This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
Has it ever been considered to use xISBN integration into special:booksources? xISBN is an OCLC service API which given a single ISBN returns a list of associated ISBNs, like all the editions of a specific title. How would one go about proposing such an integration?
As a disclaimer I do work for OCLC. Maximiliankleinoclc (talk) 00:45, 30 May 2012 (UTC)
It looks like it was already included in the Wikipedia:Book sources#Find other editions section, when you asked in May! I've now updated the link to the main OCLC page, based on Nakohdo's recent update to your comment above.
Let us know if anything else needs to be tweaked. (If the API gave more verbose/useful output, then I might suggest moving it further up the page, but the plaintext list of isbns is only potentially helpful, not obviously/clearly helpful. If you see what I mean.) HTH. —Quiddity (talk) 18:26, 27 September 2012 (UTC)
I just tried the xISBN link and it returns only a list of ISBNs. The xISBN documentation says that it returns metadata plus a list of ISBNs. Does this mean that something needs to be changed in how the query is sent? LaMona (talk) 15:31, 7 March 2013 (UTC)
This article contains a ref that has been assigned an invalid ISBN and is tagged as such in the citation template. Following the ISBN link in the article will take one here, where a scary red message is (in my opinion) likely to strongly discourage people from searching further by this method, however the "find this book" links for at least WorldCat and COPAC Union work perfectly well. Is it technically feasible to suppress the warning in these cases (where the ISBN has been explicitly tagged as "invalid but definitely as-printed"), perhaps by passing an additional argument to Special:BookSources? TuxLibNit (talk) 18:34, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
@Mr. Stradivarius: Thanks, but are you certain I'm in the wrong place? I'm talking about the error displayed on the Special:BookSources page under the "Go" button like this not the error displayed in the article as part of the {{cite book}} or whatever. Also, even if the error itself is generated in Module:Citation/CS1 this question is as much about the mechanics of how that module is plumbed into Special:BookSources. Does that aspect also belong elsewhere? — TuxLibNit (talk) 22:19, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
@TuxLibNit: Ah, sorry, I didn't read that carefully enough. The warning on Special:BookSources is generated by MediaWiki itself, and the algorithm that determines whether the ISBN is valid or not is also defined in the MediaWiki software, and is separate from the one used in Module:Citation/CS1. I'd suggest WP:VPT as a first port of call, which a few MediaWiki developers normally watch. — Mr. Stradivarius♪ talk ♪ 22:34, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
Since there is no option for India listed currently, I will like to suggest adding Shimply as one possible option for users to find the book -
Find this book
Shimply.com has India's largest book catalog. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rajatgarg79 (talk • contribs) 12:38, 27 May 2015 (UTC)
Not done: Not really sure how this fits into this page - please specify exactly how/where you would add it and what purpose it would serve here, and re-open the request. Thanks, --ElHef (Meep?) 15:29, 2 July 2015 (UTC)
Indiebound website accepts only ISBN-13
The IndieBound website seems to only accept ISBN-13 and not ISBN-10 as a search term. Anyone know a way to have the Book sources page convert ISBN-10's automatically to ISBN-13 to feed to this site? Blainster (talk) 04:13, 12 October 2015 (UTC)
There are interactive tools listed at Wikipedia:ISBN#Types, including one by @Nihiltres:. Perhaps it could be used or reworked to address this somehow? LeadSongDogcome howl! 15:51, 25 February 2016 (UTC)
This would in theory be best addressed in the back end of Special:BookSources, but we might be able to smooth it over with site JS (at the cost of not supporting older browsers). Depending on how the Special:BookSources page is rendered (haven't checked specifics), we might also be able to just make a Lua-based template that does automatic conversion for the few links that require it (supporting JS-less browsers). Conversion (without validation) is relatively trivial; for reference search for methods.getDigit = and //Converted version in the source of my ISBN tool. While I haven't freely-licensed the code at this point (sheer laziness), I'm a) pretty sure that parts of it aren't copyrightable and b) open to freeing it so that it can be used on Wikipedia. {{Nihiltres |talk |edits}} 17:10, 25 February 2016 (UTC)
Please add a link under Switzerland in Europe for Leysin American School Libraries. The link to the online catalog is:
http://leysin.mlasolutions.com/m5/catalog/?installation=Default — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rherwatic (talk • contribs) 13:55, 24 May 2017 (UTC)
Finland
Please add the following line Finna.fi (the new catalogue of Finnish libraries) under section Finland:
Find this book in Finna, the catalogue of Finnish libraries
Also, please delete the outdated line:
(also see Searching catalogues of Finnish libraries)
All *.linneanet.fi links are broken, see the new ones on the Finnish page. http://www.libraries.fi/ replaces the Searching catalogues link. --80.220.82.138 (talk) 18:07, 2 June 2017 (UTC)
Special:BookSources and ISBN 10 conversion
It would be good if, when given an ISBN-10, the page could automagically show the equivalent ISBN-13.
