Amazon is going away as a data source Showing 1,401-1,450 of 1,599

[Sandra]

Perhaps I'm missing something since this thread has gotten huge but how do you rescue a Kindle that has no other editions?

[Sandra]

If you own it, its easy, otherwise pretty difficult.

You can try the author's website if they have one or the publisher if they have one.

[Sandra]

In two cases, I had shelved an ARC from Netgalley that was a Kindle version b/c it was the only version listed on GR. Netgalley had an ISBN-13 for an ebook version (which is the version I actually read) for each book and I created separate ebook editions and then merged those with the Kindles. Now those Kindles should only be in danger of merging, right?

[Sandra]

Yes, that's right, Sandra.

[I ♥ Bookie Nookie (bookienookiereviews.blogspot.com)]

Sandra wrote: "Perhaps I'm missing something since this thread has gotten huge but how do you rescue a Kindle that has no other editions?"

I just asked a similar question about kindle editions here...

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

[Manybooks]

Ninja Neko wrote: "Gundula wrote: "And frankly, I think it was and is not very good and useful that GR staff started erasing books that had had no one shelve them before the deadline of Monday January 30, 2012 has ev..."

GR staff just mentioned it yesterday for the first time (and basically after they had already started to delete GR user unshelved books). As much as I appreciate the amount of work and headaches GR staff has been having with regard to this, they should have either waited until after the deadline to delete books, or if they were going to do this before the deadline, they really needed to mention this a few days prior to the time they were going to delete books.

[Rhea]

Sandra wrote: "...how do you rescue a Kindle that has no other editions?"
Sandra wrote: "If you own it, its easy, otherwise pretty difficult.
You can try the author's website if they have one or the publisher if they have one."

If you don't own the edition, you could download a sample from Amazon. The copyright page is usually found at the beginning of the book.

[Grada (BoekenTrol)]

Gundula wrote: "Ninja Neko wrote: "Gundula wrote: "And frankly, I think it was and is not very good and useful that GR staff started erasing books that had had no one shelve them before the deadline of Monday Janu..."

Gundula wrote: "Ninja Neko wrote: "Gundula wrote: "And frankly, I think it was and is not very good and useful that GR staff started erasing books that had had no one shelve them before the deadline of Monday Janu..."

As far as I can see, I am not missing anything (yet), but I totally agree with the above stated, that GR staff should have announced it earlier / in a way that many more people would have learnt that non-shelved books were to be deleted. And that they should have waited untill after the deadline (since the whole GR community is already shaking from acitvity by members rescuing books)than just start before the deadline.

[Patrick]

Just to clarify something: We can't wait until after the deadline to remove books from Amazon. Everything sourced by Amazon has to be gone from our site by 11:59 pm on Monday. Ultimately, if they weren't rescued by then, they'd have been gone anyway. Throughout this process, we've had to prioritize to get anything done. Books shelved by Goodreads members had to be a higher priority than books not shelved by anyone on the site.

Hopefully all of these books will be back once we start looking at some of these new data sources, most of which we've never taken data from before.

[Manybooks]

Patrick wrote: "Just to clarify something: We can't wait until after the deadline to remove books from Amazon. Everything sourced by Amazon has to be gone from our site by 11:59 pm on Monday. Ultimately, if they w..."

That's understandable, Patrick. But if I had known about this a few days ago, I would have had a chance to go through my own bookshelves and perhaps rescued some books I had not shelved on Goodreads yet. I understand that you could not wait until the deadline to remove books from the GR database, but if I had known about this happening ahead of time, I might have been able to rescue some of the books.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Gundula, any book that you have in your possession can be added at any time.

[Patrick]

Gundula wrote: "That's understandable, Patrick. But if I had known about this a few days ago, I would have had a chance to go through my own bookshelves and perhaps rescued some books I had not shelved on Goodreads yet. I understand that you could not wait until the deadline to remove books from the GR database, but if I had known about this happening ahead of time, I might have been able to rescue some of the books. "

Understood. We're trying to balance a lot of different things, so I apologize if we're not making the announcements earlier. We've really tried to wait to minimize work for librarians, rather than having them do anything unnecessary. That's been a priority all along. Unfortunately, in some instances, it will result in stuff like this.

