Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
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Questions (not edit requests)
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Amazon destroyed the author's database.
Corinne wrote: "We have unified our catalog with Amazon's. So, our records slowly will be the same."AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
Who tf thought this was a good idea???? Amazon is not a cataloguing site! Is this the end of the GR database??
*&^%$#@!
If you like, you can re-add the rest, but the system will keep updating the book record as it is on Amazon.
This is the most discouraging response, to anything, from Support that I have ever read. It also sounds dismissive. It reads: "Shrug; you can keep fixing it if you want but it won't matter"
We have disambiguated author names and then a few hours later it puts them back they way they were. Elizabeth is right; if this reply to Corinne is accurate, there is no reason to use librarians.
Jaclyn, I feel for you and the rest of the librarian team in this situation. If Support is going to say that it is not worth doing anything then everyone will quit, sadly.
From the homepage of this group:Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who have applied for and received librarian status on Goodreads. They are able to edit and improve the Goodreads catalog, and have made it one of the better catalogs online. [emphasis mine]Well, trust Amazon to run it into the ground.
Shocking, if confirmed. Between this and the new book page that no one asked for, this site is dying.I have practically stopped doing any librarian work beside books useful to me. They don't deserve my time anymore.
LibraryThing, of which I've been a member since 2005, is not as social but it does look way more professional.
Corinne wrote: RE: staff response to report of msg 47 (contributors I added are gone). *oh my* emphasis below mine.Thanks for your email! We have unified our catalog with Amazon's. So, our records slowly will be the same. Since this book only has those 2 authors listed on Amazon, they were the only imported.
If you like, you can re-add the rest, but the system will keep updating the book record as it is on Amazon.
My jaw has hit floor and I cant seem to get it closed again.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: Then there is no reason to have librarians.
Yes no reason whatsoever.
And not only that: Then there is no reason to have GoodReads at all. Everyone can already search the Amazon catalogue for books, add them to lists and read and write reviews. If GoodReads is the same catalogue then GoodReads has no separate purpose and no reason to continue to exist.
Fix your own collections as best you can, export, take elsewhere. I just checked my LibraryThing collection and that doesn't seem so good either. Lots of books without authors at all.
Hope someone out there can dream up a replacement, along the lines of GR when it began.
Scott wrote: "Hope someone out there can dream up a replacement, along the lines of GR when it began."We need Otis back. He's been gone about 3 years I think.
I thought it had been much longer than that.
Scott wrote: "I thought it had been much longer than that."I think he was here for 5 years after purchase, which was in 2014 if I recall correctly. So, yes, moving on longer.
Corinne wrote: "Announcement March 28, 2013: We're Joining the Amazon Family! -----------------
We’re planning on stepping back from Goodreads as its CEO and Editor-in-Chief (from April 2019)"
Good research!
I'm not sure about the message Corinne got about mirroring the Amazon database. I have spent the last several days moving editions from Francis Scott Fitzgerald to F. Scott Fitzgerald. None of them has reverted to Francis Scott Fitzgerald.
Also, this "mirroring" would mean that all of those books never in the Amazon database would be marked Invalid. I don't think that is happening. Also not happening is all those Notebooks, etc. that we are marking Invalid are not being changed to Public.
It's bad enough as it is and I think the bot was poorly planned and executed.
it's all so frustrating. the database is a mess and it's getting worse by the day.does anyone know if this librarian account is a bot?
https://www.goodreads.com/librarian/u...
this account seems to be deleting notebooks and i wonder if this is an attempt by goodreads to fix the mess the bots have created. but if the notebooks are deleted, isn't the amazon bot just re-importing them?
paperlove wrote: "it's all so frustrating. the database is a mess and it's getting worse by the day.does anyone know if this librarian account is a bot?"
This is a GR developer account.
so there's hope that they're actually working on a solution for the blank books?
paperlove wrote: "so there's hope that they're actually working on a solution for the blank books?"Yes, they have been working on solutions for most of the problems outlined in the group; Jaclyn has mentioned this in other threads so I'm sure this is as frustrating for them as it is for us.
Scott wrote: "Amazon "culture"..."I think that was a form letter designed to reply to people who are unhappy about feature changes to the site. Perhaps the person didn't understand what it was about, or was working too quickly.
Emily wrote: "Yes, they have been working on solutions for most of the problems "They should probably let staff know so they don't give responses like the one Corinne got.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Emily wrote: "Yes, they have been working on solutions for most of the problems "They should probably let staff know so they don't give responses like the one Corinne got."
Yes, that one was very unfortunate and discouraging.
Discouraging.It's like gardeners create and spend years tending beautiful flower beds only to get new flower rules issued by HOA. Gardeners and other flower lovers struggle to keep flowers and flower beds from being destroyed but are almost helpless and near hopeless due to the overwhelming might of the HOA.
Emily wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "They should probably let staff know so they don't give responses like the one Corinne got."Yes, that one was very unfortunate and discouraging."
Let's hope the staff member in question was clueless and it is not actually true.