For example, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-500-25060-X it would show the text:
The Universal Library / Million Book Project ended in 2008, and it seems(?) that the books scanned from this project are all available from the Internet Archive. Today, at least, their website is showing an error page (although it was up at least as recently as May 2017). I removed it from this page. Daask (talk) 11:41, 26 February 2018 (UTC)
I have no idea how to deal with this. Daask (talk) 14:11, 26 February 2018 (UTC)
Safari Books Online
Safari Books Online seems to have two entirely separate ebook viewing modes accessed through different search pages.
The one currently used, at my.safaribooksonline.com, leads to eg. http://my.safaribooksonline.com/book/web-development/ruby/9780132480352/chapter-1dot-ruby-in-review/ch01 , whereas the alternate search at www.safaribooksonline.com leads to eg. https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/the-ruby-way/9780132480352/ch01.html
I decided to continue using my.safaribooksonline.com, since www.safaribooksonline.com won't find some alternate ISBNs, eg. 978-0-321-71463-3 (compare). Daask (talk) 14:11, 26 February 2018 (UTC)
adding inventaire.io in Book-swapping websites
Hi, I'm the developer of inventaire.io and I wonder if it could be added as a book source, probably in the Book-swapping websites section: it's a book giving/sharing/selling platform based on Wikidata and Wikipedia; so much so that it is now used as an example of how to integrate Wikidata knowledge as an external application.
The link to a book page can either be from its isbn - e.g. https://inventaire.io/entity/isbn:978-2-07-027437-6 - or it's Wikidata id - e.g. https://inventaire.io/entity/wd:Q53592.
Is it the right place to make such a request? Zorglub27 (talk) 09:50, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
@Maxlath: This is the right place for the request. Your website is very attractive in presenting the Wikidata and Wikipedia information on a book. However, it isn't clear to me what value it would offer people here. Most users of this page are looking to obtain a copy, search its text, or locate reviews, none of which inventaire.io seems to facilitate. What does inventaire.io offer our users? Daask (talk) 12:33, 13 March 2018 (UTC)
@Daask:Copies of "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne being offered for lending or selling on inventaire.io inventaire.io primary goal is to facilitate obtaining a copy of a book a friend or neighbor might be offering to give, lend, or sell, and it might also offer the possibility to publish reviews under a Creative Common license in some near future. -- Maxlath (talk) 16:19, 13 March 2018 (UTC)
Name is given as "Abebooks", but company name is actually mixed case: AbeBooks, and the link is presently to Advanced_Book_Exchange = old name.
Current ISBN link code for AbeBooks is not broken, but neither is it up to date. A better version might be
http://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/MAGICNUMER
The search link no longer works and now should be something like "https://natlib.govt.nz/items?utf8=%E2%9C%93&text=MAGICNUMBER"
--210.48.175.36 (talk) 22:40, 10 January 2017 (UTC)
National Library of Luxembourg
Could someone edit the link to our discovery system please?
It should link to http://a-z.lu/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?fn=search&vl(freeText0)=MAGICNUMBER instead of http://aleph.etat.lu/...
Thank you in advance!
Michael
185.106.24.16 (talk) 10:38, 3 July 2018 (UTC)
RERO library catalogue of Switzerland
Could someone edit the link to "RERO catalogue collectif" please?
It should link to https://explore.rero.ch/
instead of http://opac.rero.ch/gateway?lng=en
The book specific link should point to https://explore.rero.ch/en_US/rero/result?fd=any&pr=contains&se=MAGICNUMBER
instead of http://opac.rero.ch/gateway?lng=en&submittheform=Search&usersrch=1&beginsrch=1&function=INITREQ&search=KEYWORD&u1=1035&t1=MAGICNUMBER
State Library Victoria catalogue link
The link to the State Library of Victoria library system catalogue is no longer valid as we have upgraded to a new version of catalogue software with a new URL.
Could someone please update the link to use the following form:
http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/primo-explore/search?query=isbn,contains,MAGICNUMBER,AND&vid=MAIN&mode=advanced
add entry for Old Colony Library Network, a similar network on the South Shore. Their server is at: https://catalog.ocln.org/client/en_US/ocln
There is a similar network for Southeastern Mass. called SAILS. Their legal name is "S.A.I.L.S., Incorporated", with no official explanation of the abbreviation. They currently do not have a Wikipedia article I could find. Their server is at: http://www.sailsinc.org/ 2001:558:6017:189:4857:3BE0:CCA0:87E4 (talk) 05:32, 18 August 2018 (UTC)
Should this use "Monterey Public Library catalog" or "Monterey Public Library library catalog"? Right now, it isn't consistent. I have a mild preference for the former, but mostly would like it to be consistent. Daask (talk) 13:23, 27 February 2018 (UTC)
The former. No need for the repetition. Thinker78 (talk) 04:12, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
Request to add Mynextbook.in - Bookseller for India
Per discussions with Vrishaek (talk·contribs) on my talk page about an edit to Lathe, I'd like to request to add Mynextbook.in to the book search results as a bookseller in India if other people can vouch for its reputability. I believe the search URL is https://www.mynextbook.in/#/dfclassic/query=[INSERT ISBN HERE]&query_name=match_and. @Vrishaek:, if you know a better generic search query string, feel free to correct this. Also, if you want to explain why mynextbook.in is a good source for India, this is a great place to do it. -Furicorn (talk) 06:32, 20 September 2018 (UTC)
After further discussions with Kuru (talk·contribs) about this domain, it seems like this domain may be associated with undeclared paid editing and possibly sock- or meatpuppeting. It may not make sense to add them.