[Manybooks]

Patrick wrote: "Gundula wrote: "That's understandable, Patrick. But if I had known about this a few days ago, I would have had a chance to go through my own bookshelves and perhaps rescued some books I had not she..."

I know, and as I stated previously, I am actually not at all mad at GR. You guys were dealt a really, really low hand by Amazon and you have probably been working your brains off. And as Elizabeth has pointed out, I can always add the books on my shelved later (probably with better and more correct detail than Amazon supplied).

[John]

Patrick wrote: "Just to clarify something: We can't wait until after the deadline to remove books from Amazon. Everything sourced by Amazon has to be gone from our site by 11:59 pm on Monday. Ultimately, if they weren't rescued by then, they'd have been gone anyway. "

This is the bit I don't get. Presumably this data is on GR's servers, not on Amazon's, so Amazon can't suck it out.

GR might have made a corporate decision to comply absolutely with the Amazon requirement to be clean by 23.59 on Monday but I assume there is an option to say "we've done what we can, but need more time".

Now this is a legal risk, and it's not for me to second-guess how the GR team decide to handle it but, particularly with the late change-of-heart from Amazon to withdraw the Kindle feed, I would have thought GR was on pretty safe ground for at least a few days.

[Helen]

With the exception of 3 ofmy kindle books, all mine were safe. So thanks guys.

[Amena]

I'm down to 44 books that need help, from more than a hundred yesterday, and I didn't do all of them.

Now I've got a question: Is there a way I - not being a librarian - can save a book that I own in a different edition, with a different ISBN? For example, one of my books is listed as "Kindle edition", but I own a paperback edition. Others are simply later editions.
Anything I can do?

[Cait]

Patrick wrote: "Books shelved by Goodreads members had to be a higher priority than books not shelved by anyone on the site."

Patrick, I know it's late in the game to request this, but would it be possible to have books which aren't shelved but which have been edited by librarians at a higher priority as well? It's kind of sad to think of our years of work on some author's back catalogues or old series has been wiped out, since even if we do get the raw data back from some other source the librarian edits will still all be lost....

[Lee (of Shalott)]

Amena wrote: "I'm down to 44 books that need help, from more than a hundred yesterday, and I didn't do all of them.

Now I've got a question: Is there a way I - not being a librarian - can save a book that I own..."

What's the ISBN Amena?

[Amena]

For example, 978-0-141-32453-1.
That's the one I own as a PB edition.

[Lee (of Shalott)]

Amena wrote: "For example, 978-0-141-32453-1.
That's the one I own as a PB edition."

This isbn is in GR's database & is not on the 'rescue me' list.... When you search this number here on GR, is this the correct title for the ibsn? If it's an isbn you can't find in the database, a librarian can make a book addition for you if we can find the information for it from an acceptable source (like WorldCat or others listed in the FAQ page for this thread).

[Amena]

OK, got it. My mistake.
Bad example.
Let's take
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...
The ISBN is
3505096172. The book is from 1988.
My edition is from 1995, ISBN 3-505-10207-5.

Or Gracián:
This is GR's German edition, from 1980:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12..., ISBN 349945002X.
Mine is the 2001 edition, ISBN 3596159024.

[Lee (of Shalott)]

Amena wrote: "OK, got it. My mistake.
Bad example.
Let's take
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...
The ISBN is
3505096172. The book is from 1988.
My edition..."
OK - I can add that for you, but this edition is technically not in need of being 'saved' just added to the database....I'll rescue the other edition as well - thanks for your help.

[Helen]

I've saved some books that now don't have covers but the same cover is on some other editions. Is there a simple method of 'collecting' that cover to put on the other edition? Just wondering if I'll be able to do it or whether to list my isbns for someone clever!

[Amena]

Well, I didn't want to add work for you! I suppose adding things can and will always be done. If I can't do anything about these books, I'll just keep quiet.

[Lisa]

Gundula wrote: "but why did staff not wait until at least this coming Tuesday to get rid of these book"

I'm afraid after midnight TONIGHT books will go poof. And it might not be midnight Pacific time, even though Amazon and Goodreads are both based in Pacific time. I'm wondering about 4 pm pacific time (GMT midnight) or maybe 9 pm pacific (east coast midnight.