Corinne wrote: "because I was directly told they would be overwritten to match Amazon. I don't know how to get past that."We weren't disputing you were told that.
So ... if entries are set back to the mess on Amazon on purpose I'll only do some german books now because it does not import much from there (yet). If at all.Because every other edit is a waste of time that doesn't even make sense for me (currently using GR as distraction and very happy about every hour I am "wasting") - just staring at my wall or laying in bed would make more sense then.
(in case any one wants to waste time, I was somewhere around 14/15th november with still some undone add books request in case you want to work from there - I won't add things that can be changed any second to rubbish.)
And we had the issue with bots changing librarians edits years ago, they were turned down/off then for a reason.
Wouldn't be surprised if some of the loads of newer/unfamiliar staff thought "wait, there's this bot ... but deactivated - lets just activate it".
I'm going to keep working as if this is the greatest place in the entire internet. If I end up being wrong, then at least I will have enjoyed my time spent in the meantime.
Corinne wrote: "oops, ugh, that wasn't what I was intending to express. I was more building on "If Support is going to say that it is not worth doing anything then everyone will quit, sadly. I just hope they don't..."Yes, I meant out of necessity rather than protest.
I think when Jaclyn knows and goes over the details with their team she will post in this thread. Some of their information may be delayed due to vastly different time zones. I don't think it is worth speculating more until then.
Corinne wrote: "you have always consistently been their #1 fan <3"Even when they thought I wasn't. ;-)
Corinne wrote: "☕ Lachgas ♿ wrote: "... "wait, there's this bot ... but deactivated - lets just activate it"."haha we need a meme."
Don't release the kraken! 😠
Ha! Well, you can tell I'm not interested in mythology.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "what are kraken?"A kraken is a mythological creature, looking a bit like a gigantic squid.
Brought to mainstream attention by Clash of the Titans.
Scott wrote: "Brought to mainstream attention by The Clash of the Titans."Don't know that either. Obviously, I'm in an entirely differently culture group.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Scott wrote: "Brought to mainstream attention by The Clash of the Titans."Don't know that either. Obviously, I'm in an entirely differently culture group."
Well, you are in Alaska.
Scott wrote: "Well, you are in Alaska."LOL - very good, Scott. (And thank you, I thought it all had to do with age.)
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I'm going to keep working as if this is the greatest place in the entire internet. If I end up being wrong, then at least I will have enjoyed my time spent in the meantime."I'm with Elizabeth (Alaska) on this one. GR is my distraction and I'll enjoy my time where I can.
Mod
I want to confirm that the Amazon import will not overwrite Librarian edits. Librarian changes are the authoritative source for Goodreads data. If you see recent cases of this occurring please let me know.
That's a relief to hear, Jaclyn (truly, thank you!), but it's not what's currently happening. Here's a recent example: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...(I know it's bad practice to link to change logs, so I've linked to the book proper, but please check logs for this specific edition—it's been more than a week of bot-vs.-librarian battle.)
Mod
Thanks, Jaclyn. Message #47 in this thread reports something similar, but there are many many many many other examples.
Mod
Mod
Jaclyn wrote: "I want to confirm that the Amazon import will not overwrite Librarian edits. Librarian changes are the authoritative source for Goodreads data. "Thank you for this! Obviously a big relief.
Corinne wrote: "A bot undid valid work I did, it did something wrong. I thought I should alert someone."I flag edits. I can't say how it works, because I never get a response.
I'm sorry if I got out of line but it is really sad to see this happen to a site that I once thought was the greatest place on the internet. It has been a gradual decline since the founders sold out but the past year has been an unprecedented disaster with the atrocious new page design and now the Great Database Massacre. The responses Corinne has been receiving do not bode well. The whole thing is very upsetting.
Scott wrote: "I'm sorry if I got out of line but it is really sad to see this happen to a site that I once thought was the greatest place on the internet. It has been a gradual decline since the founders sold ou..."Agreed. It is reassuring to hear that bots should not overwrite librarian edits, but the fact is, they do. They also do a myriad of other bad edits, such as changing a title to "Book [ISBN]", adding f.e. "(Portuguese edition)" to the title field, changing valid records to "Invalid", adding duplicates, adding print ISBNs to Kindle editions, etc. etc. etc.
Even if they don't overwrite librarian edits they do a lot of damage to the database at a dazzling speed. I would feel a lot more secure if the imports were stopped.
lethe wrote: "Even if they don't overwrite librarian edits they do a lot of damage to the database at a dazzling speed. I would feel a lot more secure if the imports were stopped."+1
lethe wrote: "I would feel a lot more secure if the imports were stopped."There were always imports, but yes, it has gotten worse.
Another thing it is doing is importing ASINs from long ago when that is how Amazon ID'd used books from non-Amazon sellers. The catalog doesn't need to be bulked up that way.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "lethe wrote: "I would feel a lot more secure if the imports were stopped."There were always imports, but yes, it has gotten worse.
Another thing it is doing is importing ASINs from long ago whe..."
Yes, it is these latest bots that cause such mayhem. amazon_catalog and amazon_com if I'm not mistaken.
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