mynextbook.in: Linksearch en(insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com
@Furicorn if you are afraid to reply, let your fellowmen talk to me on phone, I'll show what all links are being highlighted in wikipedia by all you moderators/fellows who talk about wiki policies.
you think that by not replying u are somewhat showing some power to me.Vrishaek (talk·contribs)
Not done per above. Fish+Karate 11:43, 27 September 2018 (UTC)
@User:Fish and karate Not done is all u could say, so total misuse of power as to what I already said, what a justification you show.
as per above, u did not want to understand to what i was talking about, but you know what I am talking about. This shows your true sovereignty here.
I am still ready to talk on phone for sources being shown all around on wikipedia, but you are so afraid to even reply with truth.
Such is your wonderful manner you possess. Just running away is your solution?
Vrishaek (talk·contribs)
[https://tsinghua-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/search?query=isbn,contains,[THE ISBN NUMBER]&tab=default_tab&search_scope=print_scope&vid=86THU&lang=en_US Find this book] in Tsinghua University Library
Please see the notice issued by Tsinghua University Library about the change of online catalog.-- 石慧兔 (talk) 07:30, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
@石慧兔: I have added it but when I tested, it seems not working. For instance using the ISBN 7-302-04319-1 we got this link: https://tsinghua-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/search?query=isbn,contains,7-302-04319-1&tab=default_tab&search_scope=print_scope&vid=86THU&lang=en_US but it is not working. –Ammarpad (talk) 13:10, 7 November 2018 (UTC)
@Ammarpad: I tested the same URL on my laptop and smartphone and it works. That's odd. May I ask what browser and OS you are using? That can be useful for troubleshooting. Trying using the ISBN without dashes may also help, like https://tsinghua-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/search?query=isbn,contains,7302043191&tab=default_tab&search_scope=print_scope&vid=86THU&lang=en_US. Both links work for me, but more tests might be needed. --石慧兔 (talk) 05:32, 10 November 2018 (UTC)
@石慧兔: I am using Chrome on Mac 13. Let me see. –Ammarpad (talk) 05:48, 10 November 2018 (UTC)
OK, it is working. Giving this book "清华大学志 = = Annals of Tsinghua University." It took sometimes to load, that is why I thought it won't work and quitted before it finishes when I tested first. –Ammarpad (talk) 05:57, 10 November 2018 (UTC)
Stats
Are there usage stats on how often each database is used from Special:BookSources? I'm really curious how often readers/editors use it for anything but WorldCat. czar 05:50, 5 December 2018 (UTC)
Table of Contents no longer on the right when
Tracked in Phabricator Task T212187
When using Special:BookSources to look up an ISBN, the table of contents is currently appearing below the lede section for me, even if I use an extremely wide screen. Previously, it was to the right, so that it allowed the actual list of links to be immediately visible without having to scroll past the TOC. Wikipedia:Book sources itself looks correct and there is {{TOCright|limit=3}} in its source. But whatever mechanism is used in the Special transclusion of it seems to override or break that somehow. DMacks (talk) 03:01, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
DMacks, hmm, this is because TOCright was switched to make use of TemplateStyles, and apparently the Special page isn't expecting parser output. I filed phab:T212187 to fix this. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 08:36, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
I don't understand the logic of this edit at all. I tried to implement a workaround that would allow this page to work properly without requiring a revert of the TOCright template, but User:Izno has reverted the page back to the version that doesn't work. --Srleffler (talk) 17:59, 1 January 2019 (UTC)
Srleffler, I think that's acceptable for now, though it doesn't help with toclimit, which also won't apply due to missing template styles. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 14:18, 3 January 2019 (UTC)
The search URL for the Richland County, South Carolina Public Library has changed.
Currently, Special:BookSources points to:
http://catalog.richlandlibrary.com/polaris/view.aspx?isbn=MAGICNUMBER
It should point to:
https://www.richlandlibrary.com/catalog?q=&ISBN=MAGICNUMBER Jwilliek (talk) 14:23, 8 January 2019 (UTC)
Thanks. Bennylin (talk) 16:41, 15 January 2019 (UTC)
Done. In the future, you can actually edit semi-protected pages yourself. Thanks for contributing to Wikipedia! — Newslingertalk 13:41, 20 January 2019 (UTC)
Internet Archive
Internet Archive contains books. I would like to edit this page to include searching this resource to help identify sources. Also, I worked with another editor and created a search template that works on talk pages, sandbox and draft pages. It's pretty comprehensive and works well:
You can help improve this article! Perform a search for up-to-date information by using these search tools:
I would have alerted this group sooner but didn't exactly where to find you. Best Regards, Barbara (WVS)✐✉ 12:31, 5 November 2017 (UTC)
Particularly in the last few years, the book content of Internet Archive has exploded and they have a 'borrow' system available to registered users (free registration) for texts which are still under copyright. Should give a better representation of Internet Archive texts throughout Wikipedia. (P.S. just added sources to Kjalnesinga saga from Internet archive, for example.) --User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 15:59, 23 March 2019 (UTC)
unfortunately the page is view source only or I would fix it myself and I don't have a login from this computer. N.B. this will be a shared IP so don't bother with the user talk. I will maybe reply here. All the best.