I don't think we should assume it's Pacific standard time midnight.

[Lisa]

Patrick wrote: "Everything sourced by Amazon has to be gone from our site by 11:59 pm on Monday. "

So, we do have tomorrow too, Patrick? It's tomorrow night, not tonight? Please clarify somebody. Thanks.

[[deleted user]]

Helen wrote: "I've saved some books that now don't have covers but the same cover is on some other editions. Is there a simple method of 'collecting' that cover to put on the other edition? Just wondering if I'l..."

Helen - if you can verify both that the covers are in fact identical for both editions, and that the cover on the other edition is not sourced to Amazon (or other unacceptable source), then you can save the image and upload it to the edition that needs the cover.

Personally, I'm not doing any covers until after the deadline passes and I have an accurate picture of what data remains. I don't want to fix a cover today only to find I have to go back to that same book Tuesday to add/correct additional info.

[Lisa]

You know one thing that is so depressing. I/another friend just saved a mutual friend's book. I noticed there were lots of votes and comments there. We're going to lose so many comments/conversations at books we can't save. :-(

[Literary Multitudes]

Books from my shelf that have been "rescued" have actually been deleted by a "Deleted Member", as it seems...

like this one: http://www.goodreads.com/book/edits/6...

Is this a bigger problem? Or are these editions that have been deleted on purpose by GR?

I only noticed this, because I had different editions on my shelf than before...

[Tiffany]

Can't find this discussed anywhere, so apologies if it's already been answered --

Is openisbn.com an acceptable source? I can't find anything on their site that says they get their data from Amazon or any other bookseller, but I'm paranoid now :)

[Manybooks]

The_Freddy wrote: "Books from my shelf that have been "rescued" have actually been deleted by a "Deleted Member", as it seems...

like this one: http://www.goodreads.com/book/edits/6...

Is this a bigger probl..."

I hope that is not a bigger problem. If it's by a "deleted member" then there is probably not much of a way to get those books back. Is there any way of knowing when this happened and/or when the member was or became deleted?

[mlady_rebecca]

Lisa wrote: "You know one thing that is so depressing. I/another friend just saved a mutual friend's book. I noticed there were lots of votes and comments there. We're going to lose so many comments/conversations at books we can't save. :-( "

They said from the beginning that reviews aren't going away, therefore comments attached to reviews are safe, as well.

The only books completely disappearing are books that no one shelved. Everything else is just getting merged or having some of the major data blanked out.

[Peter]

Amena wrote: "Is there a way I - not being a librarian - can save a book that I own in a different edition, with a different ISBN? For example, one of my books is listed as "Kindle edition", but I own a paperback edition. Others are simply later editions.
Anything I can do?
"

It is a 3 step process.

The first step, which either you or a librarian could do, is to create a new edition to match yours.

The second step, which requires a librarian, is to combine your new edition with the others.

The third step, which only you can do, is to move your review to the new edition.

I hope this helps.

[Amena]

Yes, thanks a lot!

[Cecile]

I saw the call to arms only yesterday, so I just had time to rescue my books and my brother's, which were French editions.
For his books, I mostly used these two websites:
http://www.bibliopoche.com
http://www.noosfere.com
I don't think either database is related to amazon, because they are much more reliable.
Maybe these can be used as an import source for French editions?

[Literary Multitudes]

Gundula wrote: "The_Freddy wrote: "Books from my shelf that have been "rescued" have actually been deleted by a "Deleted Member", as it seems...

like this one: http://www.goodreads.com/book/edits/6...

Is this..."

I can only tell that this specific book was deleted about 15 hours ago from the librarian log. It just seemed strange with the "Deleted Member"...

[Manybooks]

The_Freddy wrote: "Gundula wrote: "The_Freddy wrote: "Books from my shelf that have been "rescued" have actually been deleted by a "Deleted Member", as it seems...

like this one: http://www.goodreads.com/book/edit..."

Hopefully, one of the GR team will have an answer to this; it sure does seem a bit strange.

[Literary Multitudes]

And another question.
I tried to read as much of the thread as possible, but just don't have time to read all of it thoroughly...

