Twice the same author on book

When I look at my copy of Calendrical Calculations:

http://www.librarything.com/work/683169/book/25792415

I see the same author twice near the top instead of the two different authors.

Previously http://www.librarything.com/topic/126645

Try the recalculate title/author link for these; I think when folks are seeing the same author twice on their book pages, it's leftover gunk from a now-fixed bug. If the recalculate author link doesn't fix it, post the link here (to the book page) and I'll take a look.

Recalculate doesn't help. Link is in the top message.

#3 and #4 The problem is that most members have used Nachum Dershowitz as primary author even though Edward M Reingold is listed first. There is really no way out of this problem as some members will see a duplicate author no matter what so changing primary author really isn't a solution.

5> Right, but that's been a problem with this feature since the beta days, and I thought that was the first thing that Tim fixed when he let it out of the box.

6 - Tim did fix the feature, but then I think it was when he changed the top lines back to showing book-level not work-level data if you have the book that the other author display feature broke again.

I'm unclear what the problem is here. I clicked the recalculate link and it worked. Had someone done it and it reverted?

Tim,

The recalculate fixes the author and indeed leaves you on the work page (not on the book one). So it appears ok but if you go again on the book page, it is again the same author twice.

Yes - tried twice.

So here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/683169/
all is ok
but here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/683169/book/25792415
it is not.

Recalculate makes it appear as if it is ok until you click on the link again - and it is broken again.

Ah. I see. Okay, looking.

Got it. Thanks. Fixed.

Thanks!

Ugh, I really don't like the fix: the display of my edition's authors at the top of the page. It treats all other authors as at the same level as the primary author, putting them all on the same line.
For instance, this is what the top of the work page looks like for Richard III, of which I have a copy:


My first thought was, oh no, someone's put book-level other authors on the work; I need to fix that. It took me a minute to realize these were showing up from my data. And that means there's nothing I can do about it, short of deleting other authors from my catalog. Ugh.

I really think this top section should show work-level data, but that seems to be off the table. Is there any way we can at least get a demotion of catalog/book-level other authors? They're on different lines in the book information box; that would be better than this.

>14 rsterling:
Yes this. The problem is the distinction between main and secondary authors is critical, but that distinction is only available for the work level other authors not individual catalog level other authors.

For works with long lists of contributors the current display is truly insane.

Or perhaps a checkbox on book Other Authors to indicate which are primary/secondary authors.

ETA: Wow, that IS crazy, eromsted. I've suggested before that after a certain point, there should be some hiding with a "(show all)" link. This would be well past that point!

>16 brightcopy:
I wanted to pick the most dramatic example. You might say I'm crazy for having entered it all.

Some kind of main/secondary checkbox at catalog level might work. But I'm not thrilled at the prospect of having to make the assignments twice (once in my catalog and once for the work level) for every book. If we do get a way to make the assignments at the catalog level I would hope that info would be part of the potential other author data ported to the work level.

17> Agreed. Another thing I've suggested before is some way to either copy the work data to your book or a checkbox along the lines of "use work author data for my book".

#18

That's a great idea.

Tim did say, recently, that he meant to put in the (more) link on Other Authors. Hopefully it will happen soon.

Tim did say, recently, that he meant to put in the (more) link on Other Authors. Hopefully it will happen soon.
There, though, I think he was talking about the secondary authors at the work level, where you have many contributors. So that wouldn't affect how book-level data displays when you have the book.

Well, if I could find the place he said that I might try to construe it more finely. But as I recall the context was something about no room up there - so it _should_ apply to both work- and book-level Other/Secondary authors. At least I'd hope so. I don't have anything as wild as eromsted's example, but I've got some pretty messy ones.

The problem, though, is that I don't want to see secondary authors for my books on that line at all, "more" link or not. In the image above - post 14 - Mowat and Werstine should not be there at all, in my view. The book is by Shakespeare; their involvement in editing it is not at all of the same importance. If you put their names on another smaller line, fine.

All in all, I'm finding all these changes to the top section of the work page visually much less clear and much more confusing and cluttered than they need to be. (What's the point of setting work-level other authors for my books, if I'm never going to see them?)

23> (What's the point of setting work-level other authors for my books, if I'm never going to see them?)

The same could be set about Canonical Title for a work and Canonical Name for an author. What's the point of setting those when your book title/author will always override them?

The best answer I can come up with is that they help the work page look better when you don't actually have the book. Since I see a LOT of work pages for books I don't have, I get that logic.

The same could be set about Canonical Title for a work and Canonical Name for an author.* What's the point of setting those when your book title/author will always override them?

Precisely. That's why I think there needs to be a prominent display of work-level title -- and work-level authors -- on the work page (and my book title on my book page), regardless of whether I have the book.

* What you say about overriding is true for the canonical title, but not really for canonical name, since the latter mainly affects the author page, where I'll see the canonical author at the top regardless of what my books have. In other words, the heading of the author page is based on site-level stuff and isn't sensitive to my particular catalog, while the work page is the opposite, and that just doesn't make sense to me.

25> No, you make a fair point. All I can say is that we tend to talk primarily about books, of which author is an attribute that has a somewhat independent life. I understand that this can be inconsistent when reframed in other contexts.