Did my change make it work? --Izno (talk) 20:47, 26 March 2019 (UTC)
works for me now 188.147.38.76 (talk) 09:38, 27 March 2019 (UTC)
Spacing before headings
Can anybody provide further assistance as to that issue concerning this page?--Hildeoc (talk) 15:09, 9 March 2019 (UTC)
For my money the issue with layout here is not so much line spacing as the fact that the Level 3 headings are shown in oversized font, making them appear more prominent than the Level 2 headings. Altering this would require someone conversant with the complex markup used on this page: Bhunacat10 (talk), 22:54, 9 March 2019 (UTC)
Under libraries -> United States -> New York there is an entry for finding books in the Suffolk County Library system's catalog. Some time ago they changed the base URL for the catalog.
Need to replace "encore.suffolk.lib.ny.us" with "discover.livebrary.com"
The link should then work as the rest of the URL is unchanged.
Mfitz2019 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mfitz2019 (talk • contribs) 19:38, 29 April 2019 (UTC)
Following an issue with another editor at Communism, I have discovered a discrepancy between different book sources. The ISBN of the 2016 book Communism: The Great Misunderstanding, by Gennady Ermak, is 9781533082893. The Book Sources page for this ISBN gives links to several sources. The links to Google Books and Amazon lead to the correct title. However, the Open Library link leads to the title "Relative value of different weights of tin coating on canned food containers: Report of an investigation by a Technical committee representing the National canners association, the American sheet and tin plate company, and the American can company (1917)', by the National Canners Association. If the Open Library catalogue is inaccurate or incomplete, should there be a warning note placed on the Book Sources page, so that other editors who, like me, prefer this site to the commercial links do not make the same mistake that I did of believing that another editor had repeatedly added an incorrect source? RolandR (talk) 21:41, 3 June 2019 (UTC)
RolandR, I do not think there's any different result here. ISBN is unique and so it is not possible for two different books to have the same number, but a single book can have different ISBNs across different formats. The Open Library sources does not say ISBN9781533082893 belongs to that book with lengthy title, it seems you misunderstood the result. The result first made it clear in red color for emphasis: "No results found." Therefore Open Library made it clear they don't have a book with that ISBN. Just below that line it says "Showing books with similar text to:" and then the list of the books follows which includes the title you're quoting. So it is just a list of similar/related books you're seeing not the book with the actual ISBN. I hope this helps. – Ammarpad (talk) 05:06, 4 June 2019 (UTC)
That's ridiculous! These titles are so clearly unrelated that it has to be some sort of error. There is no way that a 1917 scientific report on tin cans has similar text to a 2016 book on communism. RolandR (talk) 07:29, 4 June 2019 (UTC)
That's not ridiculous as you don't know the mechanism they used to show the result. And they may be unrelated still, the web may be configured to show anything when the exact book you're looking for is not found, and that's not bad, it's just a suggestion. The substance of your original post is that "Google Books and Amazon lead to the correct title." for ISBN 9781533082893. while Open Library does not. I have shown why you're wrong, the web does not associate ISBN 9781533082893 with any book, it says "No results found." That seals it. Whether the suggestion is correct/right or not that does not have relation with Wikipedia Book Sources feature. – Ammarpad (talk) 07:43, 4 June 2019 (UTC)
== Online text ==
*[https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=isbn:MAGICNUMBER Find this book] on Google Books
*[https://openlibrary.org/search?isbn=MAGICNUMBER&mode=everything Find this book] at the Open Library
*[https://www.amazon.com/s?k=MAGICNUMBER Find this book] on Amazon.com (or [https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .au], [https://www.amazon.com.br/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .br], [https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .ca], [https://www.amazon.cn/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .cn], [https://www.amazon.de/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .de], [https://www.amazon.es/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .es], [https://www.amazon.fr/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .fr], [https://www.amazon.in/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .in], [https://www.amazon.it/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .it], [https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .jp], [https://www.amazon.com.mx/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .mx], [https://www.amazon.nl/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .nl], [https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .uk]).
Google Books and Amazon.com may be particularly helpful if you want to [[WP:V|verify]] citations in Wikipedia articles, because they often enable you to search an online version of the book for specific words or phrases, or you can browse through the book (although for copyright reasons the entire book is usually not available).
to
== Online text ==
*[https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=isbn:MAGICNUMBER Find this book] on Google Books
*[https://openlibrary.org/search?isbn=MAGICNUMBER&mode=everything Find this book] at the Open Library
*[https://www.amazon.com/s?k=MAGICNUMBER Find this book] on Amazon.com (or [https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .au], [https://www.amazon.com.br/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .br], [https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .ca], [https://www.amazon.cn/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .cn], [https://www.amazon.de/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .de], [https://www.amazon.es/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .es], [https://www.amazon.fr/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .fr], [https://www.amazon.in/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .in], [https://www.amazon.it/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .it], [https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .jp], [https://www.amazon.com.mx/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .mx], [https://www.amazon.nl/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .nl], [https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=MAGICNUMBER .uk]).
