Adding a book found in another's library

First time attempting to add a book from someone else's catalog and it isn't going well :(. I found the book I want to add in 2 other libraries (they both added manually), I have gone into both libraries and keep getting the same "error": I'm going into the main page, clicking the green "+ Add" button in UR corner. Thhen an "add book" window pops up saying "Could not find any results? Go to the Add Books page." If I click "Add Books page" hyperlink in this window it takes me to the Add books page with nothing prepopulated, but a different book than the one I searched is in now in my library. What am I doing wrong?

If both books were added manually, the system for the green + button will send you to the add books page to seek it from a library source.
It probably has a small problem figuring out the title, which I suspect might be a bug.

Though if the other two libraries have it as manually entered, there might not be a library with source details. That suggests you might also have to enter it manually.
Could you tell us what the book is so we can better assess the situation, please?

Interestingly, I'm having the exact same problem. Trying to add this manually entered book to my library:

https://www.librarything.com/work/20592718/summary

I suppose I could create my own manual entry and then merge the two?

>3 Lukerik: Correct. You'd add yours manually then combine the two works.

>4 gilroy: Thanks. It was actually even easier than that. The site automatically linked the two manual entries.

I was about to duplicate a complaint that apparently started in 2008 and has continued to date before I found this FAQ. I read through many of the responses in this thread and I understand that this behavior is unlikely to change to after 16 years of user frustration.

Would there be a willingness to at least revise the message? I search for "Nyad", I get a result, I click on the "+ Add" button and receive the message "Could not find any results? Go to the Add Books page."

The "Could not find any results?" as a question seems puzzling. I searched for Nyad and got a result. So my answer would be "No, I found a result." But the question is asked as though presuming that the answer is "Yes, I couldn't find any results," after which I should go to the Add Books page.

Could I suggest a revision? If the message only appears in cases where the book must be added through the Add Books page, then I would suggest: "You can't add this work with the '+ Add' button because all entries must either come from an approved source or be manually entered by you. You will need to add the book manually. For more information, see http://www.librarything.com/topic/50866."

I know this is wordy, but it's much more useful than what currently appears. The "add the book manually" would point to https://www.librarything.com/addnew.php. I gather that if one gets no results, then going to the Add Books page is just going to waste time, right? Perhaps I'm wrong, in which case, revise the last sentence to "Use the Add Books page to add it."

I sure hope the LT staff are still looking at additions to this thread!

Going to the add book page is not a waste of time if you want to try other sources.

Using the add book button on the work page is often a waste of time.

>6 freixas: The Express Add button that shows up on the work page doesn’t search all possible sources. If any sources are found, they show up in the pop-up box. If none are found, that’s when you get the “Could not find any results?” message. That is, you didn’t find any results in the sources used by the express “Add” search, not that you didn’t find any works in the LT works search. At that point, using the Add Books page lets you search other sources and often does locate a copy that you can add, so it’s not a waste of time to try other sources.

>6 freixas: The difficulty with your supposition is that you want to use Librarything as a source. Librarything is NOT a source.
Clicking on the Green + Add button is using a limited number of popular sources to search for your book. If it doesn't find the book in any of those sources, then it tells you to go to the Add Books page to either search other sources, or add it manually.

Not a waste of time.

>7 MarthaJeanne:
>8 Charon07:
>9 gilroy:

So far, I've received the 3 responses cited above. Thanks for clarifying that "+ Add" searches a limited set of sources and that the Add Books link could be more useful than linking to the manual add page.

Given this information, I would simply suggest the alternative I ended with: "Perhaps I'm wrong, in which case, revise the last sentence to 'Use the Add Books page to add it.'"

My rewording suggestion would be revised to: "You can't add this work with the '+ Add' button because all entries must either come from an approved source or be manually entered by you. Use the Add Books page to add it. For more information, see http://www.librarything.com/topic/50866."

I'm not attached to this specific wording or even to this specific solution. My point is that the current wording is confusing to anyone who doesn't already know what happens under the hood. Until I repeatedly ran into the problem and decided to try to find out why, all I saw was that LT offered to add an entry and then said that it couldn't.

>10 freixas: What if the question mark were just a period? “Could not find any results. Go to the Add Books page.”

>11 Charon07:

Again, the problem is that this requires people to know what is going on under the hood.

You search for a book in LT. You find it. You see a "+ Add" button. If you haven't read through all the comments in this thread, your expectation is likely that selecting "+ Add" will copy the book you are looking at to your collection. If so, I assure you that "Could not find any results" with or without the question mark is surprising since you are staring at the result of a search. This was the case for me. I originally came to the Talk group to report what I thought was a bug; how could the "+ Add" not find a book when the search box could?

I realize I still don't know all that is happening under the hood—I suspect that LT first looks at the book to see if it can pick some likely sources from which to add the book to one's collection. If it can't find any, it reports "Could not find any results?"

My suggested rewording is still not quite right. Here is an alternative:

Failed to find a source for this entry.
> Details

Users who expand Details, might see:

You cannot copy an entry from someone else's library. Entries must come from approved external sources. I was unable to determine a source to use for the entry you are trying to add. This happens most commonly if the entry was manually created or is missing an ISBN. Try adding it from the Add Books page, where you might find a source containing this entry. Failing that, you can add the entry manually. For more information, see http://www.librarything.com/topic/50866."

I want to emphasize that all my wording suggestions are just suggestions to give the LT staff some idea of what I'm aiming at. I'm not the person who works on LT software full time or who knows the long history of LT or the principles that drive how "+ Add" works. With regards to that, I notice none of the replies to my comment have come from LT staff. Should I post this suggestion under Bug Collectors?

>12 freixas: So post in Recommend Site improvements: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/559/Recommend-Site-Improvements

We all understand what you are saying but this is neither the group, nor the thread where we can help with anything more than advice on how the site works and how to make the best of what it does.

The LT developers really cannot read every single message across the site. So there are groups for specific things. :)

And if you read the search page, right at the top it says: To add books to your library, use the add books search.
Finding a book in LibraryThing is not really a good first step in adding it.

>12 freixas: A lot of this has to do with the basic premise about what LT is and how it works. You expect it to work like Goodreads, you find the book on the site and add that edition to your list of books. LT is nothing like that. Rather than a list of editions, it is a database of individual members' detailed bibliographic records. Sources are there to automate the process to the extent that is possible, but LT itself is merely an aggregation of those records (and only of public profiles at that). Except for a select few fields such as subject headings or ASIN, each and every member can edit their records as they see fit. In other words, Goodreads comes with pre-populated known editions that you can easily add, but can't edit in any way, so it's basically just a list of books and a bunch of social features. LT is your own database of books where you tailor your records yourself and each book entered on LT is an individual record.

If you make an RSI, IMO clearer description is needed on LT quick tour page. Or both, but the point is understanding that LT is NOT a source and the various ways to add records is basic enough that people should have clear understanding after going through the short tour.

>10 freixas: Honestly, no, it doesn't require knowing what's "under the hood." It requires reading the description of what's on each screen before hitting search, and maybe even taking the tour when you sign up, so you know how the site works.

>10 freixas: I agree that this prompt could be clearer and requires an understanding of how LibraryThing works that newer users are likely to lack. I’d recommend posting in the Recommended Site Improvements group, https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/559/Recommend-Site-Improvements, where the LT staff are more likely to see it.

I believe LT staff are interested in making the user interface easier to use, despite the impression you may have formed from some long-time users, whose defense of the site in all its sometimes arcane behavior is often off-putting to those who suggest improvements, but which I hope you’ll take as a sign that LT invokes fierce loyalty in those who get to know and love it.