Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
Page Numbering Requests
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Page numbering policy question
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Cathy, Page numbers are often wrong and librarians should correct them as they notice them:
http://www.goodreads.com/help/librari...
Yes, Cathy, make the changes. Page numbers are frequently wrong from publishers, Amazon & B&N. I'm pretty sure that they have standard sizes they just use, that aren't backed up by fact.I change 98% of book page numbers when I get a new book. The other 2% has been gotten by another GR Librarian. LOL.
As for which pages count - there is a section in GR Librarian Manual:
Page count
The number of pages in a book is meant to include all content except for advertisements and preview chapters for other books. Included end material may include acknowledgments, afterwords, appendices, glossaries, indexes, notes, and suggested discussion questions.
Introductory material paged using roman numerals is not included in the total page count.
Most e-book formats do not have a fixed number of pages since the pagination adjusts for screen size. For PDF specific editions, or any other fixed page e-books, the normal paging rules may be used.
For audio books, number of hours should be used in lieu of number of pages, when that information is known.
Thanks, guys! It seems so bizarre that the publishers don't care how many pages they list. But it does help explain why the same numbers show up so frequently.
There's another reason why a page count could appear to be wrong - ISBNs being reused for subsequent editions. A new edition could very well have a different page count from an earlier edition with the same ISBN. So some page count corrections are probably correcting page counts that are already accurate.
Mod
I do all my page count changes with the book in hand & I check. Its probably more of a worry when we get requests to change without much other information.
I added the pages to the ebook edition of a book, its right here in front of me on my nook, and just released today. For some reason the number of pages isn't showing up though, so when someone updates their status (like mine) it shows you're 82% done with the book on page 82. Does anyone know why this happens and how to fix it?
Pamela, that's a problem with the status update, not with the book's record; status updates can be entered as either percentages or pages on any book, and you can switch between them by clicking on the percent sign or the word pages.
I have another question: I just finished a book where the story was 266 pages, but extras such as recipes and an excerpt brought it to 304. Which would be the correct number?
Mod
ok, thanks. I'm writing it down so I don't forget...
Lobstergirl wrote: "There's another reason why a page count could appear to be wrong - ISBNs being reused for subsequent editions. A new edition could very well have a different page count from an earlier edition wit..."Lobstergirl:
I have a situation like you mention: same ISBN (0195015630) and same publisher (Oxford UP) for a later (1993 instead of 1972) publication of _Round River: From the Journals of Aldo Leopold_, which has a page count of 173 instead of the listed 286, and is not a part of the listed Galaxy Books series. Both books' details would be correct for this ISBN, so I suppose I should (per our manual) manually add a new edition, leave the ISBN blank, and explain the discrepancies via the description and/or librarian notes fields. I'm a new librarian here, so I just want to make sure I'm not messing up my first edit.
I found a book that is only available in electronic form. But some groups need to know how many pages. What should I do? I have checked Amazon and WorldCat to no avail.
Mod
Mod
However, to answer the question in general; some ebooks do have page numbers associated with them (particularly ePub and PDF editions), but many simply do not.
Edit: It appears to ALSO be available as an ebook, under another ISBN, which I added. That edition the publisher lists as having 348 pages.
Okay, I did look as an e-book and must have missed the listing of pages. The ISBN I sent appeared to be for the e-book [since that was the only version I saw}. Thanks for the educations!
I used to work in publishing so I wanted to add a bit about inconsistent page counts from the publisher side. Page counts often change from the preliminary information that is released and the final book. Sometimes publishers update, sometimes they don't. It depends on how diligent the person responsible for that update is (can be editorial, marketing, production... depends on the company).
Page counts might be updated on the publisher's data feed but some maybe be superseded by another data feed that they have no control over. I remember it being a big pain trying to get the correct info on amazon when my company's feed was being overwritten by another feed (usually a wholesaler... or for some reason the Canadian feed of the same company which never made sense to me). We could ask Amazon to manually change info but that would flag that title to not be included in any automatic feed which could cause huge problems later on (this may have changed but this was the state of things 2 years ago before I left).
Some publishers (not all) list pages as a multiple of a signature (16 pages)or half signature (8 pages) regardless of how many pages have actual content on it. For example, in the original post the book in question had 288 pages. This would be 18 signatures. Even though it is an ebook, I'm guessing the page count is just a carry over from the paperback edition.
Sandra wrote: "Yes, Cathy, make the changes. Page numbers are frequently wrong from publishers, Amazon & B&N. I'm pretty sure that they have standard sizes they just use, that aren't backed up by fact.I change ..."
