Book descriptions: when the back-of-book blurb fails to summarize the book, should an alternate be used?

[Lauren]

This is probably a question for the mods.

I'm running across books (specifically classic novels in the Norton Critical Edition) where the "book description," taken directly from Amazon, describes the supplemental material included but not the book itself. See: Dracula and Wuthering Heights.

These "descriptions" are unhelpful, particularly when these editions are the most-shelved and therefore the default book edition. Users visiting a book page are interested in what the novel is about, not what additional essays happen to be included—particularly when those essays are specific to an edition and are not included in all copies of the work.

Per the Goodreads Librarian Manual,

The description field is for entering a summary of the work. The best description to enter is one found on the back cover or on the dust jacket of the book. If the book does not have a summary listed anywhere on the cover or pages, you can copy a description from a different edition or an outside source, such as the publisher's website or Wikipedia. You may also write your own description; however, please avoid editing descriptions that are already in place and summarize the work sufficiently.

The description can be a couple of sentences or paragraphs describing the content of the book. It should be a generic summary and should NOT include reviews or personal feelings […]

The manual doesn't require the description match the Amazon description of that edition, but does emphasize that the book description should be a summary of the book and should describe the content.

Clearly, the manual allows alternate descriptions to be used. My question is: should it be standard for these non-description descriptions to be changed, or up to the discretion of the individual Librarian?

[Lauren]

(moved to "Policies and Practices" folder)

[lethe]

"Most shelved/default edition" does not necessarily mean "default description".

The default description should leave out any edition-specific information, but if an edition has something specific or extra to offer, it is helpful that that is noted in the description.

The current default descriptions of both Dracula and Wuthering Heights are neutral, with no edition-specific content.

[Lauren]

lethe wrote: ""Most shelved/default edition" does not necessarily mean "default description".

The default description should leave out any edition-specific information, but if an edition has something specific ..."

Interesting—where can I find the default description? Is this something only Librarians can see (I'm not one), or am I looking in the wrong place for the book blurb?

I'm coming at this as a regular user; when I search for Wuthering Heights, this is the page that comes up: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... This description is not helpful to me when I'm looking for a description of a book or when I'm recommending a book to another person. This would not really be a problem, except in the cases of some books (like Dracula and Wuthering Heights) when these come up as the most shelved/default edition.

Notably, these descriptions do not provide a summary of the work as apparently required by the manual—they only provide a summary of the supplemental material.

Does Goodreads policy prevent the default description (wherever that may be) from being substituted for, or at least added to, edition-specific descriptions? Or is it Goodreads policy that, when available, back-of-book blurbs must be used verbatim, regardless of relevance, spoilers, etc.?

[lethe]

Yes, librarians can see on the book edit page what the current default description is. It is used on those editions that were imported or added without a description.

In cases like these, if a regular user wants to know what a book is about, I'd suggest going to the editions page. Clicking on one of the top-listed editions will usually provide the information you're looking for.

https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...

[lethe]

Jennifer wrote: "Does Goodreads policy prevent the default description (wherever that may be) from being substituted for, or at least added to, edition-specific descriptions? Or is it Goodreads policy that, when available, back-of-book blurbs must be used verbatim, regardless of relevance, spoilers, etc.?"

No and no. But personally, I don't think it's worth the bother. If a user really has no idea what a certain classic is about and the default edition doesn't tell them, they can just click on another edition.

[Lauren]

lethe wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Does Goodreads policy prevent the default description (wherever that may be) from being substituted for, or at least added to, edition-specific descriptions? Or is it Goodreads pol..."

That seems to go against the Goodreads policy that the book description "should be a generic summary."

Otherwise that would mean the non-descriptive summary for a book like this: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... is to be preferred as it matches the Amazon description.

[Renske]

That is a very specific interpretation of the policy. I would say a lot of people read the term generic as the opposite of someone adding their personal review/opinion as description. And not that edition specific information can't be added.
It is also the only place where we can put information about the extra content or such.

Adding a generic description in addition to edition specific information could be done, but the edition specific information shouldn't be replaced.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Renske wrote: "I would say a lot of people read the term generic as the opposite of someone adding their personal review/opinion as description. And not that edition specific information can't be added."

Agreed.