What's it take to be added to author field?

[Brian]

I'm looking at

I've already determined it's John R. Gribbin according to LoC and World Cat, so I can clean that up, and I started adding Stephen Plagemann where he was missing on some editions, but then I noticed they listed Isaac Asimov on some editions.

To me, a three page foreword doesn't qualify as author. Am I wrong? He's not listed on any of the front covers.

Second question - Some editions of the book include the tag line or subtitle 'The Planets as Triggers of Devastating Earthquakes' and some don't. That subtitle doesn't even appear on the copy I own. Should it be left in on some and out on others? The LoC and World Cat do not show that subtitle.

Comments appreciated,

[Cait]

To me, a three page foreword doesn't qualify as author.

The author of a foreword should be listed as a secondary author with an author role of "Foreword" (click on "add role" after the author field), and only on those editions which include this foreword, which may not be all editions.

Some editions of the book include the tag line or subtitle 'The Planets as Triggers of Devastating Earthquakes' and some don't. That subtitle doesn't even appear on the copy I own. Should it be left in on some and out on others?

Yes, it should be included in the title on those editions which use this subtitle (it can be difficult to tell what's a subtitle and what's a tag line in some cover designs -- it may be a judgment call, and if other sources don't show the subtitle, you might assume it's a tag line instead). Some editions may have been published without this subtitle, or even with a different subtitle, so I wouldn't add it to any editions where you can't confirm that it was used.

[Eva-Marie]

I agree and wouldn't add the writer of the forward as an author either.
I look on the other sites, WorldCat included, and if I see the sub-title used I'll keep it/add it and if not leave it alone.
It's hard because my OCD wants them all to be uniform so I have to fight it. :)

[Eva-Marie]

Cait, are there circumstances when we do NOT add the writer of the forward as a secondary? If we come across this should they always be added?

[Cait]

♥Eva♥ wrote: "Cait, are there circumstances when we do NOT add the writer of the forward as a secondary? If we come across this should they always be added?"

I don't think that there's been a specific policy discussion about it -- should we open one? I'm not aware of any reasons for leaving the authors of forewords off. My thinking is that if the author of a foreword is cited on the cover (and many are -- for example, this edition of Brian's example book lists Asimov) they should definitely be listed, but even when they aren't, I would suggest giving that information where it's known for several reasons:
* Imported information is likely to include these authors, and if GR lists these secondary authors with roles then it's clear why they're there.
* The association of a foreword author with the book's author(s) can be an important one for the authors on both sides, and GR authors in particular are likely to want to display this association.
* The presence or absence of a foreword by a particular author may help distinguish editions in a book's edition listing, especially on older books where other information such as ISBN or cover art isn't available.

[Eva-Marie]

I agree with you 100%. I was thinking that the secondary authors like foreward writers had been imported like that and that we didn't usually leave them. But I agree on all points as to why they should.
The reason I asked is because when I do the "minor" edits I try to fix and add all I can and this is something I can start adding to the list.
Now, what about editors? :) I've seen editors listed here sometimes and I happen to think they should not be listed. What do you think?
(My comment above was a little confusing so I twirked it a bit. :)

[Cait]

Editors are listed as the primary author when a book is a collection under the primary control of the editor -- so, for example, most short story anthologies by multiple authors are attributed to the editor. An editor may be a secondary author in the case where a single author's works are collected posthumously.

Times when an editor is given but should not be listed are actually pretty rare; the only cases I can recall are ones where small presses have listed their managing editor as a secondary author on a single-author novel. Do you have examples of books where an editor is listed and you don't think that they should be?

[Sandra]

Cait, I haven't got any examples, but I've certainly seen that happen. Usually because of Amazon importing, and I've just cleaned them up. Doesn't happen very often though.

[Lindig]

Re subtitles: Quite often, the cover has been designed by the art department and a subtitle may be dropped for reasons of space. The title page of the book will tell you whether the subtitle is necessary. In the book cited above in msg 1, I think the subtitle is an important part of the title and should always be added, whether it shows on the cover or not.

[This Is Not The Michael You're Looking For]

Personally, if I have access to the book in question, I don't necessarily view the cover as the final repository of information, but rather the title page. There are a lot of reasons the cover and title page may differ, but subtitles that don't appear on covers will over still be retained on title pages.

[Carolyn]

Cait wrote: "Editors are listed as the primary author when a book is a collection under the primary control of the editor -- so, for example, most short story anthologies by multiple authors are attributed to the editor. An editor may be a secondary author in the case where a single author's works are collected posthumously.

Times when an editor is given but should not be listed are actually pretty rare; the only cases I can recall are ones where small presses have listed their managing editor as a secondary author on a single-author novel. Do you have examples of books where an editor is listed and you don't think that they should be?"

Cait, I agree entirely with your definition of the Editor that we should be putting in the author role. I have, unfortunately, seen quite a few books since the B&N data was added to GR in which the book designer, cover designer, and editor (not in the sense you have it above), were all added to the book. (B&N book data also has tons of authors that were added using honorifics like Miss, Mr, and Ms in addition to the usual usage of Dr., for some reason.)

[Brian]

Thanks all for your comments.

I'll list Asimov with the 'foreword' role and keep the subtitle where it seems appropriate.

[Eva-Marie]

Carolyn above mentioned what I was going to say. I've seen a lot of that lately and it's strange and I wanted to ask. But these are definitely instances where the editor shouldn't be listed as Carolyn said. The next time I find one I'll come back to link it so you can see. Thanks for the info Cait! Once again you've been a great help!