*[https://www.kobo.com/search?query=MAGICNUMBER Find this book] on Rakuten Kobo
Google Books, Amazon.com, and Kobo.com may be particularly helpful if you want to [[WP:V|verify]] citations in Wikipedia articles, because they often enable you to search an online version of the book for specific words or phrases, or you can browse through the book (although for copyright reasons the entire book is usually not available).
Will.chaban (talk) 19:57, 14 June 2019 (UTC)
Not done for now: We reserve the top couple of positions for websites which are widely known and trusted. Is this website one such website? It does not appear to me to be so. You might consider advocating for a different section. Izno (talk) 20:33, 14 June 2019 (UTC)
Search link for Palo Alto has changed
Hello,
The search link for the Palo Alto City Library (United States, California) has changed to https://paloalto.bibliocommons.com/
The link to the "KOBV-Portal" (in section Europe/Germany) is outdated. Could someone please update the link according to the following form:
http://portal.kobv.de/advancedSearch.do?plv=2&type=advancedSearch&index=internal&f1=author&f2=title&f3=standardnr&v3=MAGICNUMBER
Link to the input form is:
http://portal.kobv.de/
Thanks in advance,
Stefan — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.73.63.135 (talk) 13:43, 8 August 2019 (UTC)
Search hyphenated ISBN in "Find articles on Wikipedia"
Our citation templates preserve the hyphenation from the article source, e.g. linking Special:BookSources/0-596-51516-2 for isbn=0-596-51516-2. {{PAGENAME}} can retrieve 0-596-51516-2. I have used this in [1] which changes Wikipedia:Book sources#Find on Wikipedia. The "Find articles" link on Special:BookSources/0-596-51516-2 now makes the search 0596515162 OR "0-596-51516-2" which currently gives five results. Previously the search was 0596515162 which only gives one result. Special:BookSources/0596515162 discovers there is no hyphenation availaible and only searches 0596515162. ISBN 0-596-51516-2 produces ISBN 0-596-51516-2 which links Special:BookSources/0596515162, but this ISBN method is deprecated so we rarely lose hyphenation that way. International Standard Book Number#Overview says: "Figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits.[a]"
^The International ISBN Agency's ISBN User's Manual says: "The ten-digit number is divided into four parts of variable length, which must be separated clearly, by hyphens or spaces", although omission of separators is permitted for internal data processing. If present, hyphens must be correctly placed.[1] The actual definition for hyphenation contains more than 220 different registration group elements with each one broken down into a few to several ranges for the length of the registrant element (more than 1,000 total). The document defining the ranges, listed by agency, is 29 pages.
References
^"ISBN Ranges". International ISBN Agency. 2014.
That's a lot more than I want to code. If you enter 0-596-51516-2 at Special:BookSources then you get https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=0-596-51516-2. In this case the hyphenated ISBN is not available to the code in Wikipedia:Book sources as far as I can tell. {{PAGENAME}} only gives "BookSources", and MAGICNUMBER is always without hyphens. I have therefore disabled the OR part of the search if {{PAGENAME}} cannot pick up a hyphenated ISBN.[2] Some questions:
Are there any objections to my use of the hyphenated ISBN in the search when it's available? The lead of Wikipedia:Book sources says "Spaces and dashes in the ISBN do not matter". This is now a little inaccurate in some cases but only for the Wikipedia search, not all the external searches.
Is there a way to get the hyphenated ISBN in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources?isbn=0-596-51516-2?
Should we attempt to create the hyphenation for a search when it's not available? If we don't want to code the very complicated rules then we could guess at common forms like X-XXXX-XXXX-X or X-XXXXX-XXX-X, maybe in a search with multiple OR. It's ugly and would usually give no extra search results anyway.
Is there an efficient search which finds all or many hyphenations? An insource regex search like insource:/0-?5-?9-?6-?5-?1-?5-?1-?6-?2/ is too slow. mw:Help:CirrusSearch#Regular expression searches says: "Warning: Do not run a bare insource:/regexp/ search. It will probably timeout after 20 seconds anyway, while blocking responsible users." I don't even want to link the example search here but it takes a long time and still only gives me two out of the five known results. It's apparently aborted before finding the last three. A restricted search intitle:"Citation" insource:/0-?5-?9-?6-?5-?1-?5-?1-?6-?2/ finds one of them Citation needed, so the search does work in theory but not in practice. It would miss results which are transcluded and not in the source.
Should we try to get citation templates to include the unhyphenated ISBN in a hidden but searchable form? We have millions of citations and this issue seems very minor to "pollute" them.
I'm leaning "No" on 3) and 5). PrimeHunter (talk) 22:22, 19 September 2019 (UTC)
Time to remove half.com ?
It's been dead for two years (according to its wikipedia entry) and, as expected, the links don't work as expected/hoped. And seeing as we've already got a thing for eBay in there...
