Goodreads Librarians Group discussion
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Amazon is going away as a data source
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Tara
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Jan 21, 2012 05:02AM
What happens to the data that we're not given the option to add on the rescue page if what's there currently was originally sourced from Amazon? For example, say I've rescued a book, but haven't been able to mention that it's in English, what the original title was, what the original pub date was etc. Will the data from those fields be lost on the 30th? And if so, will there be a way of us knowing what data needs to be re-added?
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Tara, from what I understand the data that didn't show up on the rescue page didn't originate from Amazon, so it will remain.
Sounds good :) I thought that'd be the case with language, because that's a newer addition to the records, but wasn't sure about some of the other fields.
Tara wrote: "What happens to the data that we're not given the option to add on the rescue page if what's there currently was originally sourced from Amazon? For example, say I've rescued a book, but haven't be..."Tara, the data you are filling is the one that's needed. Notice that for every book you get different fields. If you want to be sure, after saving it, go to the edit page of the book and click on librarian change log and scroll down. You'll see. (It seems language and url stay as amazon.* but I guess that's k. I hope so.)
Gundula wrote: "nd I am not even a librarian, so it seems as though I cannot even link with a book list that shows how many books on my shelves might need to be rescued. "Hey, once I've dealt with my books (still a while) I'll try to fix some of yours. You have a lot lol
the_cat wrote: "Gundula wrote: "nd I am not even a librarian, so it seems as though I cannot even link with a book list that shows how many books on my shelves might need to be rescued. "Hey, once I've dealt wit..."
Oh, thank you so very, very much :-) I really, really appreciate that. I think it might be time for me to consider becoming a librarian as well, although I am not very good with anything technical and/or computer related, sigh.
Gundula wrote: "I think it might be time for me to consider becoming a librarian as well, although I am not very good with anything technical and/or computer related, sigh.You really don't have to have any technical skills. It's more or less typing things in and clicking enter. No HTML, Java or any knowledge of that kind necessary.
Am I right to assume that if someone has a book that needs fixing that is also included on my list, and that I've fixed it, that book will disappear from the other person's list?
I would expect it to, if you have both shelved the same edition. Its the edition you are rescuing which is not specific to you
D wrote: "Am I right to assume that if someone has a book that needs fixing that is also included on my list, and that I've fixed it, that book will disappear from the other person's list?"I guess so because some books disappeared from my list but I didn't fix them.
Cara wrote: "Gundula wrote: "I think it might be time for me to consider becoming a librarian as well, although I am not very good with anything technical and/or computer related, sigh.You really don't have..."
Thanks, I might consider applying then :-)
Quick question, how can you see someone elses list? Because my mother has absolutely no time this week, and I don't want her to come online and see half her books missing (although I believe she did enter a lot of books manually).
I've more than 1100 books at risk, almost all of them German editions. There's absolutely no way of saving them in a few days time. I'm sooooo angry. I'll just have to wait and see what happens on Febrary 1st. If my books are gone, I'll quit.
I don't think there is a way the URL does not appear to be profile related.I would go to their bookshelves and go through the list of books that way - ok you'll you have to through them all or wait and see if GR put out a list after the 14 million import
Felix wrote: "I've more than 1100 books at risk, almost all of them German editions. There's absolutely no way of saving them in a few days time. I'm sooooo angry. I'll just have to wait and see what happens on ..."I have to admit that I am very angry as well. Giving us about 10 days time before affected books disappear is simply not acceptable. And why bring this to our attention right before the weekend again?? This issue should have been publicly mentioned on Goodreads at the beginning of the month. The only reason I even know about it is because I signed up for the librarian group, but because I am NOT a GR librarian, I cannot even verify which of my books (probably many of my German language books) are affected. Very bad customer PR, in my opinion.
I'm not really happy either: too much short notice and an unpleasant feeling that international members are more or less left behind to deal with their endangered books alone (and I'm relatively lucky, I have only some 100+ books on my library to rescue, but I spent much work on Goodreads adding many other books and it saddens me that some of them may go).
I went to rescue Catherine of Aragon ... and then when I looked at my copy I realized that I had a Book-of-the-Month Club edition AND that my edition lacked an ISBN number. What is the procedure for books like this one? Thanks!
