are added to the book record).
Also, in the case of pseudonyms, the name a book was first published under should be the primary author on all editions listed.
Alright. I updated it to add the R. Thanks
