New librarian Questions

[Rui]

I know GR recommended that only English books be enlisted, because it hasn't expanded to include other languages yet. However, I know there are some examples of books in other languages already up (which I contributed to, XP), so in an effort to make it less chaotic, I'd like to ask, if the book title is in another language and has no corresponding official English translation/title, do we need to/should we add our own translation of the title anywhere? (I recall GR librManual says to keep all info in the language it appears in.)
Thanks in advance.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Rui wrote: "I know GR recommended that only English books be enlisted"

That's not true. It's fine to add other books written in other languages; it's listing English books in other languages (when there is no such translation/edition) that is discouraged.

A translation of the title is probably best to put in the description field.

[Beli]

Hello! I was adding a book, a game of thrones, in a spanish edition. I have the books, and in my case they are 2 (in my edition, the original book was divided in 2). So, should I add the 2 books?, and should I combine them with other edition in one-book?
Thanks!

Beli

[Melody]

Add them both - but do not combine them single volume editions.

[[deleted user]]

Hello,
I'm new at this and do not know how to do anything. I'm fans of lots of Authors but, what if one of there books is miss spelled and then how do I correct them?
Thank you,
Megan

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Welcome, Lezle. Have you read the Librarians Manual?

[[deleted user]]

Yes I have but I don't get it. I have a photo for Benjamin Evans and it hasn't let me put it as a photo for him.

[Paula]

Lezle

I am not sure the photo you have up loaded for Benjamin Evans is his photo so I am going to remove it. Also I don't think adding copyright info as "Google.com/images" is enough to say we have the right to use it but I may be wrong

I think it belongs to a guy called John Hemmingway

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/20...

[[deleted user]]

Oops, thats okay.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Paula wrote: "Also I don't think adding copyright info as "Google.com/images" is enough to say we have the right to use it but I may be wrong"

Absolutely correct. Unless you KNOW that an image is out of copyright or you have permission to use it, please do NOT upload it. Just because Google found it online does not mean it's ok to use it here.

[[deleted user]]

Ok so I just got my Librarian status yesterday and I read the manual and everything but I'm confused: are we supposed to combine different types of editions? Like a hardcover with a paperback?

[[deleted user]]

never mind i was being stupid! hehe sorry!

[Sandra]

If it is the same material, absolutely.

If something has been split into different parts, say Vol 1 and Vol 2, don't combine them, even if the whole work is also listed.

Enjoy being a librarian, it can be a lot of fun :)

[[deleted user]]

I was mixing up combining and merging! sorry again!

[[deleted user]]

Ok now i can't figure out something: i was looking @ books to merge and making sure i wasn't missing information that told me the editions were different. (i didn't merge anything yet because i didn't want to mess up) the only thing different are the isbn and isbn 13 numbers. if they're the same book and same format (hardcover) why would they have different isbns????? and since they do can i not merge them???????

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Different editions often have different ISBNs. Yes, they can still be combined; no, they should not be merged -- don't delete ANY book with a legitimate ISBN.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks so much for all the help! I feel really slow right now... I'm just trying to get familiar with all the stuff! :)

[rivka, Former Moderator]

No worries. :) Questions are good!

[[deleted user]]

Hi, is it possible to combine author accounts?
I found 2 for Roald Dahl and think they should be combined. The second one has only French editions I think.

Roald Dahl
Dahl Roald

Found another related one that, I think, must stay separate.

Roald Dahl Foundation

Being new as a librarian I'm still trying to work things out. Thanks for your help! - Laura

[Sandra]

The first two should be merged. You need to edit the second one's data to the correct name, then it will come up 'do you want to merge' you pick the correct one (or sometimes the one with the most information) and then all the books will appear under the correct name.

You will probably then have to combine the duplicated books.

[[deleted user]]

Sorry to sound foolish, but I can't seem to work it out. The second one has only a few books and no author info, so this must go. How do I replace the books to the other name? After clicking the disambiguate button I couldn't transfer them. It said: there is already an author with this name - which is correct ofcourse.

Have another tip for me? Must be logical, but I don't get it... Thanks!

[Sandra]

Laura, you go to the author page on the wrong author and in the box there is an edit data button, click that, you go to the edit author page - change the name to Roald Dahl and when saved you automatically go to the merge author page. Select the big button with the correct name. All the works will automatically be transferred over, with the correct name.

Nothing to do with disambiguate - you don't want to end up with both people - your aim is to end up with only one.

If its still not clear, don't hesitate to post again. That's what we're here for. ;)

[[deleted user]]

Thanks Sandra, it worked perfectly. Did some combining too, but there are so many that I might have missed some.

I found these editions:
Charlie et la Chocolaterie CD
Charlie et la chocolaterie

The book doesn't have any informatie nor an ISBN. Is this a valid entry?