Moloch wrote: "I'm not really happy either: too much short notice and an unpleasant feeling that international members are more or less left behind to deal with their endangered books alone (and I'm relatively lu..."I am sure the issues GR was facing with Amazon were a long time developing. So why wait until the end of January to mention this? I know one thing, if come February, many of my German and French language books are missing, I will be more than a little ticked off. I know that this is probably mainly Amazon's doing, but GR staff should have mentioned the problems with Amazon earlier, and it should have been mentioned to ALL GR members, not just librarians.
For anyone concerned about losing their books, your best bet is to do an export of your books. Then you will have a back-up file saved to your computer. With this file, you can take as much time as you need to add any books back that get lost.To do an an export:
1. Go to My Books
2. Go to the bottom of your list of shelves and select 'import/export'
3. This will take you to the import page. On the right side of the page there is a link to 'export to a csv file'. Click this link.
3. Select 'Save as' and select the location where you want the file to save on your computer.
I am about to do this now with my books.
Question: One of my "at risk" books is listed as a paperback. What I have, however, is actually an ebook version of that book, created by another reader, not sold in stores. The book is in the Public Domain so no laws or rules have been broken. How then do I "save" that book??
Deedee wrote: "I went to rescue Catherine of Aragon ... and then when I looked at my copy I realized that I had a Book-of-the-Month Club edition AND that my edition lacked an ISBN number. What is t..."Just like normal, put in the information that you have, presumably you have the physical book, the system will recognise that and it will be saved.
Sandra wrote: "Just like normal, put in the information that you have, presumably you have the physical book, the system will recognise that and it will be saved."Even without a proper ISBN?
Can people who are not GR librarians use the at-risk book link to check the books on their shelves so they can let us know what shows up?
Book club editions rarely have ISBNs. If your book does not match the ISBN listed (or you can't confirm it because there isn't one), then I would be hesitant using it to rescue that ISBN. Can you provide a link to the book? I would be happy to take a look at it and give any help I can.
You can try clicking the link in Msg 1 by Otis - it may take you to the page so you can see what ones on your shelf are at risk- Since I am a librarian it shows me, so I cannot say for sure if you can see itIf you do see the page if you are not a librarian you will not be able to edit.
Nyssa wrote: "Sandra wrote: "Just like normal, put in the information that you have, presumably you have the physical book, the system will recognise that and it will be saved."Even without a proper ISBN?"
Absolutely, there are many books without ISBNs, in the system.
Nyssa, it's not required to add an ISBN. Many books don't have them.
Sandra wrote: "Nyssa wrote: "Sandra wrote: "Just like normal, put in the information that you have, presumably you have the physical book, the system will recognise that and it will be saved."Even without a pro..."
Yes but he is trying to rescue a record with an ISBN, using a book that doesn't have one (I think).
I haven't read through the entire thread so this question may have already been asked. Are we allowed to alert users through our own blogs as well? Can we tweet about it? I saw a blog earlier today where someone who's a user and possibly a librarian blogged about this. Is this an appropriate way to get the word out? I don't have a ton of followers but I'd be glad to help if it's okay to do so, outside of what's being done here.
how can I fix this onehttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85...
It is a kindle edition , I own it and I am reading it now yet I do not have the required data on my kindle , only on Amazon , what should I do ?
So far, I've only been able to see which of my books needs "rescuing" by clicking on it individually. How do I find my rescue page that so many people are talking about?Thanks,
Mahlon
Here's the link:http://www.goodreads.com/rescue_books...
I'm a librarian so I can see it, but I was wondering if people who aren't librarians can see their books with this link.
Deedee was talking about a book of the month edition that she had that had no ISBN, whilst Nyssa was talking about a public domain ebook that somehow was showing as a paperback. Unless Nyssa just wanted to rescue the paperback edition attached to their edition? Not sure.
Sheri wrote: "Here's the link:http://www.goodreads.com/rescue_books...
I'm a librarian so I can see it, but I was wondering if people who aren't librarians can see their books with this link."
I am not a librarian (I just applied a few minutes ago) and I cannot see or use the link you've posted. So I have no idea which of my books are compromised and need rescuing.
Nile daughter wrote: "how can I fix this onehttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85...
It is a kindle edition , I own it and I am reading it now yet I do not have the required data on my kindle , only on Am..."
