Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
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Amazon is going away as a data source
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Also potentially useful: on each editions page, if you have it in the expanded mode, you can see each book's source.
The Rescue Page is the same for all books? Or, if for a given book the cover is from Amazon but the author is from another source, on its Rescue Page there's no Author Name field? In other words, we are asked to re-enter only the data at risk?Sorry, it may be a silly question, but I don't understand, rivka said "...descriptions from Amazon will be removed", how can I prevent it, there's no Description field on the Rescue Page. I guess I can enter it later?
Patrick wrote: "J.R. wrote: "Thanks. Sorry to throw a hissy fit but that really threw me. I'll post where other KDP authors are throwing similar hissy fits. "No problem at all. It would be great if you could let..."
That was an initial reaction from a number of authors from the superficial appearance. I've posted information over on KindleBoards where a lot of KDP authors hang out. Thanks for the reassurance. :)
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Books whose only Amazon data are covers won't have Amazon as a source and won't show up as needing rescue. (Remember, covers can always be added later, even if we don't import them from somewhere else before Jan. 30.)
Descriptions aren't an option for a number of reasons, partly (I think) because of how we link descriptions for different editions. But like cover images, they can always be added after rescue.
I'm having trouble finding reliable info that isn't from a bookseller. Two authors so far are self-published, and only offer "buy here" links (Amazon, of course), no ISBN, no release dates on their websites. The majority of my Rescue books are First Reads, and after spending an hour looking up info without success, I deleted the books off of my to-get list. Their loss, I guess.
Let's say the book was imported from Amazon, but the data was incorrect and I fixed it (misspelled author, title, edition language, page number etc.) some time ago. The data is not from Amazon anymore, right? So it will stay as it is, even if no one "rescues" it?
Otis wrote: "Yes unfortunately so. Although we are working on importing a feed of Italian books from Mondadori, so it will get a little better. Suggestions for other publishers to get feeds from are welcome! "We have Einaudi: http://www.einaudi.it/
Feltrinelli: http://www.feltrinellieditore.it/
Ubaldini: http://www.astrolabio-ubaldini.com/
Rizzoli: http://rizzoli.rcslibri.corriere.it/
and much more; these are only the first that I could remember. Can this help you?
Why are we not to use data from other booksellers? For example, I went to an author's website to find information; however, I was unable to get publisher info, publication date, page count, etc. that particular website had listings for other booksellers other than Amazon that did have that info. Are we not allowed to use that information? I'm confused as the original post by Otis did not mention other booksellers than Amazon. Or...did I misread?
Moloch wrote: "Let's say the book was imported from Amazon, but the data was incorrect and I fixed it (misspelled author, title, edition language, page number etc.) some time ago. The data is not from Amazon anym..."This seems not the case, at least with my books. I'm absolutely certain that I changed the titles, nevertheless some show up in the rescue me category.
Rivka, thanks for your answers. If I seem nervous and agitated, I'm sorry, but that's because, to be honest, I'm not happy having to do the same job TWICE, and I don't fully understand why (as I said, I don't really have time to care now). I guess it must be so. Again, thanks for the answers (to the others, as well).
Moloch wrote: "Let's say the book was imported from Amazon, but the data was incorrect and I fixed it (misspelled author, title, edition language, page number etc.) some time ago. The data is not from Amazon anym..."No, in this case it's still whats legally called a "derivative" of Amazons. We need a new source that has all the data to rescue it. But feel free to make your same corrections if they exist in the new source too.
This makes me physically ill, especially since I have spent hundreds of hours of my life creating a group with thousands of catalogued books (you can see what I mean here: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/5...)This I totally don't understand: I have books in my rescue pile that I personally have manually entered into Goodreads using data taken directly from the actual book itself (i.e. book was physically in my hands). Why are these books on the list when they had nothing to do with Amazon or any other bookseller?
The books I that have used Amazon data are the Kindle books since many of them don't exist anywhere else. I'm not sure how to get around that.
Why do we only have until January 30 to get all of this fixed?
I sure wish there was a way we could "grandfather" the books that are already in the system.
Mayanka wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Mayanka wrote: "Marisa wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Just to confirm and make sure I'm doing this right, if I am fixing a Kindle edition, is it okay to use the information from a Kindle book ..." Can you give me an example of such a book, Sarah? I will investigate. Hi, the way the quoting works, I'm not sure which example you are looking for - I think you are probably asking which books weren't working for me on the "rescue me" tool?
I had several books which didn't show up on the rescue tool. When I looked through my read list, I found them by going book by book. So far I think it just affected Kindle books. There were lots of them - some examples are "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins and "The Siege of Krishnapur" by J.G. Farrell.
