(Answered) Series question for older novels originally published in installments

[Lauren]

Many novels published in the nineteenth century (and perhaps earlier) were originally released in multiple volumes, most commonly three. There's some interesting history on why here: https://blogs.ubc.ca/janeaustenubcrsb...

When these records exist on Goodreads, they may be added to a "series" page. See this series of Charlotte Bronte's Shirley: https://www.goodreads.com/series/3169... (Shirley is in its complete form here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...),

For contemporary series, any complete editions of books in a series are supposed to be added to the series page as Book 1-X. See Harry Potter: https://www.goodreads.com/series/4517...

I have been told different things about whether the complete edition of nineteenth century novels should be added to the series page: this librarian says they should not be (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...), while this librarian says they should be (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...).

What's the policy?

[Arenda]

Here is a comment about this issue by the former Librarian Moderator, stating that the complete book should not be added to series pages like this: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Not all policy is/can be included in the Librarian Manual. Policy can also be stated, explained or expanded by GR Staff here in the Librarians Group.

[Lauren]

Arenda wrote: "Here is a comment about this issue by the former Librarian Moderator, stating that the complete book should not be added to series pages like this: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/......"

I guess the problem is in determining what qualifies as a book that "has be[en] broken into parts."

Some librarians believe that a book originally published in multiple volumes and later collected in a single volume qualifies, while other librarians disagree. In other words, some librarians look at how the book was originally intended to be read, while other librarians look at the form in which the book was originally published.

Who is right?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

A series of parts of a novel should not include the complete novel. This applies also to books originally published as a whole, but published in parts in a different language. The "foreign" language parts are a series but should not include the original.

[Lauren]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "A series of parts of a novel should not include the complete novel. This applies also to books originally published as a whole, but published in parts in a different language. The "foreign" languag..."

Perfect, thanks!