Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
Questions (not edit requests)
>
Librarian Manual section for working with Quotations [closed to feedback]
date
newest »
newest »
I've moved this to the Questions folder as things disappear from view almost immediately in Policy & Practices.
Now I tried to find rivka's comments on extracts & I couldn't.Thanks Corinne.
I also can't find a Super's comments on the logic that one word can't be a quote - which is a pity as he explained it really well.
Corinne wrote: "When entering author names with initials (H.G. Wells, J.K. Rowling), don't put spaces between the initials."That could be just a reference to the author name policies?
Anthologies and other multiple author works should be mentioned. Sometimes there are questions about how to link a quote to the correct book and to a secondary author of the work, which can't be done.
Are there guidelines or discussions about quotes with slightly different lengths? Sometimes you come across a situation like one quote is a few lines of funny dialogue and the other is the same dialogue but with 'she walked into the room' in front of it. And I have seen a few with multiple slightly different variations of the same quote. Are they always all valid or is there a point where they can be reduced to one short and one long version?
Carol, could you elaborate on 'fragments from Kindle are not a quote'? (Not disagreeing, just not sure what exactly you mean.)I'll add that I've always found the 'Only enter quotes from notable people' requirement confusing—to me the wording implies that, e.g., a quote from an obscure book by an obscure author does not qualify. (I...assume that's not that case?) Would love to see that phrasing updated to something like 'Only enter quotes from published books or notable people.'
Liralen wrote: "Carol, could you elaborate on 'fragments from Kindle are not a quote'? (Not disagreeing, just not sure what exactly you mean.)I'll add that I've always found the 'Only enter quotes from notable p..."
Sure! From this thread;
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
but his mouth is on mine
Is a fragment.
What size are your shoes?
To me that really isn't a quotation. Even if it is in the book, it isn't an original remark.
Liralen "I'll add that I've always found the 'Only enter quotes from notable people' requirement confusing—to me the wording implies that, e.g., a quote from an obscure book by an obscure author does not qualify. (I...assume that's not that case?) Would love to see that phrasing updated to something like 'Only enter quotes from published books or notable people.'I thought/was told anything from an author is considered notable (not single words, obviously). I always assumed that meant published author.
& we do have quotes from non authors like Marilyn Monroe - well, attributed quotes, anyway!
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8630...
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "I thought/was told anything from an author is considered notable (not single words, obviously)"That's how I've always treated it—I just find the wording counterintuitive. I think (I hope!) my comment is just about phrasing rather than about policy.
(And thank you for the fragment examples!)
Renske wrote: "Corinne wrote: "When entering author names with initials (H.G. Wells, J.K. Rowling), don't put spaces between the initials."That could be just a reference to the author name policies?
Anthologi..."
I like the idea of a short & long version of a quote being allowable. In my early days on GR I wanted a much shorter version of a long one already there. it was deleted within minutes!
Also a decision on the merge bug that at least some of us are experiencing. A Super has told me that bug is at least ten years old & a few days ago Support told me that this bug is with the developers. I'd say it is unfixable or never going to be fixed & the manual should say whether or not we are allowed to merge quotes. I've seen eight versions of a quote with the only difference being punctuation or ellipses.
Liralen wrote: "That's how I've always treated it—I just find the wording counterintu..."
No worries!
The fragments often really bug authors as it makes their author page look a bit silly!
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "* how to find the correct author for a particular book (i.e. the right John Smith)"A quote can also be added through the author page - quotes - add a quote. See the explanation, as an answer to someone in the Librarian Group who couldn't find the book/correct author, how to do that here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
And something unrelated but frustrating, using the word 'quote' or 'quotes' in the search field in the Librarians Group does not return posts about quotes.
Yes true. I now do things so routinely I no longer think about how I got there.& I now have found the post by a Super about one word quotes (I had his name spelt wrong.) He also says staff has previously said one word can't be a quote.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Mod
I'll check in on this next week and draft some wording.