Is there also a legal source for book covers? I can't just take those from publisher's websites like the rest of the book data, can I? I have most of my books on my shelf as actual copy, but some are library copies that I can't take pictures of anymore.

[Manybooks]

The_Freddy wrote: "And another question.
I tried to read as much of the thread as possible, but just don't have time to read all of it thoroughly...

Is there also a legal source for book covers? I can't just take..."

I really have absolutely no idea what do do about adding bookscovers. I guess all of the Amazon ones will disappear come Monday, and the main website I was using to rescue German books does not store bookcovers. So for me as well, any answers and help would be appreciated.

[Sheila]

Lisa wrote: "You know one thing that is so depressing. I/another friend just saved a mutual friend's book. I noticed there were lots of votes and comments there. We're going to lose so many comments/conversations at books we can't save..."

On the rescue page it specifically says "Your data is safe.
Your ratings, reviews, and bookshelves are safe, but your data may be moved to a different edition of the book. If we can't find a matching edition, then your review will be attached to a book with no title or author.

So if a book with reviews and votes and comments does NOT get rescued in time, those reviews and votes and comments will just stay on a book without a title and author.

I would imagine if you notice after the amazon shut-down a book with reviews and comments and votes but no title or author, you would just have to figure out (maybe via one of the review writers who would remember) what the book was, and then re-add the title and author to restore/rescue it after the fact.

[Brixton]

there go the covers.... :o\

[Tiffany]

yeah, i noticed that, too. *weep*

[Deedee]

Brixton wrote: "there go the covers.... :o\"

Oh no, I'm bummed, isn't there a way we can get covers from the publisher site?

I've also noticed that about an eighth of my books are now missing publication dates and pagecounts.

I guess I should be grateful that all of my books are saved ...........

[Paula]

The_Freddy wrote: "And another question.
I tried to read as much of the thread as possible, but just don't have time to read all of it thoroughly...

Is there also a legal source for book covers? I can't just take..."

The authors website or publishers are your best bet

Otherwise try the sites listed in the FAQ

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

[Sarah (Presto agitato)]

Also you may find for book covers that there's another edition on Goodreads that has the same cover. I've been downloading those from Goodreads and then uploading them back in place of the Amazon ones. Now that covers are starting to disappear it's a little trickier - you would want to make sure that the covers match.

For some Kindle editions that I own, I've been taking screen captures of my books from the Kindle Cloud Reader and using those as a way to "photograph" the covers.

[Lisa]

mlady_rebecca wrote: "They said from the beginning that reviews aren't going away, therefore comments attached to reviews are safe, as well.

The only books completely disappearing are books that no one shelved. Everything else is just getting merged or having some of the major data blanked out."

Thanks, Rebecca. Of course, you're right. My brain is completely frazzled. Of course, a rating or not too much else with no title/author might be meaningless. But at least it's something.

I still don't like that books with no shelvings are being actively deleted but oh well.

[Lisa]

Sheila wrote: "On the rescue page it specifically says "Your data is safe.
Your ratings, reviews, and bookshelves are safe, but your data may be moved to a different edition of the book. If we can't find a matching edition, then your review will be attached to a book with no title or author."

Yes, thanks. I only temporarily forgot.

I still think books with no identifying info will be a bit of a mess for those who have them shelved, but at least the other data is better than nothing.

[Lisa]

Are you guys above saying that data is already disappearing even though it's not the 30th yet?!

[Literary Multitudes]

Paula wrote: "The_Freddy wrote: "And another question.
I tried to read as much of the thread as possible, but just don't have time to read all of it thoroughly...

Is there also a legal source for book covers? I..."

That might work for US or Canadian publications.

The problem with author or publisher websites in Germany is that I would have to ask for permission every single time to use a cover image. At least being a German person taking wanting to use pictures from German websites that is...
I tried to do that before for another project and from about 25 inquiries I got one answer (a negative one), so I kind of stopped doing this...
And the German National Bibliography has no covers (maybe for exactly that reason).

And I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to use US websites for example...

[Lisa]

I really hope that everyone will stop purchasing from Amazon and will write and tell them why. I did.