I feel lost , how can I fix a kindle edition book data ?
The paperback probably does have that ISBN. The public domain ebook wouldn't have one. Therefore, in both cases they are trying to rescue ISBNs using a physical/digital copy of a different edition, it seems.I believe you should only rescue using a book in hand (physical or digital) if the ISBN or ASIN matches the one at the top of the rescue form.
My number of books needing help has gone down from 510 to 499 since this morning, so either I'm benefiting from the work of others (thanks guys!) or there is some process running in the background. But there's still a long way to go.I agree with those who are saying that giving only 10 days notice of this is shocking. I hope the Goodreads team will evaluate the impact of the 14 million import then, if necessary, allow more time before blanking out the Amazon data.
John wrote: "My number of books needing help has gone down from 510 to 499 since this morning, so either I'm benefiting from the work of others (thanks guys!) or there is some process running in the background...."John, I think that the deadline is from Amazon's side. I think GR would be more than happy to have a deadline 6 months out.
Nile daughter wrote: "Nile daughter wrote: "how can I fix this onehttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85...
It is a kindle edition , I own it and I am reading it now yet I do not have the required data on ..."
Otis has said that they are working on a solution for Kindle editions and those published only via KDP
I would wait until GR announce what is happening with Kindle editions
Nile daughter wrote: "Nile daughter wrote: "how can I fix this onehttp://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85...
It is a kindle edition , I own it and I am reading it now yet I do not have the required data on ..."
I think this is the Kindle edition, not the one you linked to which is a DTB: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...
I don't have a kindle, but all the ebooks I have have the publishing information somewhere in the beginning. All you have to do is verify the ASIN of the book- to make sure it's the right edition you are saving.
This might be a silly question, but I wonder what it would mean for my reviews if an endangered book that I've reviewed is merged with the most popular edition, which I've also reviewed?Will I lose one of the reviews?
I've backed up my books, but I'd like to know how this works... I don't have much experience with merging...
Most Kindle books I've seen have the publishing information at the end. You can "Go To" the end without seeing the last page of the book as a spoiler and usually find what you're looking for.
Good question Becky! I believe it that case, the review on the most popular edition would stay and the other likely lost. I have been going through my "may be merged" books and moving them to other editions. I chose something other than the most popular for a reason. However, I don't have any reviews on those. I am just moving from say an ebook version to another ebook. I don't want my ebook merged into a paperback!Still I wouldn't worry about it overly much until ~Tuesday when the all the new data is available.
I tried to rescue this book: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14...Based on the information in my own copy, the edition dates from 1967, however when I tried to enter this I got an error that I couldn't enter a date that was earlier than the original publication date.
I can't find a way to correct the original publication date on a book that needs to be rescued. Have I missed something?
Becky wrote: "This might be a silly question, but I wonder what it would mean for my reviews if an endangered book that I've reviewed is merged with the most popular edition, which I've also reviewed?Will I lo..."
Becky if you don't have tons of multiple reviews, you can always go to My Books. Make sure you're in the "All Books Section". Click on Find Duplicates. You can always copy and paste your reviews that are "endangered" and enter them into the "Private Notes" section (of the edition not up for deletion) with the ISBN of the book. That way when/if that edition is recovered, you still have access to the review.
Go ahead an rescue the book, but don't put in the publication date info; it's not required. After it has be rescued you can select edit and update the edition publication date and the original publication date.
Shay wrote: "Becky wrote: "This might be a silly question, but I wonder what it would mean for my reviews if an endangered book that I've reviewed is merged with the most popular edition, which I've also review..."Great idea Shay!
Catherine wrote: "I tried to rescue this book: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14...Based on the information in my own copy, the edition dates from 1967, however when I t..."
I had something similar happen, Catherine. All the information confirmed that it was published in 2000, but for some reason the Original Publication date was 2008 according to GR. I just left the date information blank when I rescued it. A couple hours later I went back in and the "needs to be saved" sign was gone and I could put the proper date back in - maybe a caching issue?
Brooke wrote: "A couple hours later I went back in and the "needs to be saved" sign was gone and I could put the proper date back in - maybe a caching issue? "Once it's rescued, you should be able to edit any info needed. I personally haven't run into cache issues. I have been able to edit immediately after rescuing. ~Strange~
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