Reuse ISBNs? Or correction needed

[Andrea]

I've got a book with ISBN 0-671-25314-X. It's a hardcover by Timescape Books. The database shows the correct book, but as a paperback by Pocket Books.

Would this ISBN have been reused for a different edition of the book? Or is the info in the database incorrect?

[Teresa]

I've also already inserted ISBN of softcover books that appear as the right book but as hardcovers. Why should this happen? Anyone has any idea. I remebered it now because Ananda_ren mentioned it also happened to her...

[John]

It is my understanding that publishers do sometimes re-use ISBN's. Also, bear in mind that a paperback ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) (a/k/a Uncorrected Proof) will carry the ISBN of the (forthcoming) Hardcover of the final book.

[Teresa]

So, John, do you think that And ARC and Hardcover and a Paperback from the same title and same editor could have the same ISBN? I think that in that case it should appear to the person that inserts the ISBN the choices of biddings of the book he/she has. Maybe that would be even more complicated... Well, I believe the idea is to simplify things... One things I did notice is that the publishers often change the covers of the books and keep the same ISBN. But in that case there's nothing, in my opinion, that can be done.

[John]

The Amazon-centered database contains errors, among them transposing hardcover and paperback editions. In the case of Ananda's book above, it is possible (likely) that the Pocket Books paperback ISBN would reflect the Timescape hardcover she was trying to enter.
I've never run acros a publisher's ISBN re-use myself, but have read of it happening.

[John]

Resurrecting this thread for a consensus on ARC's: add manually without ISBN, with book type as "paperback" and note ADVANCE READER COPY in description field? or ADVANCE READER COPY as book type itself (with paperback understood)?

[rivka, Librarian Moderator]

I vote for option #1.

[Bree]

Forgive my ignorance, but couldn't you just put an ARC in as a hardcover, since we already have books that are upcoming in our database? Many users that I see that have read them before they are released (editors, or got their hands on an ARC) just review them on the page for the upcoming (hardcover) book.

[John]

Folks who aren't compulsive about these things could do that. (grin)