1BooksareforMe
Most postings are from Amazon, and they usually appear in the sale-buying area rather than in the existing books section. Whenever there is a series or a complete collection of books, the list does not update to reflect the number of books in the set. For example, I have a collection of The Giver, which is 4 books. It is listed as one of the for-sale items on Amazon, not as individual books. So when I add that book information, it's counted as one book instead of 4. It will only show that I have 1 book instead of 4. Plus, this website is great, but there really have to be updates. A website that has been here for more than 20 years feels like it is 10 years too old.
2keristars
In the case of the boxed set, if you search Amazon for the ISBN on the box, that's what it will give you. Some people prefer to catalogue series as single items rather than the individual books, and the box that turns the books into a single unit does that.
But you don't have to add the book to your library that way! You can search for and add each of the books in the set on their own, so that you get the 4 books listed in your library.
Right now, it says The Giver Quartet in your library which is correct for adding the box set: it's a single unit.
As for a 20-year-old website needing updates - you might be shocked that there have been quite a few over the years, and a really big one just a year ago. The site is very data-heavy and complex, and lots of us have been here for the 20 years (or nearly - I'm at 19) and don't like change. :)
There are a few places that still need to be updated, like the Add Books page or "Your Books" catalogue, but mostly the entire site was barely usable on a phone not too long ago.
But you don't have to add the book to your library that way! You can search for and add each of the books in the set on their own, so that you get the 4 books listed in your library.
Right now, it says The Giver Quartet in your library which is correct for adding the box set: it's a single unit.
As for a 20-year-old website needing updates - you might be shocked that there have been quite a few over the years, and a really big one just a year ago. The site is very data-heavy and complex, and lots of us have been here for the 20 years (or nearly - I'm at 19) and don't like change. :)
There are a few places that still need to be updated, like the Add Books page or "Your Books" catalogue, but mostly the entire site was barely usable on a phone not too long ago.
3keristars
https://www.librarything.com/work/189685/book/302994633
This is one of mine. It's The Betsy-Tacy Treasury. Since my ebook copy is all 4 of the books in a single ebook, I wanted to add it to my library that way to help me remember.
But in 2018 I read three of them in paperback from the library and added them to LT, so when I bought the Treasury a few weeks ago, I could have just added the first book and switched the other 3 from "Read But Unowned" to "My Library", and maybe change the format from paperback to ebook.
It all depends on how you want to use your LT library list. :)
Actually, way back a long time ago, I got the Narnia box set and I did catalogue it as a single thing, because I kept the books in the box and if I moved them on the shelf, they stayed together. But later, when I wanted to review and tag the books individually, I added them separately.
I might end up adding the first Betsy-Tacy book on its own, too, if I ever want to review or tag it separately from the other 3.
This is one of mine. It's The Betsy-Tacy Treasury. Since my ebook copy is all 4 of the books in a single ebook, I wanted to add it to my library that way to help me remember.
But in 2018 I read three of them in paperback from the library and added them to LT, so when I bought the Treasury a few weeks ago, I could have just added the first book and switched the other 3 from "Read But Unowned" to "My Library", and maybe change the format from paperback to ebook.
It all depends on how you want to use your LT library list. :)
Actually, way back a long time ago, I got the Narnia box set and I did catalogue it as a single thing, because I kept the books in the box and if I moved them on the shelf, they stayed together. But later, when I wanted to review and tag the books individually, I added them separately.
I might end up adding the first Betsy-Tacy book on its own, too, if I ever want to review or tag it separately from the other 3.
4paradoxosalpha
>1 BooksareforMe: "Most postings are from Amazon, and they usually appear in the sale-buying area rather than in the existing books section."
As a regular user of this site, I find this sentence basically unintelligible. What are "postings"? Where are these "areas"? Could you copy a relevant link or two to help us understand which features of the site are troubling you? I suspect the Add Books page is the focus of your concern, but I am genuinely puzzled by your description.
As a regular user of this site, I find this sentence basically unintelligible. What are "postings"? Where are these "areas"? Could you copy a relevant link or two to help us understand which features of the site are troubling you? I suspect the Add Books page is the focus of your concern, but I am genuinely puzzled by your description.