Sarah wrote: "Mayanka wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Mayanka wrote: "Marisa wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Just to confirm and make sure I'm doing this right, if I am fixing a Kindle edition, is it okay to use the information fro..."Sarah, could you provide the link so I'll know which edition of the book?
Diane wrote: "This makes me physically ill, especially since I have spent hundreds of hours of my life creating a group with thousands of catalogued books...."Holy Bookshelf, Batman! I want to throw up just looking at that!
Diane wrote: "This makes me physically ill, especially since I have spent hundreds of hours of my life creating a group with thousands of catalogued books (you can see what I mean here: http://www.goodreads.com/..."We are committed to finding new sources for all books. Please don't be ill until we get the replacement database in place :)
Why do we only have until January 30 to get all of this fixed?
All I can say is we've been given that deadline.
Sara ♥ wrote: "Diane wrote: "This makes me physically ill, especially since I have spent hundreds of hours of my life creating a group with thousands of catalogued books...."Holy Bookshelf, Batman! I want to t..."
The bookshelf is just the tip of the iceberg. There are about 20 times that many books linked within the topics...
Mayanka wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Mayanka wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Mayanka wrote: "Marisa wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Just to confirm and make sure I'm doing this right, if I am fixing a Kindle edition, is it okay to use the i..." Sarah, could you provide the link so I'll know which edition of the book? /i>Here are the links of my examples (but I have already "rescued" the books):
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/81...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85...
If I see others I will post them. I think I have fixed all of my books already. But these were a couple that didn't show up in the tool.
If the only source for a book is amazon is that book just not going to ever be on goodreads? I hate this idea because then I can't add it to my shelves and add it towards my goal. :(
Can we export all our data, then import it later, or will GR know it's Amazon still?
You can always manually add a book to the GR database.
vicki_girl wrote: "You can always manually add a book to the GR database."I understand that but what if we don't have a data source for it other then amazon?
Dierdra wrote: "If the only source for a book is amazon is that book just not going to ever be on goodreads? I hate this idea because then I can't add it to my shelves and add it towards my goal. :("That can't be the only source—remember the publisher! And they've said that Kindle books (published by Amazon) will still be available! Or if you have a physical (or electronic) copy of a book, you can add it!
Dierdra wrote: "If the only source for a book is amazon is that book just not going to ever be on goodreads? I hate this idea because then I can't add it to my shelves and add it towards my goal. :("This is very confusing.
I am still getting questions from fellow Kindle authors about whether they need to "rescue" their own books. I hesitate to tell them no, although that seems to be what Otis and Patrick are saying.
Some other questions: Will books from Amazon be able to be on TBR lists? Advertise?
What about print books published through CreateSpace which are generally available through Amazon?
A lot of authors are now in Amazon Select which means we sell only through Amazon. As a reader, I list many of those novels. As an author, I am one of them.
Moloch wrote: "Rivka, thanks for your answers. If I seem nervous and agitated, I'm sorry, but that's because, to be honest, I'm not happy having to do the same job TWICE, and I don't fully understand why (as I sa..."Moloch, actually, sometimes the description field will show up on the rescue page if it's currently from Amazon. But if it doesn't, that means the description is already safe (from another source)!
First promise me you are doing a full backup of the database before breaking havoc here ;) Please please pretty pleaseYou say the new database imported includes 14 millions of books. How many books are now on Goodreads sourced from amazon.*?
Diane wrote: "...I have books in my rescue pile that I personally have manually entered into Goodreads using data taken directly from the actual book itself (i.e. book was physically in my hands). Why are these books on the list when they had nothing to do with Amazon or any other bookseller?"Diane, could you post some examples? We'll try to figure out what happened.
Seems to me like we should all calm down and wait till after the new database is uploaded and see what books are still in danger after that and please before freaking out that the book will be gone forever that isn't what anyone is saying if it ends up gone you can manually put it back in and then it will always be there. I just think everyone needs to give GR a break we don't know what goes on behind the scenes or what Amazon is asking in return for using their data it may be the first born child from everyone on GR for all we know ;).(Just trying to lighten this up a bit)
Sounds like Amazon dumped Good Reads actually. Not the reverse. And given the exhortations not to use any Amazon information, threatened legal action ??? And, it is "ill making". All I hope is that all the old, in many cases unique to me, books don't vanish.
I'll remain optimistic but doubtful until it hits the fan.
And people, it would be a really GREAT idea to back up your database NOW.
Can we know what the new source of 14 million ISBNs is? I'd like to be reassured that it's an authoritative source ...
I saw this thread earlier and didn't think much of it, but I just stumbled upon two books on my own in need of rescuing. Fixed them up and will do my best to get through a lot more books.
