Question about book descriptions

[Steve]

I'm curious about the source and content of book descriptions. Are these descriptions provided mainly by the goodreeads librarian community, or are they from other sources? And are they intended to be an objective description of the book, a sort of capsule review, or either (or both)? I've noticed a tendency toward the latter in some cases and wonder if it is appropriate.

[rivka, Former Moderator]

The majority come from Amazon's API. Of the remainder, many come from Google Books or the publisher, I think.

I don't think they're really intended to be reviews, but some do tend in that direction.

[Steve]

Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. :-)

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

I think they are very much NOT intended to be reviews, since there is already a separate review mechanism available. They are meant to be somewhat more "neutral" descriptions. As you note, however, there are books who's descriptions really are reviews (sometimes accidentally, sometimes purposefully).