5keristars
https://www.librarything.com/work/14823988/book/304441266
This is one of your books. Its title is "The Book of Unusual Knowledge: Big Book of Fascinating Facts & Information | Hardcover Gift for Trivia Buffs, Curious Minds, Adults, Dad & Knowledge Seekers".
That's because when you use Amazon to add books, it copies over the entire title and subtitle field, even if it's marketing cruft and not actually the title.
But you can change it, just like you can add the books in your box set on their own.
For the box set books, maybe you use "Overcat" on the Add Books page for your source and look up the titles instead of the box ISBN, or see if there are separate ISBNs on each book.
For the Amazon-cruft stuff that's otherwise ok, you can go to the Edit Book page and edit the title and any other information that you think is wrong or not needed.
Then your book could be "The Book of Unusual Knowledge: Big Book of Fascinating Facts & Information" (or maybe you want to make all your Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have the title in the same order, instead of sometimes Diary... coming before or after the rest of it) LibraryThing lets you do that, which Storygraph and GoodReads don't. :)
sorry for 3 big posts in a row. I kept thinking of other things that might help you!
This is one of your books. Its title is "The Book of Unusual Knowledge: Big Book of Fascinating Facts & Information | Hardcover Gift for Trivia Buffs, Curious Minds, Adults, Dad & Knowledge Seekers".
That's because when you use Amazon to add books, it copies over the entire title and subtitle field, even if it's marketing cruft and not actually the title.
But you can change it, just like you can add the books in your box set on their own.
For the box set books, maybe you use "Overcat" on the Add Books page for your source and look up the titles instead of the box ISBN, or see if there are separate ISBNs on each book.
For the Amazon-cruft stuff that's otherwise ok, you can go to the Edit Book page and edit the title and any other information that you think is wrong or not needed.
Then your book could be "The Book of Unusual Knowledge: Big Book of Fascinating Facts & Information" (or maybe you want to make all your Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have the title in the same order, instead of sometimes Diary... coming before or after the rest of it) LibraryThing lets you do that, which Storygraph and GoodReads don't. :)
sorry for 3 big posts in a row. I kept thinking of other things that might help you!
6MarthaJeanne
You do not need to use Amazon as your source if you so not like their data.
What do you mean by "Real Total of Books"? Many of us enter not only books we own, but also books we read from libraries, or have since discarded. There are Wish lists. I have entered books I gifted to my grandchildren so that I can keep track. People enter their CDs and DVDs. Do you want eBooks and Audiobooks counted as "Real Books"? By how you enter your books, you determine what the counts are for any particular collection or for all collections together. The count of entered items for most members will have no relationship to any real number of books on a shelf.
Oh, yes. Be aware that if you use an Amazon cover it can change ir disappear.
What do you mean by "Real Total of Books"? Many of us enter not only books we own, but also books we read from libraries, or have since discarded. There are Wish lists. I have entered books I gifted to my grandchildren so that I can keep track. People enter their CDs and DVDs. Do you want eBooks and Audiobooks counted as "Real Books"? By how you enter your books, you determine what the counts are for any particular collection or for all collections together. The count of entered items for most members will have no relationship to any real number of books on a shelf.
Oh, yes. Be aware that if you use an Amazon cover it can change ir disappear.
7MarthaJeanne
BTW I just combined 4 of your books that did not autocombine into the corect work because of garbled title, author data from Amazon. You can find more at https://www.librarything.com/stats/BooksareforMe/vousetnulautre. (you will need to switch to none.) If you want an accurate catalogue you need to check what data you have entered and edit it. Hint: While new books from Amazon themselves tend to be fairly good, older books from their marketplace partners are often, usually garbage. Do you really want to list this?
(The Great Gatsby (Wisehouse Classics Edition)) By: Fitzgerald, F. Scott Jan, 2016
by unknown author
(The Great Gatsby (Wisehouse Classics Edition)) By: Fitzgerald, F. Scott Jan, 2016
by unknown author
8LeslieWx
>1 BooksareforMe: Hi! and Welcome to LibraryThing! I've only been here since last March & am still finding my way around. Have you checked out "Welcome to LibraryThing"? Lots of good stuff there -- and lots of helpful folks everywhere.