[rivka, Former Moderator]

The first one does have an ISBN. I'd combine the two and then delete the second (this is often referred to as "merging" them, since it moves over any ratings to the first) and then combine with all the other editions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

[[deleted user]]

Will do so, thank you Rivka.

[Sandra]

Glad we could help Laura :)

[[deleted user]]

I have one more question, now that I'm at it. I was editing some Dutch novels and authors and found that in some cases the translated (mostly US/UK) edition is listed first, instead of the original edition. I'm not sure how I can - and maybe even if I should? - change this.

Example:
Forever a Stranger and Other Stories, by Hella S. Haasse

[Cait]

Laura, the edition which has been shelved by the most GR users will always be listed first, regardless of original language or any other cataloging factor.

[Renske]

The translated edition is more popular than the original edition, so it is listed first.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks again, all of you!

[[deleted user]]

Should I do something with an 'untitled' edition? These two do have ISBN and are combined already:

Untitled 2
Untitled Nicci French #2

[rivka, Former Moderator]

See if you can figure out what they are.

[MissJessie]

Pithy advice.

The second one on Amazon:

Secret Smile [Abridged, Audiobook:] [Audio Cassette:]
Nicci French
Nicci French (Author)

The first one comes up as Untitled and unavailable with zero info anywhere I could see on Google, including Amazon.


Maybe she didn't know how to search for the info.

Laura, you can enter the ISBN number in Google and get info regarding that number for a start. I am sure there are other sources of info as well and maybe someone can give a better way to find it but this works for me usually.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

MissJessie wrote: "Maybe she didn't know how to search for the info."

I figured someone else might come along and help (and see, I was right!) and if not, I planned on hitting this thread again later, when I wasn't trying to desperately get out of here to go pick up a child.

FYI, given that both have the same pub year, the odds are pretty good that they are the same book, so finding one probably solves it for both.

[MissJessie]

Ah, Rivka, now I have to question your priorities :)

I mean, a couple of weeks ago when you were away on a business trip, you DIDN'T work until midnight at a Panera or whatever with free WIFI on GR's material, and now--picking up a child????

(If you can't tell, I really am just kidding.....)

Have a good evening.

PS - is there a better/more accurate way to find out answers to such questions besides Googling?

[rivka, Former Moderator]

MissJessie wrote: "Ah, Rivka, now I have to question your priorities :)"

Ah, but my daughter did so first! ;)

When WorldCat or Google Books has the info, that's preferable. When they don't (and they didn't in this case)then finding other reliable sources via Google is perfectly fine.

[MissJessie]

Thanks Rivka.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks MissJessie and Rivka, I'll pick it up.

Must say, I have Googled and Amazoned the ISBN - I'm new, not stupid. ;o)
What I meant was how sure do I have to be before actually changing a title - as I couldn't find any info on the first one. I guess I just needed you to confirm that a hunch combined with a shared publication date on two already combined editions is good enough.

I'll go work on my question asking skills now... :)

[rivka, Former Moderator]

I think we'd rather have some info than none; as long as said info has a reasonably good chance of being correct. Does that make sense? If you wanted, you could leave a librarian's note indicating that this is a best guess and anyone with more/better info can correct it. Do you know where the Libarian's Note feature is on the book edit page?

(And being uncomfortable with Googling ISBNs wouldn't make anyone stupid. We have had new librarians who were not terribly comfortable with that.)

[[deleted user]]

Yes, I know where the comments go. Will do that. And search for more, there's plenty to do. Cheers!

[Laura]

Relatively new librarian!

For the Sisyphus List, what do we do with the books we find? Like if I click on Golden Books I see this: http://www.goodreads.com/author/list/....

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Most of the books on that particular list may be fine; for others (and in general for books on that list) you should be able to find real authors using WorldCat, Google Books, or other sites.

Thanks!

[Dayle]

I, too, am a new librarian. I have some older books with dust jackets that can be used for the cover art. Any suggestions about format to be used when scanning dj; i.e. dpi, file extension, etc.
Thank you. Love this site. Dayle

[rivka, Former Moderator]

JPGs work well.

[Dayle]

Thank you, rivka. Is size relevant?

[rivka, Former Moderator]

Not terribly. There is a max (I never remember what it is, but I don't think I've ever hit it) and pictures will be resized automatically to fit the three default sizes.

[Dayle]

Excellent, thank you.

[Sandra]

I always find its the resolution rather than the size. Then I just scan them again at a lower res. Never had a problem with 300 res and they show up on site just as well as a 600.

Good luck with it.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

I'm pretty sure I usually do 600, but I'd have to check the settings on my scanner, and it's at work.

And I, for a change, am not. ;)

[Sandra]

Wow, Rivka. Not at work, do you feel alright? lol.

I started doing 600, but then I had a few who wouldn't load and said they were too big. Downsizing the res to 300 worked just fine.