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What to do in the Clean Up topic?
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Lu
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Dec 18, 2019 10:45AM
What is the clean up topic for and what am I supposed to do there? There are only lots and lots of messages from the same person with 20+ links in each of them.
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Those are books that (mostly) should be combined and the authors may need to be merged. When books, usually in the public domain, are printed frequently, many of them are imported with authors or titles that are differently formatted than the main edition. Such as Jane R Doe or Doe Jane R or Prof Jane R Doe.
All of the author profiles in that case would need to be merged into Jane R. Doe
If the titles are not exact, then they are imported without being automatically combined. For example
Hamlet
and
Hamlet: Large Print
would need to be combined, but the words Large Print removed.
It can be quite daunting, so if there is something you don't feel comfortable with then there are certainly other things you can work on.
How do I know what profile should remain? Like Jane R. Doe or Jane Doe (if they're the same person).Ex:
Mary Clementina Hibbert Ware
Mary Clementina Hibbert-Ware
Mary Hibbert Ware
Mary C. Hibbert Ware
Usually, the most complete name should be retained since it would encompass more of their books. However, there are a few exceptions. If you see a profile with a thousand books and one with ten books (as an extreme example) then it should probably be the one with the most books.
Keep in mind that many of the "book covers" in the public domain are just placeholders and do not represent what the name on the actual cover looks like.
Authors with names in different languages of course should not be merged. Someone who comes up frequently is Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Oh, okay. I think I undestood, thanks again Emily!
Luisa wrote: "Oh, okay. I think I undestood, thanks again Emily!"I haven't checked on Mary above but if you have a question about a specific author just ask and someone can clarify.
Oh Emily I'm so regretting not just doing other things now, I've done like 25 comments only (plus other things when I got notifications) and my brain is already fried.
Luisa wrote: "Oh Emily I'm so regretting not just doing other things now, I've done like 25 comments only (plus other things when I got notifications) and my brain is already fried."Please remember you are not obliged to finish a thread! You can just state which ones you've done and move on to something else :)
Luisa wrote: "Oh Emily I'm so regretting not just doing other things now, I've done like 25 comments only (plus other things when I got notifications) and my brain is already fried."There are plenty of other threads you can work on, Luisa! I also go back and look at older posts that may have been missed. That thread is daunting as I mentioned, so I wouldn't do more than that many at a time if you feel like your eyes are crossing! :-)
