Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
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Author merge
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Merged them into one, Robert M. Zubrin. Those are not different names, it is the same name just one time it includes middle name, other it doesn't. Everything else added should be added to the same profile. If we would make different profiles for every version of writing the name (First Middle Last, First M. Last, F. M. Last, First Last, F. Last), we would drown.
OK but how is this best achieved? By adding the version 'Robert M. Zubrin' as 'another' author to those works he has written as Robert Zubrin? This in itself would not remove the author 'Robert Zubrin' from the database though.
No, i you want to merge authors (but not goodreads author) change name of one author to match the name of the other. Than goodreads will tell you you will merge those two profiles, and ask you which one do you want to keep. That will delete the one you didn't keep and move all of his books to profile you did keep.
I see it's been merged already. However, since Zubrin is more well known without the use of the middle initial, shouldn't the less frequently used version of his name have been merged into the more well known one? The librarian manual offers no policy position or advice on this.
It is personal estimate. I think it is better with M. because it happens a lot that different authors have same name and than they are separated by number of spaces in their name, it seams easier to separate one with middle name by that middle name. But that is my opinion. You do what you think is right. Just know what and why you're doing it.
Goodreads Librarians Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, Volume 111, Issues 8 & 9, July 1991 (other topics)Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, Vol. 110, No. 4, March 1990 (other topics)
The articles he wrote can be found in the following magazines:
Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March 1990
Analog Science Fiction and Fact, July 1991