Please merge authors

[Bill]

These two authors are the same person:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

I don't know your policies on Chinese names, so I don't know which one you should keep. Her family name is Chang.

I do know that the first of these (Chang Ying Tai) sorts incorrectly as Ying-Tai, Chang in my books.

[Emma]

Hi Bill,

Great question! This is my take, but another librarian might chime in with another view...

We use the Library of Congress to find the right name or order of names. In this case, the LOC has Chang, Ying-Tai as the right way to sort the name (unsorted Ying-Tai Chang). https://lccn.loc.gov/nb2018020082

I updated all the books so that they have Ying-Tai Chang (sorts as Chang, Ying-Tai) as their primary author. Since some books have Chang Ying-Tai on the cover, it's a policy to keep the other author profile as well and not delete it. On those books, we keep the "wrong" name-order as a secondary author. I left a note in the other profile to point readers to the "correct" profile.

Hope this helps!

[lethe]

Emma wrote: "I updated all the books so that they have Ying-Tai Chang (sorts as Chang, Ying-Tai) as their primary author. Since some books have Chang Ying-Tai on the cover, it's a policy to keep the other author profile as well and not delete it."

As I understand the policy, it is not necessary to keep both profiles. People searching for Chang Ying-Tai will find the Ying-Tai Chang profile without problem. Only if there is a difference in the names (not just the word order) should the two profiles be kept.

Is it true that we use the LoC in these matters? I thought we went with what was the most commonly used name on the "international" covers, i.e. if most have Chang Ying-Tai we would use that (and make sure the sort order is chang, ying-tai).

[Emma]

lethe wrote: "Is it true that we use the LoC in these matters?"

I believe so, this is from the Librarian Manual: "Sometimes various data sources use slightly different spellings of an author name (e.g. JK Rowling vs J.K. Rowling vs Joanne Kathleen Rowling). [...] If there is doubt as to the correct spelling, we recommend checking The Library of Congress." While JK Rowling would be a (grammatical) misspelling, Joanne Kathleen Rowling is just a different way of writing down an author's name and her name might appear as such on book covers.

lethe wrote: "As I understand the policy, it is not necessary to keep both profiles. "

I really have no idea as to the correct approach for this one. I see your point (the "correct" profile will be easily found), but I also understand leaving the "wrong" profile open so that we don't endlessly have to remove that name-order because people might continue to attribute books to the "wrong" author.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Yes, the LOC should be used when there is a question regarding an author's preferred spelling of their name (and the issue is not one which Goodreads has a specific policy regarding, like initials).

[lethe]

Emma wrote: "I also understand leaving the "wrong" profile open so that we don't endlessly have to remove that name-order because people might continue to attribute books to the "wrong" author."

But we would still have to add the "correct order" author name as primary author to make sure all books end up on the same profile (and to make combining possible), so removing the "wrong" author name in the process would not add much work. Also, I think it would help readers understand what the correct "international" author name is if we would not keep two author profiles.

(Manual: "While JK Rowling would be a (grammatical) misspelling"

It is not a grammatical misspelling, just the British way of writing initials.)

[Emma]

Oh wow! I did not know that difference in punctuation between the U.S. and UK (haha). Cool fact.

Leaving the second author profile discussion for more experienced librarians…

[lethe]

Emma wrote: "Oh wow! I did not know that difference in punctuation between the U.S. and UK (haha). Cool fact."

Sorry, reading your comment again I believe it was not a quotation from the Manual but what you added yourself? I must say I was surprised :)

Modifying my own comment: it is probably not the British way but one of the accepted ways in Britain.