Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

E.E. "Doc" Smith (a famous SF author from the old days) has had his profile name has go through a number of alterations and changes on GoodReads. This is a case where there has been a lot of variation on his published books, so there is no one standard to point to.

Currently he is listed as "Edward Elmer Smith". In the past six months, his name has been changed back and forth between (at a minimum) "Edward E. Smith", "Edward E. (Doc) Smith", and "Smith, Edward Elmer" (the latter is clearly wrong).

At times you've also been able to find alternate listings for him on GoodReads with "E.E. Doc Smith" (the Doc is various forms) and with "PhD" in various forms before, after, and in the middle of his name.

Ignoring the issue of combining variants (most of which appear to currently be combined into a single profile), what should his profile name be? Worldcat and Wikipedia both list him as E.E. Smith. Wikipedia also lists Edward Elmer Smith, Ph.D., E.E. "Doc" Smith, Doc Smith, and "Skylark" Smith as common variants.

Whatever is decided, we need to add a librarian note to his profile stating what the consensus was and asking other librarians to stop changing it (whatever that final consensus may be).

Personally, I've always heard him referred to as E.E. "Doc" Smith and that is the name on many (although certainly not all) of his book covers.

Plain E.E. Smith poses a disambig problem -- there appears to be a children's author of that name. As well as a single-book physicist.

Because of that, and the long-standing naming of him (it's what I've always seen and heard as well), I vote for E.E. "Doc" Smith too.

Me three.

SF SQRL wrote: "Me three."
Me four.

Will you add the librarian note?

Yes, I'll do it.