Display ASIN as well as ISBN after an import and on export
Talk Recommend Site Improvements
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1JoeB1934
When I do an import using LEGITIMATE ISBNs it sometimes ending up with an ASIN for the book instead of the ISBN I gave it.
After the import I go to the book page and under Book Details I see the Identifier ASIN, but no ISBN. Then I go to Edit the Book and insert the correct ISBN and save it.
Going back to Book Details I now see Publication with the ISBN.
I have 2 questions:
1) Why did it ignore my legitimate ISBN and come up with the ASIN?
2) Given that this occurs I am led to believe there wasn't an acceptable ISBN in my library and the ASIN isn't immediately observable.
Finally, If I do a full export of the library the ASIN isn't displayed.
After the import I go to the book page and under Book Details I see the Identifier ASIN, but no ISBN. Then I go to Edit the Book and insert the correct ISBN and save it.
Going back to Book Details I now see Publication with the ISBN.
I have 2 questions:
1) Why did it ignore my legitimate ISBN and come up with the ASIN?
2) Given that this occurs I am led to believe there wasn't an acceptable ISBN in my library and the ASIN isn't immediately observable.
Finally, If I do a full export of the library the ASIN isn't displayed.
2MarthaJeanne
You got the ASIN instead of the ISBN, because that is what Amazon chose to use for that book. You will not get ASINs if you use library sources.
3JoeB1934
>2 MarthaJeanne: I don't get ASIN on every book. About 20 on 800 books in this case. Nevertheless, however I get them LT should display them in some way. How about in the export of book records.
I need to use Amazon because I don't know of any library that has many of my books. I have been using Amazon for years but this time I had to go to Amazon.com UK to get more obscure books on my list. I assume Goodreads is the equivalent of Amazon and doing an ISBN search there doesn't get misdirected.
I need to use Amazon because I don't know of any library that has many of my books. I have been using Amazon for years but this time I had to go to Amazon.com UK to get more obscure books on my list. I assume Goodreads is the equivalent of Amazon and doing an ISBN search there doesn't get misdirected.
4karenb
>3 JoeB1934: Two suggestions:
a) Do you ever use Overcat as a source? If other people on LT have a work that you want to add, Overcat lists the relevant works & the sources that people used to add them. You can then pick the work you want and add it to your library directly from the relevant source.
b) Do you know about worldcat.org? It includes materials from libraries all over the world. When I have trouble finding a good source for a book, I will sometimes go to WorldCat to see which libraries have a copy. Then (usually) I can find a library source that LT uses.
a) Do you ever use Overcat as a source? If other people on LT have a work that you want to add, Overcat lists the relevant works & the sources that people used to add them. You can then pick the work you want and add it to your library directly from the relevant source.
b) Do you know about worldcat.org? It includes materials from libraries all over the world. When I have trouble finding a good source for a book, I will sometimes go to WorldCat to see which libraries have a copy. Then (usually) I can find a library source that LT uses.
5JoeB1934
These comments led me to an experiment. IN ADD BOOKS I ran a number of combinations against my 3 sources.
Here are the results
Source: ..... ISBN ..... TITLE ..... TITLE+AUTHOR
Amazon UK ..... NONE ..... MANY ..... MANY
Amazon.com ..... ASIN ..... ISBN ..... ISBN
Overcat ..... NONE ..... MANY ..... ISBN
Note: The lack of a way to place blanks in a line causes me to this uneven presentation of a table
Sure enough I got the ASIN as predicted. When I actually do an add books for a book, I usually give Title and author and get the answer I want. Even though in my import file I always give isbn, title and author, LT only uses the ISBN apparently.
As I've said before, regardless of these outcomes the current bulk catalog simply isn't revealing the ASIN properly, at least in my judgement. In the future when I come up with an empty ISBN I now know what to do to populate it properly.
Here are the results
Source: ..... ISBN ..... TITLE ..... TITLE+AUTHOR
Amazon UK ..... NONE ..... MANY ..... MANY
Amazon.com ..... ASIN ..... ISBN ..... ISBN
Overcat ..... NONE ..... MANY ..... ISBN
Note: The lack of a way to place blanks in a line causes me to this uneven presentation of a table
Sure enough I got the ASIN as predicted. When I actually do an add books for a book, I usually give Title and author and get the answer I want. Even though in my import file I always give isbn, title and author, LT only uses the ISBN apparently.
As I've said before, regardless of these outcomes the current bulk catalog simply isn't revealing the ASIN properly, at least in my judgement. In the future when I come up with an empty ISBN I now know what to do to populate it properly.
6timspalding
This is coming.
7JoeB1934
>6 timspalding: Thanks for that update and thanks VERY much for your solution to the Prevalence issue. More members should know about that.