I don't have enough wikipedia-privs to help with this, I suspect.
Removed. No point in keeping it. – Ammarpad (talk) 03:58, 28 October 2019 (UTC)
Project MUSE
I attempted to add Project MUSE, it's in the Wikipedia Library and has "36,000 ebooks in the humanities and social sciences" ([3]). I don't know enough to write the correct search string here, the one I wrote doesn't work, and I hope someone who knows more than me will fix it. This is a search string that works within Muse:
Update to Missouri's MOBIUS catalog link and descriptive text. Current link is broken and descriptive text is outdated.
Change
* [http://searchmobius.org/search/i?SEARCH=MAGICNUMBER Find this book] in [[Missouri]]'s MOBIUS catalog of 50 colleges and universities
to
* [http://searchmobius.org/iii/encore/search/C__SMAGICNUMBER__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=cobalt Find this book] in [[Missouri]]'s MOBIUS catalog of more than 70 academic, public, and special libraries
Please, could someone change/add this code to Czech Republic section:
Find this book in the State Technical Library in Prague
Find this book in the Masaryk University libraries in Brno
Find this book in the Palacký University Library in Olomouc
Find this book in the Research Library in Olomouc — Preceding unsigned comment added by 185.156.39.168 (talk) 20:05, 12 March 2020 (UTC)
Done. Thankks. – Ammarpad (talk) 16:25, 19 March 2020 (UTC)
Thank you. But there should be just this 4 lines in CZ section now. Former 2 lines are updated in my post. Sorry, for bad instructions. 185.156.39.168 (talk) 23:29, 24 March 2020 (UTC)
Criteria for keeping a book source?
Is there a coverage criteria for keeping a book source here? Are sites which only have a limited collection of books or ISBNs in their database eligible? What kind of exceptions are allowed on this aspect? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mathandmusic (talk • contribs) 18:25, 19 April 2020 (UTC)
@Mathandmusic: I'm not aware of any particular criteria for this page. It's solely a matter of discretion by editors here to determine what is most useful to our users. I primarily consider the comprehensiveness of the collection and what the website provides that is different than other pages. In other words, I might accept a smaller collection if it offers full-text works, and would accept a website which offers only basic metadata if it included nearly every book. Daask (talk) 11:24, 17 May 2020 (UTC)
Canadian University Libraries update
Could someone update the code for these entries in the Universities and colleges section under Canada?
Find this book in the Carleton University catalogue
Find this book in the Queen's University catalogue
Find this book in the Trent University catalogue
Find this book in the York University Libraries catalogue
Find this book in the University of Guelph catalogue
Find this book in the University of Ottawa catalogue
Find this book in the University of Western Ontario catalogue
Find this book in the University of Windsor catalogue — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sectionhorn (talk • contribs) 21:26, 13 July 2020 (UTC)
ISBN "Special page"
This help request has been answered. If you need more help, you can ask another question on your talk page, contact the responding user(s) directly on their user talk page, or consider visiting the Teahouse.
The ISBN link at (abbreviated for Talk) Nap et al. ISBN-978-1-4443-3213-1. goes to the "Special page" "Book sources." The following has taken me a few weeks to understand. The large blue Search button on the "Special page" seemed to be malfunctioning until I finally realized it was returning me to the same search. Then I tried the links beginning at "Online text." That is where this pages shines. How do I request help in possible reorganizing that page to make it more user friendly with possible changes such as:
Add to the first paragraph "Use the links that began at “Online text” below to search for a specific ISBN."
Unless there is a reason to have that boxed “Search for book sources” section, delete it or at least explain what it does.
Thank you, Memdmarti (talk) 16:39, 19 July 2020 (UTC)
You might also ask these questions at Wikipedia talk:Help Project. You're looking at a template that returns results for any iSBN search. Below the search bar, it shows where you can find the book for using as either reading, ordering the source, or as inline citations. As far as I know, the search bar only responds to ISBN numbers. If you are reading any Wikipedia page where the sourcing includes ISBN numbers, you should be able to click on that ISBN number, and it will take you to the one we are discussing. As for re-ordering it, someone with administrative access would probably have to do it. — Maile (talk) 20:21, 19 July 2020 (UTC)
Special:BookSources only gives an empty ISBN search box. Special:BookSources/978-1-4443-3213-1 prefills the box with 978-1-4443-3213-1 and shows links for that ISBN, while allowing you to replace the ISBN to make a different search. I don't think we can change this functionality here at the English Wikipedia. Both cases will display the same search box with MediaWiki:Booksources-summary above it. It's possible that message could examine the full page name to see whether there is something after "Special:BookSources", and then display a different text in that case. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:56, 19 July 2020 (UTC)
Broken link
Not sure if this is the correct place to report this, but the links generated for
Pinellas Public Library Cooperative catalog (United States / Florida) are incorrect. They've changed their database, but I'm unable to decipher the new link format, unfortunately. Trivialist (talk) 14:40, 25 July 2020 (UTC)
Accessibility
What is the point of using book sources If you can't directly read it online? ForAlliance (talk) 10:00, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
You may be able to locate a copy accessible to you. Nikkimaria (talk) 13:15, 20 September 2020 (UTC)
Pre-1967 books
What is the best way to link to catalog entries for pre-1967 books, which predate ISBN? For now I've been linking to Worldcat permalinks manually (example), but is there a template equivalent to {{ISBN}} that can do so? Thanks. blameless 18:33, 2 November 2020 (UTC)
Perfect, Izno, thanks! I'll put in an edit request to add that to the "see also" section at {{ISBN}}. blameless 19:20, 2 November 2020 (UTC)
@Blameless: You can edit documentation pages yourself usually. Either navigate manually to the /doc subpage or find the link at either top or bottom of the documentation section that says 'edit'. --Izno (talk) 19:45, 2 November 2020 (UTC)
Ah, indeed--thanks. blameless 21:33, 2 November 2020 (UTC)
ckbk
Many articles on Wikipedia (specifically, those about chefs, food writers, food stuffs and particular dishes) include ISBN links to cookbooks as sources.
