When I list a book that has the ISBN in the system, I verify it when listing to ensure it matches when posting.  I also confirm it again when it is requested.

Today I notice that a book I had listed (fairly new book) only had a partial ISBN instead of the complete 13 digit ISBN it would have been listed under.  When checking my bookshelf, I notice at least one other book that way. 

I know the full number was displayed when listing because if not, I would have listed the book. I search by ISBN when listing always.  These are books newly received (new HC) with 13 digit ISBN (or 10 digit) on the back.

I am sending one out even though the full number is not displayed.

Any idea what happened to these listings?

Can these books be marked RWAP because the ISBN is incomplete? 

Why is it different than when I listed it under the ISBN on the book?

Thank you ahead of time for your time in responding.

When you list a book, you should do so by putting in the ISBN of your book.

The partial ISBNs happen when someone posts a book without an ISBN - the PBS system assigns a number to it.  If you post a book with that number, you're posting incorrectly.

As part of the data correction group, can't you get it fixed?  I can't imagine why the system would be abbreviating the ISBN.  Are you sure it isn't one of the dummy ISBNs?

When posting books there is the list of other versions for the book below what the ISBN brings up, clicking one other those instead of saying post this book is the most likely thing I can think of.

If the book is posted by a different legitimate ISBN than what is on the book, then it can be marked as RWAP-wrong book; if it is a PBS short ISBN, then the person requesting most likely will not be looking to match the ISBN #. Although some to WL the short ISBNs because they don't want the version available by a common ISBN, they Help Center says that someone shouldn't WL those short ISBNs so they are fishing without a line IMO. If the 4 required fields do not match what the listing says, it can also be marked as the wrong book.

From my original post:

"I search by ISBN when listing always. "

I posted by the complete ISBN, both of these books.  I entered the complete ISBN and confirmed the complete ISBN was present when approving the listing for my bookshelf.  I had two books earlier this week that had the same ISBN as the book shown but my books were not listed at LARGE PRINT and I had to reenter everything from scratch.  It does ask and I selected my ISBN is correct my book is NOT large print.

From the time I accepted the listing, the ISBN was modified (not by me) to a 5-6 digit number.

This is how I list a book:

I enter the ISBN from the book in the search block at the top right of the screen.

It either comes up with a book or it says it is not available and asks if I want to list it.

If it comes up with the correct book, I select to post the book.  I then confirm the ISBN in the listing matches exactly the book I have.  I have not listed a book using only partial ISBNs.

If the book is not listed, I select to enter the information for it.  I again confirm the ISBN is correctly listed (to make sure I didn't make a typo) and then complete all of the information I can (I admit, sometimes getting the correct Genre can be challenging).  I also measure the book and enter a page count.  I do not have my scale available yet to enter a weight, however.

I then enter a description from the DJ (I typically have only had to do this for HCs).

I also scan the cover and reduce it to the size requested (typically 400 x 600 pixels at 600 dpi) and then submit.

What I am saying is I correctly listed these two books under their complete ISBNs and the system changed the ISBN for some reason. 

I NEVER list a book by searching for the title.  One of the issues a book can be marked RWAP is if the ISBN does not match, that is why I have ALWAYS listed using the complete ISBN. 

I have had some older books that had no ISBN anywhere in or on the book (not the spine, title page, nor any other pages) and I listed those books as No ISBN available.

So back to my original question, why are the ISBNs changing to partial ISBNs on books I listed using the full ISBN (and not clicking the link for alternate book types)?

I maintain a Readerware and Book Collector database of all books I have (including listed) and they have the ISBNs of the books as well. 

As far as being part of the Data Correction Group, I cannot pull up books to edit by partial ISBN numbers, only complete ISBN numbers; I tried.

EDIT: correct typos and added additional information.

ETA: I'm probably wrong, but I always thought that if the PBS database did not recognize your ISBN you had to manually post it without ISBN. I did not think we could add ISBNs to the database. And when the book is added manually, the short ISBN is assigned. I have never seen an option to manually add a book to the listings with an ISBN. Please, correct me if I am wrong. So, as far as I can tell, if these books with short ISBNs were ones where the ISBN did not show up in the database, and you manually listed them, that would explain the short ISBN. Did you manually list these books? I might have missed it in your post.

Last Edited on: 6/23/09 11:15 AM ET - Total times edited: 2

Yes, one can add ISBN's to the system: Put your shelf on hold, enter the ISBN to post as though you owned a copy, fill in the details manually, hit enter, and the ISBN is now in the system. Remove the book from your "available" shelf, and take your shelf off hold.

I have had to do this a couple of times with non-American books.

Wouldn't it be easier to just go to My Account > Post Books ?

That's what I'm thinking. I'm not sure exactly what happened so that Barbara ended up with a short ISBN, but maybe it would help to do it from the regular posting window. You don't need to search for the book to post it by ISBN, and fewer steps usually means fewer chances to make mistakes, at least for me!

Hopefully this link will work: http://www.paperbackswap.com/members/book_add.php

By searching for the ISBN, I can see if it is the only book listed.  If it does not say "Order this Book" I know there are none in the system.  It also will say how many members are wishing, if there are none in the system this way.

If there are some in the system, I can add to my Reminder List and see how many copies are available and decide whether to continue to list or donate elsewhere.