Corinne wrote: "I edited some quotes. ...The edit removed the book they were connected to."
Happens regularly. I had reported it back in 2017. I suspected this happens when the linked book is not the default edition. It was not acknowledged by GR. Since then, I always check.
(Except that one time where the previously linked book was not in the dropdown menu due to the amount of books by that author and I was not able to add the book back to the quote.)
What a member of this group calls 'hanging words' should be removed.Example Freddy wanted to go to the theatre. She Used to happen a lot with people adding quotes from kindles.
Also, don't add character's name, chapter or page number to quote
Don't add the page number, book or author as tag.
Another thing that should be added: There are some quotes that can't be edited or can't be a part of a merge as these were used when there was a quote of the day feature.
Renske wrote: "Another thing that should be added: There are some quotes that can't be edited or can't be a part of a merge as these were used when there was a quote of the day feature."Sigh. I miss Quote of the Day.
Corinne in message #16 says; - Authors can add quotes, but not edit or delete them. Could be changed to; - Authors & regular members can add quotes, but not edit or delete them.
& a note that only librarians or staff can edit or delete quotes. I'm having a few requests from authors/members who didn't realise that.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...Should material written as ALLCAPS stay as ALLCAPS? (& how will we verify if so) :)
Mod
Should material written as ALLCAPS stay as ALLCAPS? (& how will we verify if so) :)"
Yes, if it is originally written in caps it can stay in caps. I think we can try verify through usual channels (e.g. online search or asking the member requesting a change). If we can't verify it is fine to leave it as is.
Mod
Mod
I've added this Librarian Manual page on Quotes.
Mod
That all looks good Jaclyn.I still think (unless it has been fixed recently) that there is a bug with merging quotes. A very experienced Super agreed with me. There are some quotes that need a Super's attention in the Quotes folder. Maybe we can see what happens when they get to them.
I have to say I don't want to clear my cache every time I merge a quote.
Mod
Thanks Carol - I remember this bug. The team knows about it but hasn't been able to prioritise a fix just yet.
Jaclyn wrote: "Added to the TOC.Thanks Carol - I remember this bug. The team knows about it but hasn't been able to prioritise a fix just yet."
Thanks Jaclyn.
Could a pinned post go in the Quotes folder explaining that librarians aren't ignoring their request - we just can't fulfil them until the bug is fixed?
Mod
I think librarians who don't know about the bug will still be doing merges - I certainly did quite a few before I realised - & a couple afterwards to confirm there was a bug.These ones that need a super & haven't been done.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
As you can see in the second one, the misinformation on GR is spreading across the internet.
I have a P.G Wodehouse one on a book that I have just finished.
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes...
The top one & then scroll down. The difference is in the way disembowelled is spelt.
I can remember a Rumer Godden one where it was unlikely to be accurate.
Since GR is spreading inaccurate versions I do see this as important.
I've looked through both old & new manuals & all I can find is;
https://help.goodreads.com/s/article/...
When you scroll down it tells you when you need a Super's help with quotes.
My suggestions;
* How to add quotes & to remember to search to check that the quote isn't already in the database.
* 1 word is never a quote
* fragments from Kindle are not a quote.
* how to find the correct author for a particular book (i.e. the right John Smith)
* that the book title field comes up after you have filled in the author field name. If the right John Smith doesn't come up you may need to add more spaces between the first & last names.
* I'm not sure how to phrase this, but librarians can leave quotes alone if they don't have enough info (I had a guy get really grumpy at me because I didn't want to edit a *famous author* quote once)
*length of quotes - maybe a definition of a quote & an extract. I have just abridged some quotes where one was a page and a half in my copy of the book. ATM if the quote is bigger than my (large) computer screen I abridge it.
* If the quotes are not by an author the person has to be notable. ATM I try Google or Wikipedia.
Librarians, feel free to add other suggestions.