ckbk is a digital subscription service which offers especially notable cookbooks online in full, not as traditional ebooks, but in a recipe-oriented format.
For example, Escoffier's Le guide culinaire (not otherwise available in electronic form).
Example of link based on ISBN10
https://app.ckbk.com/book/047090027x
Would it make sense to add ckbk as an ebook source?
A number of Wikipedia pages already link to recipes on ckbk as sources.
Suntzusuntzu (talk) 12:40, 16 January 2021 (UTC)
What is the source of the book citation ISBN lookup?
Can anybody tell me which ISBN database it uses for the look up? While adding a book citation, I used the isbn as usual and it came up with an address that turned out to be the home address of one of the authors', not the address of the publisher. I know for a fact that the isbn registration was done in the USA and this is an Australian home address. Sciencefish (talk) 15:53, 14 November 2020 (UTC)
There's no "ISBN database" that's being linked here. If you use the template {{ISBN}}, it just creates a convenience link to Special:BookSources/isbn-number like Special:BookSources/978-1-4133-0454-1. The special page will then show you the various available databases, book stores as well as libraries that may contain the resource by making direct search link with the ISBN number. – Ammarpad (talk) 06:26, 15 November 2020 (UTC)
Every single time I have used Special:BookSources, the first thing that I have wanted to do was to confirm that the ISBN number was for the correct book, and this special page can't even accomplish this incredibly basic task. Why doesn't it list the title and author of the book? Oiyarbepsy (talk) 05:14, 16 March 2021 (UTC)
Can you add BOOKFINDER.COM to the list of search options?
bookfinder.com searches many online book sellers and is a fantastic tool to locate inexpensive copies of books you want to buy. I use it every time I buy a book.
You can use these ISBN URL formats:
https://www.bookfinder.com/?isbn=9788194475941 takes you to a page where you can select various options to complete the search. ISBN numbers may contain hyphens. It accepts both ISBN 10 and 13 formats.
https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=&title=&lang=en&isbn=9788194475941&submitBtn=Search&new_used=*&destination=us¤cy=USD&mode=basic&st=sr&ac=qr takes you to a page showing search results.
As a wikipedia editor... Is it possible for me to add this functionality myself if I knew how or do I have to request to have things added? I would also like to add my local city libraries to the United States sections of the results. There are no Idaho libraries in the list. I would like to at least add the University libraries.
Per discussion at Wikipedia:External links/Noticeboard § Archive.org hosting of copyrighted material, the link to Open Library should be removed, or at least qualified with a warning that linking is permissible only when it is clear that the linked work is either out of copyright or freely licensed. The same goes for the sentence "At Archive.org you can borrow and read entire books online." Paradoctor (talk) 23:00, 15 July 2021 (UTC)
Removing it entirely would be overbroad - it isn't always a LINKVIO issue. Nikkimaria (talk) 01:05, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
Example from Anatomy: ISBN978-0-03-030504-7 links to https://openlibrary.org/books/OL1889253M/Zoology, a copyvio.
That OL links are not always copyvios doesn't help us with the tens of thousands of links provided through this page that are.
WP:COPYLINK: if you know or reasonably suspect that an external Web site is carrying a work in violation of the creator's copyright, do not link to that copy of the work (my emphasis) Links to copyrighted works require positive evidence. The noticeboard discussion linked above mentions that it is apparently not uncommon for editors to upload copyrighted works to OL for the sole purpose of linking to them from here, adding insult to injury.Paradoctor (talk) 02:12, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
I'm quite familiar with COPYLINK, thanks - it says that we should avoid linking to that copy, ie. the specific copy of a work that we know or reasonably suspect is being carried in violation of a copyright. It does not say that we should avoid linking to an entire website because we suspect some things on that site may be copyvio. Compare YouTube: there are absolutely things on YouTube that are copyvio, but that doesn't prevent us from linking to other things - just those specific things that are copyvio. Nikkimaria (talk) 13:05, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
Since you're familiar with COPYLINK, then how about Open Library? As I have explicitly stated, the link to https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9780030305047 provided by us is a specific copyvio. The linked page displays a button labeled "Borrow" for a copyrighted work, namely the book specified by us in the {{ISBN}} template invocation. Paradoctor (talk) 15:18, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
Removing the link from this page entirely because in some cases it may produce potential issues would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Nikkimaria (talk) 21:12, 16 July 2021 (UTC)
Adding Library Catalog searches in United States Universities and Colleges
Please add the Michigan State University Library catalog. The URL is https://magic.msu.edu/search~/X?search=MAGICNUMBER Note:search will only accept an ISBN without the hyphen.