MissJessie wrote: "Sounds like Amazon dumped Good Reads actually. Not the reverse. And given the exhortations not to use any Amazon information, threatened legal action ???If they have an agreement for the use of the data, and Amazon changes their terms and GR doesn't agree with the changes, of COURSE Amazon is going to say that GR can't keep using their data. I'm not so sure what is puzzling here? GR can't steal or otherwise illegally use it, and if they do, why WOULDN'T Amazon threaten legal action?
J.R. wrote: "Dierdra wrote: "If the only source for a book is amazon is that book just not going to ever be on goodreads? I hate this idea because then I can't add it to my shelves and add it towards my goal. :..."Even if a book is only on Amazon, there are alternative sources of info for it--namely, the author. The author has all of the information required to rescue the book. They don't need to cut and paste from Amazon to know the title, description, cover, etc.
Authors should probably rescue their books. In most cases, the books will be included in the new database we're going to import next week, but it doesn't hurt to rescue them.
No matter how heavily a book is associated with Amazan -- including Kindle Select, KDP, CreateSpace, etc. -- we will still have records for those books. They will continue to function exactly as every other book on the site -- available for advertising, accessible to readers, etc.
The issue here is that we used to get most of our data from Amazon for all books, and now that's going to change.
Brooke wrote: "MissJessie wrote: "Sounds like Amazon dumped Good Reads actually. Not the reverse. And given the exhortations not to use any Amazon information, threatened legal action ???If they have an agreem..."
Didn't say it was puzzling; just said what I think happened. Although, I am not sure how it is the Amazon owns the title and author of a book. But it doesn't matter.
Reasking a question for clarification: If I have added books that I own, without ISBN numbers, etc., Will They Disappear?I think I understand they won't.
I'm simple minded--please answer Yes they will go or No they won't.
Thanks and good luck you guys. What a job!
MissJessie wrote: "Although, I am not sure how it is the Amazon owns the title and author of a book."I think you are misunderstanding what service Amazon has provided to GR.
Lindajean (GreenHills) wrote: "Can we know what the new source of 14 million ISBNs is? I'd like to be reassured that it's an authoritative source ..."I can't say yet, but it is a very authoritative source, and will be announced in the next few days.
Patrick wrote: "J.R. wrote: "Dierdra wrote: "If the only source for a book is amazon is that book just not going to ever be on goodreads? I hate this idea because then I can't add it to my shelves and add it towar..."Thanks, Patrick. I'll pass that along to other authors.
B&N? :DI don't understand how this exactly works now that I think about it. How is Amazon able to tell Goodreads that it can't use information from Amazon? So long as something is properly sourced I don't see what the issue is. People have been doing this forever... outside of Goodreads, that is.
Ok, working my list....could the decision to shutdown bookswap had something to do with Amazon's draconian terms? Could we see its triumphant return?
Patrick wrote: "They don't need to cut and paste from Amazon to know the title, description, cover, etc. "Wait. That isn't correct because it requires a "source URL". I don't have to cut and paste the title and description. Yes, I know that information but I can't give some "source URL" because the only place the novel is on the web is Amazon.
JK wrote: "B&N? :DI don't understand how this exactly works now that I think about it. How is Amazon able to tell Goodreads that it can't use information from Amazon? So long as something is properly sour..."
True, JK, but this is property rights issue. The data is the property of Amazon, so if you what they want you to do with it, or you don't get to play in the sandbox.
J.R. wrote: "Yes, I know that information but I can't give some "source URL" because the only place the novel is on the web is Amazon."No source URL is required if you have a copy of the book in your hand. As the author, I'll bet you have such.
In terms of verifying info Are we still allowed to use "Kindle edition" as a format? It's still listed in the format box, but I just wanted to be sure before I "rescued" anything. Going forward, is it ok to use Google Books as a source? I'm much less nervous now than I was when I started reading this thread, but as someone with 600+ kindle titles on Amazon I'm dreading the change, especially since I don't have the time required to rescue all my books. I guess I'll just have to trust that the GR solution is adequate.
This is the best site of it's kind on the internet, and as long as it can keep kindle functionality i'll stay.
--Mahlon--
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "J.R. wrote: "Yes, I know that information but I can't give some "source URL" because the only place the novel is on the web is Amazon."No source URL is required if you have a copy of the book in ..."It says it's required information on the page.
Cut and paste from the "repair" page:
Source URL (required)
No source URL is required if you have the physical book in front of you. See message #87 in this thread.
J.R. wrote: "Source URL (required) "and under that you get teh option to check
"I have a physical or ebook copy of this book present. "
In this case you don't need a url
It took me a while to see the 'or' option under the url source box. Under the box where you would add a URL, there are two boxes to that you can click on. The second one is for if you own a copy. Just check that box and the program knows you don't need a URL.
So if I've rescued a book - and the image remains - but the librarian data for the image says "not set," what does that mean? Will the image stay, or disappear?
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No problem at all. It would be great if you could let people know. We don't want anyone to think we're abandoning the indie authors!