After the first week or two, I've never added books via Amazon: I realized that the metadata (data about the books) was garbage and that there were better ways. On the "Add books" page there's a listing of sources that you can edit and rearrange. I quickly kicked Amazon off that list, raised Library of Congress to the top, and started adding other sources that proved valuable to cataloging the books in my house. College and university libraries, consortia of academic and/or public libraries, from all over the world -- lots of good options. Getting a free account on Worldcat allows to you find libraries that hold the books you're looking for and then add them to you list.
But getting back to your real issue: I have a collection of The Giver, which is 4 books. It is listed as one of the for-sale items on Amazon, not as individual books. So when I add that book information, it's counted as one book instead of 4.
I am sad to report that this is not related to Amazon at all: it's true any time you enter a set as a set, and if you're looking for that adrenaline hit as your book count leaps upward it's quite the letdown. To get full "book count" credit for a set, you have to enter them individually. You can "cheat" by opening 2 tabs, 1 showing the full set and another that's for manually adding a book (see the tiny print near the bottom of the "Add books" page). Duplicate the information that's the same (e.g. the publisher, probably the author), change the info that's different (title, probably date & page count), and set Volume=1. Do that for all the books other than the first, then change the initial uploaded entry to reflect the first book (don't forget to change the Volume count!, and you'll have the full number of books.
And there may be times when you'll appreciate the "set" option in LibraryThing. I married into a nearly full set of Time-Life cookbooks, each topic or geographic region represented by a hardbound narrative with lots of photos PLUS a spiral-bound recipe book. I decided I was willing to drop my book count for the pleasure of not having to enter mostly doubled metadata for each and every topic/region if I entered each pair as a 2-volume set!
After the first week or two, I've never added books via Amazon: I realized that the metadata (data about the books) was garbage and that there were better ways. On the "Add books" page there's a listing of sources that you can edit and rearrange. I quickly kicked Amazon off that list, raised Library of Congress to the top, and started adding other sources that proved valuable to cataloging the books in my house. College and university libraries, consortia of academic and/or public libraries, from all over the world -- lots of good options. Getting a free account on Worldcat allows to you find libraries that hold the books you're looking for and then add them to you list.
But getting back to your real issue: I have a collection of The Giver, which is 4 books. It is listed as one of the for-sale items on Amazon, not as individual books. So when I add that book information, it's counted as one book instead of 4.
I am sad to report that this is not related to Amazon at all: it's true any time you enter a set as a set, and if you're looking for that adrenaline hit as your book count leaps upward it's quite the letdown. To get full "book count" credit for a set, you have to enter them individually. You can "cheat" by opening 2 tabs, 1 showing the full set and another that's for manually adding a book (see the tiny print near the bottom of the "Add books" page). Duplicate the information that's the same (e.g. the publisher, probably the author), change the info that's different (title, probably date & page count), and set Volume=1. Do that for all the books other than the first, then change the initial uploaded entry to reflect the first book (don't forget to change the Volume count!, and you'll have the full number of books.
And there may be times when you'll appreciate the "set" option in LibraryThing. I married into a nearly full set of Time-Life cookbooks, each topic or geographic region represented by a hardbound narrative with lots of photos PLUS a spiral-bound recipe book. I decided I was willing to drop my book count for the pleasure of not having to enter mostly doubled metadata for each and every topic/region if I entered each pair as a 2-volume set!
9reading_fox
I find it useful to add a collection to my catalogue that I called 'unowned books contained in Omnibii'* - here (when I remember/can be bothered) I add the phantom books that are contained within the omnibus/boxed set that I really own. It helps generate recommendations etc from the (generally/sometimes) more popular single titles. I don't think there's a way to deselect it from the totals counts though, which is a shame, but which is the truer count anyway
*your naming conventions may vary
*your naming conventions may vary