Please add the University of California, Los Angeles Library catalog. The URL is https://catalog.library.ucla.edu/vwebv/search?searchArg=MAGICNUMBER&searchCode=ISBN&searchType=1 Note:search will only accept an ISBN without the hyphen.
Please add the City University of New York Library catalog. The URL is https://onesearch.cuny.edu/primo-explore/search?query=isbn,contains,MAGICNUMBER&tab=default_tab&search_scope=everything&sortby=rank&vid=CUNY&lang=en_US Note:search will only accept an ISBN without the hyphen.
Please add the University of Minnesota Library catalog. The URL is https://primo.lib.umn.edu/primo-explore/search?query=isbn,contains,MAGICNUMBER&tab=default_tab&search_scope=default_scope&sortby=rank&vid=TWINCITIES
https://archive.org/ gets lot of links from book citations on en.wikipedia.org, can those books be included in the database? Sounds naive now, but yeah.... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 09:42, 15 August 2021 (UTC)
xISBN
Per oclc.org this service was discontinued six years ago. What gives?
I'm removing the section in the meanwhile. Do feel free to restore if a working link can be supplied. CapnZapp (talk) 19:55, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
OttoBib No Longer Operational
As of 2022, OttoBib is no longer in service. Sections using OttoBib should be removed from the page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by I'm mender (talk • contribs) 04:24, 29 June 2022 (UTC)
google and archive
google and archive often have similar PD books, sometimes google allows full access and download, sometimes archive allows full access and download. It would be nice to have both links in a citation since they have different features. Hathitrust often sets restrictions, while google and archive may have less restrictions. Is there a better place to post this? .... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 09:53, 15 August 2021 (UTC)
That has nothing to do with this page. This is the target for searches for an ISBN number. The change you want would be to the citation templates. I don't think it is a good idea to automatically link to particular sites in citations. One has the opportunity when creating a citation to add the url of a PD copy of the book. If none exist or one doesn't know where to find it, it is better just to link here through the ISBN which gives the user the best chance of finding the book themselves. SpinningSpark 09:15, 30 June 2022 (UTC)
Script to define favorite book source
Back in 2005, user Lunchboxhero shared a script to rewrite ISBN links to the URL of one's choice. This can be useful for users who want to be taken directly to a specific library or bookstore upon clicking on an ISBN link, obviating the need to select it manually from the "Book sources" page every time. Unfortunately, the script does not appear to work anymore. Looking at the associated talk page, it looks like this is because it is using deprecated parameters. As I'm not a programmer, I don't know how to fix the script, but perhaps others are willing to take a look? Pablo Stafforini (talk) 13:25, 16 November 2021 (UTC)
Thanks for the suggestion. I have followed your advice and asked the question there. Pablo (talk) 11:36, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
UK Union search
I came across https://librarybooks.uk/ which seems really accurate for searching UK Public Libraries, if anyone agrees, could this be included under United Kingdom Public Libraries if someone has the knowhow to add? Rhagfyr (talk) 17:08, 7 November 2022 (UTC)
Added it. Alin2808 (talk) 17:26, 7 November 2022 (UTC)
Polish library update
Current link for the national library of Poland doesn't work.
Example search link:
https://katalogi.bn.org.pl/discovery/search?query=isbn,contains,9788375524154,AND&vid=48OMNIS_NLOP:48OMNIS_NLOP Nux (talk) 13:30, 20 June 2023 (UTC)
@Nux: It should work now. Alin2808 (talk) 18:45, 20 June 2023 (UTC)
The Swiss library network NEBIS is defunct and has been replaced by SLSP with the discovery tool Swisscovery. RERO and Helveticat still exist, but the links are broken. The catalogues can now be found at https://bib.rero.ch/ and https://www.helveticat.ch. CHVK has also been defunct for several years and should be removed. Would it be possible for someone to fix these issues? Fivetonsofflax (talk) 11:30, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
@Fivetonsofflax: Done as suggested. Alin2808 (talk) 18:39, 20 June 2023 (UTC)
Awesome, much appreciated, thanks. Fivetonsofflax (talk) 09:43, 21 June 2023 (UTC)
Not done: Not really sure how this fits into this page - please specify exactly how/where you would add it and what purpose it would serve here, and re-open the request. Thanks, --ElHef (Meep?) 15:29, 2 July 2015 (UTC)
Done with rev. 830588293. Daask (talk) 19:24, 15 March 2018 (UTC)
Done Thinker78 (talk) 00:53, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
Done. In the future, you can actually edit semi-protected pages yourself. Thanks for contributing to Wikipedia! — Newslinger talk 13:41, 20 January 2019 (UTC)
