Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

I'm asking for an official answer because the superlibrarians seem to be divided on this issue.

If we have a book added by users some time ago (with ratings & reviews) + this book is not a valid book record per GR rules (only available via subscription / published in magazine / webcomics) + there is currently a valid book record (Kindle edition, official published hardcover), what's the best thing to do?

- Merge this invalid book with a suitable target to save ratings & reviews
- Mark this invalid book as invalid

Two examples:

1 - https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
This is an audiobook from Storytel (not a valid). The book has since been published in hardcover. It has 11 reviews of the work, not the audio version.

2 - https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...
The book with bright cover was published on bookmate, by subscription only (not a valid). Since then it was officially published in Kindle format and in hardcover, but with a different cover. This is the same work.

I would like clarity on this issue.

Hi Olga. Is there an existing discussion between Superlibrarians on this? If so, can you link me to that thread? Thanks!

Not a real discussion. Here is the thread with my request. There's a short answer from the superlibrarian:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Similar cases of merging invalid entries:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Old discussions (I guess, some posts were deleted, it is difficult to find/understand excerpts):
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Edit: There are a lot of old discussions, but I think they are not relevant in 2024.

Thanks Olga. In both instances the book should be marked as invalid and not merged.

Invalid, because both editions have member activity (ratings or reviews) and so should not be deleted. The edition should not be merged with any other record as doing so will move member activity to a record that is not a duplicate. Keeping this data on the invalidated edition will also mean that members can still see their ratings and reviews on their "correct" edition on their shelves.

Thanks for the explanation, Jaclyn! It became much clearer. I've marked these editions as invalid and can still see the reviews.