librarian manual
The low-down on being a Librarian on Goodreads. For more resources check out the Goodreads Librarians group.
- how to become a librarian
- what can librarians do?
- why not make everyone a librarian?
- how to edit book or author information
- how to merge two author profiles
- authors with the same names
- rules for combining book editions
- how to merge two books
- syntax for listing book titles
- books with multiple authors
how to become a librarian
In order to become a librarian on Goodreads you must have at least 50 books in your profile, then just apply.what can librarians do?
Goodreads members with Librarian Status can edit book and author data, add book covers, and combine different editions of books. Each book and author has one unique entry in the Goodreads database. Librarians help correct book issues, like if the data isn't correct, or is missing things like the book description or URL.why not make everyone a librarian?
Initially, we allowed everyone to be a librarian. Anyone could edit book and author data, add cover images, or combine books. However, we found that while 99% of the people did a good job, occasionally we had someone who messed things up. So we created a new status that we bestow on those interested in helping keep things nice and tidy, which has worked out well.how to edit book or author information
To edit book or author information, navigate to the book or author's page, then click on the 'edit data' link which is found in the lower right side of the box containing the book or author's information. Please remember to be accurate in your edits, as your changes will be reflected on anyone's shelf who has that book.how to merge two author profiles
Each author name is unique and has its own profile. Sometimes various data sources use slightly different spellings of an author name (eg JK Rowling vs J.K. Rowling vs Joanne Kathleen Rowling). To merge two author profiles, edit the data for the profile that should be discarded, and change the name to be the exact same spelling (copy/pasting helps here) of the profile that it should be merged into. All books will be associated with the new author. We plan to support author pseudonyms soon to help prevent this issue. If there is doubt as to the correct spelling, we recommend checking The Library of Congress.authors with the same names
One of our biggest unsolved challenges is to figure out how to automatically separate authors with the same names. It would be great if all authors had a unique number like an ISBN! In the meantime, unraveling these messes is a manual process. The way to do it is give each author profile a unique name. A middle name or initial is best, but failing that we found a good trick: add an extra space in between the author's first and last names (it won't be displayed). You'll need to do this while editing one of the author's books, because if you edit the author's data directly you will only change the author name for all his or her books.rules for combining book editions
The rules for combining book editions are listed below, and are also posted on the right side of the combine page for each author. These rules have been decided as a collaborative effort between the Goodreads staff and the members in the Goodreads Librarians group.
do combine:
don't combine:
- Different publications of the same book.
- Different formats of the book (hardcover, paperback, audio).
- Editions/translations of the book in other languages. Even though many translations differ significantly, we've made the decision to combine them all, and have people note the differences in their reviews.
don't combine:
- 2-in-1 books or boxed sets that include the given book.
- Cliff notes or other works about the given book.
how to merge two books
If a particular book is listed twice, it may be helpful to merge the two entries into one. Note that this is different from combining editions, which is where you can mark one version of a book as the same as another. Books should only be merged if they have the exact same ISBN.- make sure the books are combined
- edit the book you'd like to merge into the other one
- click 'delete this book' at the bottom. Note that this only works for books with less than 15 member reviews.
- the book and all its reviews will be merged into the most popular edition
syntax for listing book titles
Most titles on Goodreads follow the syntax of having the title list some extra data in parenthesis following the title. This data can be either format information (hardcover, paperback, audio cd, etc), publisher information, or series information (eg. if the book is in a series "book 1"). If no extra data is present but the book does have a format listed, it will be automatically added in some areas of the site. It is preferred to list the data in the title however, as it greatly helps in distinguishing books and it's easy to strip out where needed.Some examples:
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (book 1)
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Paperback)
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Penguin Classics)
