Bruji

Hi,

I've added a new column in table view for ISBN numbers. I've entered a number of books into a general place by error and I want to reclassify them into specific locations by sorting them by ISBN numbers, which is the record I've made of them in my my home library

I used the series of ISBN numbers to obtain the details of the books from the 'Net, and they are included in the book's details. Can anyone tell me if its possible to make the ISBN number which is in the book's details to appear in the ISBN column I've just created, and if so, how I do it? If it can't be done it means I'll have to pull all the volumes out and go about it recoding titles manually, a real pain. Thanks for any help.

The ISBN column should have the ISBN number. The information that appears in the books details would be the same that appears in the table columns. Could it be possible that you added a custom column that you renamed ISBN? Once you have the column shown you would be able to click the header to sort it and select multiple books for edit. Email us some screenshots of both the table view and the details view for a book and it will help us tell what might be going on.

It seems like the problem I reported was not the prime issue. I made a column for ISBN numbers (I have a lot of books in this location), and as reported in my post, a heap of books did not show any number at all, although I'd used the ISBN inquiry window, so I knew I had put the number in to do the search. When you responded (thanks for the promptness) I went back, and at the end of the screen, some 5 page-downs, there were a bundle of books showing ISBNs in the column. I went back to those that weren't, and double-clicked a number and there was no ISBN information in the book summary screen.

Am I right in assuming that ISBNs are a standard reporting item i.e. I don't have to make it happen like I did with Location recently. If that's so, can you hazard a guess as to why I'm having the problem? I might add that I've just returned to another collection I made earlier, inserted the ISBN column, and all are showing. I don't know enough at this stage to understand what could have happened, and whether it was an error on my part. If it is I'd appreciate the solution.

I apologise for 3 posts in as many days - but I refer to the Help items and can't find the answer to the particular problem I'm having.

What search site did you use when adding the books, Amazon US? If you could let us know some of the ISBNs numbers you searched for which the book does not contain the ISBN number information so we can then try adding those books ourselves, see if we also don't get the information. Bookpedia does not copy over the information from the search window, but gets the ISBN number from the lookup. Given that the search matched via ISBN number the online information should contain an ISBN number for Bookpedia to fill in.

Two other possibilities: the ISBN field was turned off in the preferences when you were adding those books or you used the multi-edit feature to remove the ISBN number from a selection. The later you would remember but the first option is subtle and might have been the cause; Bookpedia allows users to turn off those fields they don't want.

If the information came from Amazon, the ASIN column should also contain the ISBN number.

Here are some ISBNs from well known authors' books. My wife has other books by the same authors, and they previously scanned OK:

0742352535
9780007241330
0241142555
0316153990
0333908589
0552149519
0593040716

I've been using the comprehensive list of sites for ISBNs as I think are the default(?) of the program. At least I haven't changed it.

The Preferences menu shows ISBN as ticked.

I didn't use the multi-edit feature - as a matter of fact I don't know what you're referring to - I'm still very much finding my way in the program.

As you'll appreciate, when one is using ISBNs as a reference, and one has a lot of books, one tends to open the book, write down the number and return the book to the shelf. When subsequently the ISBN feature doesn't work, one has to go through all the books again, as there's no automatic cross-reference between the ISBN in the list and the book on the shelf.

I hope this helps you help me with my problem. Regards

I copied the ISBN into the add multiple feature and as you can see from the screenshots all the results have ISBN numbers. The first number "0742352535" I could not find as it is not an ISBN, the check digit does not match. Bookpedia does prefer the new ISBN-13 format over the 10 digit one. The 13 format contains the 10 version as a subset if you remove the 978 prefix, so you can still search your books by the original 10 digit ISBN, by omitting the last digit when filtering your library.

Could you please drag the books in question from the table view in Bookpedia to the Finder. This will create 6 files that you can then email to us. They contain all the book information as you have it, it will let me verify that everything is okay. If everything is okay now, keep an eye on the ISBN column and if in the future you add a book that does not have an ISBN do let us know.