Goodreads Librarians Group discussion

I am trying to enter my (physical) bookshelves in and I keep coming across situations I find difficult to process. Here is the latest: I wanted to add The Magic of Xanth to my list. I have the hardcover copy complete with the paper sleeve. There is no isbn on either. The cover (spine, title page, etc.) says the book is published by Nelson Doubleday but the copyright page says "pusblished by arrangement with Del Rey/Ballantine Books, A Divison of Random House." There is no date of publication. In all likelihood this is a volume created for the SFBC. I have found one source that says it was published in Feb 1981.

Now, according to editions in the database, this book is likely either The Magic of Xanth isbn 0345005694, published Oct 1986 by Ballantine Books. The cover image matches and the description says it is the first time collected in hardcover. On the other hand it could be The Magic of Xanth (Book Club Edition) no isbn, no date of publication, no cover image, by Nelson Doubleday (correct page count). (My best guess is that these are actually the same edition; however, the description for the Book Club Edition starts "Twenty-five years ago, ..." which would mean that the book couldn't have been published before 2002.)

In any case, these are supposedly other editions of Xanth: The Quest for Magic paperback, isbn 034545328X, published Oct 2002 by Del Rey. The original title of that book was Xanth: The Quest for Magic, published in 1983; however, the first book titled that is Xanth: The Quest for Magic, isbn 0345340469, published 1987 by Ballantine Books (Mm). It is paperback with no page count and shares the same description (i.e., 25 years ago...) with the Book Club edition.

The edition that is actually listed as being published in 1983 (Nov by Ballantine Books) is Magic of Xanth, isbn 0345320581, mass market paperback but sharing the "25 years ago ..." description as well. I do recall that there was a boxed set of the first three paperbacks since I received it as a gift one Christmas. Unfortunately I either did not keep it when I got the hardback edition or I've simply no idea where I have put it.

The only other edition of the book (in English) is Three Complete Xanth Novels, isbn 0517122332, hardcover published Feb 11, 1995 by Wings, but since the cover image and page count don't match, I doubt this is anything but an intermediate description. Oddly it shares the "first time collected in hardcover ..." description.

So, here's my thoughts (and wht I've been able to discern from the Internet - although some of this is conflicting):
The first 3 Xanth novels appeared in 1977-1979.
(1) These were first collected in hardcover for the SFBC in 1981. (This is the volume I have). Therefore the original name of the book is The Magic of Xanth and it was first published (by Nelson Doubleday) in 1981.) I could not find an isbn for this edition.
(2) The first boxed set (isbn 0345320581) was published Nov 1983 by Ballantine Books.
(3) This was followed by a second boxed set (isbn 0345005694) in 1986 also by Ballantine Books. Naturally neither of these had descriptions. Both boxed sets were called The Magic of Xanth with the second (and perhaps the first) having a subtitle An Enchanting Fantasy Trilogy.
(4) The two boxed sets were followed up by a large single omnibus paperback (isbn 0345340469) with the same title (including subtitle) published by Ballantine in 1987. A page on Amazon shows that the font and back sleeve images were the same as the two sides of the second box set.
(5) On Feb 11, 1995, Wings published a new hardcover version (isbn 0517122332) entitled Three Complete Xanth Novels.
(6) In 2002, Del Rey published a new paperback omnibus (isbn 034545328X) in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of Xanth.

So, I have made changes to reflect this view of things.

OK, so now my question: why if all these are updated, do I keep seeing the old editions under other editions on the book pages? Is that just something that takes a while to catch up?

Yes, it takes some time; I don't remember exactly how long.

I'm not sure I followed all of your discussion above. However, regarding the descriptions, I want to clarify something. Sometimes a 'default' description is used. This will occasionally have edition specific details that don't really apply to all editions, e.g., several of your books above starting with "twenty-five years ago..." which really only applies to one of the editions. Librarians try to strip out any edition specific details like that and make default more generic. However, some still slip by us from time to time. :)

You can tell a book is using the 'default' description by clicking the edit button. If the description is using the default, the text will be greyed-out. Hope this helps in your future edits. :)

vicki_girl wrote: "Yes, it takes some time; I don't remember exactly how long.

I'm not sure I followed all of your discussion above. However, regarding the descriptions, I want to clarify something. Sometimes a '..."

Yes, I replaced the default description with the one from the book's dust cover. Now only one edition (from 2002) has the "25 year's ago..." blurbs and teh other editions just use the default.

So is it generally acceptable to create an entry for a Book Club edition of a book? I found a book in a used bookstore, Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, which has no ISBN and it turns out it is, as far as I can tell, from a UK book club publisher. Amazon.co.uk did have a ASIN for the version I have, so I used that to add a new edition for the book with the correct cover image and page count.

FAE wrote: "So is it generally acceptable to create an entry for a Book Club edition of a book? I found a book in a used bookstore, Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco, which has no ISBN and it turns out it is,..."

It is always acceptable to create an edition for a copy of a physical book you have in your hand, if no other editions match it.

I would not use the ASIN, however, because those were created so that resellers could list individual books. In the past GR had an import problem where those kind of ASIN entries were being uploaded, but they were not true new editions of a book, just a reseller ID . I think many of those were deleted, but librarians are on the lookout for those and might delete your edition because they think it is one of them.

Instead, add a librarian's note to the edition saying that it has no ISBN, and leave it. There are many editions in the database with no ISBN - pre-ISBN system books, special edition books (like your book club edition), and alternate cover editions, so it is in good company.

Ah okay, awesome, I'll do that now. Thanks for information Carolyn! I didn't realize it was acceptable to add books without ISBNs. I have a set of old Isaac Asimov books without ISBNs that I'd love to have in my digital collection here. I'll have to see about adding them then!

FAE wrote: "I didn't realize it was acceptable to add books without ISBNs."

Absolutely, as long as they are really books. Pre-1967 books had no ISBNs, bookclub editions sometimes don't -- but those are still legitimate books.

Most of the books I have without ISBNs seem to be Book Club editions, especially omnibuses. The unfortuante thing is that on certain sites these books are associated with an ISBN that then can't be validated with the physical book in hand.