Sandra wrote: "Yes, Cathy, make the changes. Page numbers are frequently wrong from publishers, Amazon & B&N. I'm pretty sure that they have standard sizes they just use, that aren't backed up by fact.
I change ..."
The differences often occurs through the publishers numbering. Depands on whethet thet start page 1 at chapter one and the last number on the last page of the last chapter. I ruly think one should respet the publishers numbering. As long as the numbering covers the true contents. Title pages etcetera are important but the contents counts more. By differeng from the publisher were are creating chaos.
Mod
When we change the numbers here, it is usually based on a physical copy of the book.
rivka... I mean copies in hand. I would never change anything that I could not view personally. But when I enter a new book I keep to the publishers numbering'system Sometime they start numbering, without a printed number and very of they start numbering only on from the first page op say for instance Chapter One. Sometimes that first printed number on the page where the contents begins is page 5 of 8 (depending on the title paging contents etetera. Bur very often number 1 starts here. If his numbering did not include the first title pages I do not go adding them, and I stop where the publisher starts numbering, which is usually spot on. If we socalled correct that by adding the un-numbered title pages we create unnecessary chaos. When the publisher starts page one on chapter one I think one should keep to it. And it will keep in line with the identity of the specific edition.
Mod
No one is suggesting doing otherwise.
Emma, I think you are getting confused. When I, as a librarian change a page number count from a book in hand, I don't start counting pages, I look to see what the publisher has printed and use the last appropriate page listed. This does not include excerpts of the next book etc even if these pages are numbered.Sometimes what is imported from Amazon & B&N can be 20, 30 or 100 pages out from what is in the book. What matters is the number from the actual book.
Okay its clear then. I read the policy on numbering and that suggested quite something else. I have been doingit right all along then.
So when I add a book I own that I cannot find on Goodreads it is correct to just list the page number of the last page, excluding teasers for a following book? That's what I've been doing.
I have a question about River Marked by Patricia Briggs, ISBN is 9780441019731. The final numbered page is 324. There are another two pages that are unnumbered but are part of the book- actually part of the story. Do I number it as 324 or 326. Thanks.
Sandra wrote: "326 pages Shay :)"Thanks. I also included an explanation of how the page number was determined in the librarian notes.
Quick question - I'm pretty sure these would be included since they are not previews or advertisements, but would I count "About the Author" pages at the very end of a book?
What about books which are releasing in 1/2 years but have a page number on their publisher's page? Would the correct policy be to add that page number or wait until an official announcement is made closer to the release date? (and then change it again if the pages of the physical copy turns out to be different ofc. Heh.)
There is this book, which has 4 title pages, and then the preface starts which is numbered in letters (one, two, three...), and then the main part starts which is numbered in numbers. The page number of the last page of the main part is 679, but after that there are two pages of advertisement at the end. On the second advertisement page, in the place you're supposed to see the page number, it has been written: "4+forty-two+682=728" which is a calculation of the total page count, including the title pages and the introduction.The goodreads policy on page count states:
Introductory material paged using roman numerals is not included in the total page count. [...] simply list the number on the last page with countable content.
So which number should I put on goodreads? 682 or 728?
Sandra wrote: "I would put 679."I agree.
Question. Hidden Peril has about 380 pages before the teaser chapter for the next book. However, the notes and acknowledgements are printed after the teaser, on p 405 etc. How do I go about setting a correct count for pages, when leaving out the sample chapter also would leave out notes and acknowledgements?
Hannah wrote: "Question. Hidden Peril has about 380 pages before the teaser chapter for the next book. However, the notes and acknowledgements are printed after the teaser, on p 405 etc. How do I ..."I would use 380 (or whatever it is, since you said "about.")
Yep...book's at home and I'm at work. Thanks! That was my instinct but I wanted to double-check.
Yes, I would use your about 380 as well.
Goodreads Librarians Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Hidden Peril (other topics)Hidden Peril (other topics)
River Marked (other topics)
Noah's Law (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Patricia Briggs (other topics)Randa Abdel-Fattah (other topics)
Here's a simple case: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70... - an ebook version, same eISBN listed in my book and here, it isn't one of the books where the pages change per size or anything. The publijer website also lists the book as being 288 pages, when it's really 258. So can I change it? Are there situation when I shouldn't change it?
Sorry that was so long. Ive seen it happening more and more with newly released paperbacks. Without being able to find a correct number from Amazon, B&N or the publisher, I'm not sure what to do. I had one that was listed as 100 pages too short! It's a bit confirming. Thanks in advance for your help.