I am not fond of adding books that may have many copies ahead on a book that isn't moving.  I do not have the space available to store long term and recently removed up to 30 books that had been stagnating on the shelf for up to 8-10 months and didn't look to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Sometimes if I am not certain about a book, seeing others wishing it may make up my mind to post it instead of hanging onto it awhile longer.

When posting directly, I do not get to see this information.

BTW, when I select to Post the Book, from there, it does then take me to the Post My Book screen complete with the ISBN box (filled in and green indicating valid ISBN) just as if I had clicked on Post directly.

Barbara - the site can tell you exactly how the books got posted that way so if you really want to know, use the Contact Us link and find out. They can tell if you selected one of the other options on the posting page (which is still the only way I can see this happening, hitting one of the other buttons instead of the post this book button) which I have seen quite a few members do without realizing it. And they can tell if the system glitched. Anything here is just speculation, no one but the site admin can see your activity. They were able to tell me exactly what I looked at in one session so I would think they could follow every happening with those books posted.

I really don't see how the system could have changed the book after the fact. It would have had to remove the correct posting and repost  the incorrect one, which would be tracked in your TA. No one can alter a full ISBN to a short PBS ISBN.  Because the ISBN is the main tracking info, I think everything about a book could be changed with a data edit, except the ISBN.

Yes, Janelle, I think the best way to post a book is most likely through the Post Books process, but once you hit the Post This Book button you are taken to that page anyway. I would worry that the search function didn't find an ISBN that was already in the database if I tried posting through there.

From the time I accepted the listing, the ISBN was modified (not by me) to a 5-6 digit number.

I have no idea how the ISBN would be modified after you listed it. I think you might have to ask PBS about this one. They might be able to look and see when/where/how the change was made.

ETA Whoops, Melanie beat me to it!

I have submitted to TPTB asking.  Both ISBNs are in the system.  One book IS a book that the ISBN states it is a LARGE Print and the book was not even though the ISBN WAS correct. 

The second book I do not remember because it was listed awhile back, but I am positive I entered the complete ISBN. 

Using the method I do, even those others may not agree with it, I am still taken to the Post Book screen and the ISBN IS shown in the block where I would normally enter it anyway and it is green indicating a valid ISBN.

I cannot remove and relist the book currently with the incorrect ISBN because it will again state the book is [Large Print] and my book is not which will force me to enter the information again and result in another ISBN incorrect or a PBS ID number assigned.

There is a chance the ISBN entered stating it is Large Print is incorrect.  When I search the web for the ISBN I get one hit (the place the book came from originally) and it does not list the book as a Large Print edition.

I searched on a few Large Print book sites (including the site of the publisher) and none indicated this book to be LP. 

Maybe because the book was already entered under the same ISBN as a LP, this one was assigned a shortened number?

Janelle -

I only mentioned putting your shelf "on hold" because others have said they do that to make sure no one tries to order the book in the two or three minutes between posting it (as though you owned a copy) and removing the item.

I add such books to be able to wishlist them; that way on the slender chance someone acquires a copy, the ISBN will work for them, rather than posting a 5-digit and waiting. If one's WL were not on hold, and someone ordered the(non-existent)  copy just posted, I believe the person who did all the work would become second on the WL after declining the request as "cannot mail". Also, computers and internet connections are funny things - imagine a crash (or loss of internet service from a provider) after posting it, and by the time the person could get get back online to remove the book, several people added it!

So, no you aren't required to put your shelf on hold to add it.

Barbara , since there is a listing with that ISBN that is LP, you MUST enter your book without an ISBN and PBS will give it a 6 digit ISBN substitute. I read what you said, and know that if you are re-entering the information you are getting a PBS assigned 6 digit ISBN you are NOT listing your book with the ISBN on the book, and even if you could, you would be wrong, since the ISBN listed says it's an LP you cannot post your book with its ISBN, you seem to only half understand this.

Please go to the Help Center and read How to post a book. There it will tell you that if your ISBN brings up an LP book and yours isn't, or vice-versa, you must post it without an ISBN and this is what happens when you get the "fill in the blank page" you are getting a PBS ISBN.

If you still think this information is wrong, feel free to PM me and I'll try again to help you understand what you are doing.

Just to clarify, I did follow the rules for listing the books.

I entered the ISBN, the next screen came up and displayed the book was listed as LP and I should confirm my book was LP (in red box) before listing. 

It was not (the text was larger than most books but there were no tags specifically stating the book as LP as is found in and on LP books), so I clicked on the link in the text marked to click on if my book was NOT LP.

It took me to a screen that gave me several choices.  One was the ISBN was correct as I entered it (no typos) and my book was LP, another was my book ISBN was entered correctly and my book was NOT LP.  There were a few other choices, but I do not remember them because I selected ISBN was entered correctly my book is NOT LP.  This means the ISBN I entered WAS correct (and it is the same as the LP book ISBN) AND my book is NOT LP.

At that point it took me to a screen to enter the entire information for the book from cover image through title, author, etc and I entered all of the information but at that time I did not realize it did not list it under the ISBN.   So when one of these books was requested and it came up without an ISBN, I just wanted to ensure I would not get a RWAP because the ISBN did not match what I had entered to place on my bookshelf.

Know I know.

Thank you to everyone for your input.

Barbara, I think what is happening is that you have book club edition books so the ISBN are different on those than books bought at a bookstore.

PBS is having your books get listed as books without an ISBN as your ISBN does not match what is in the PBS database. If PBS says the book is large print then what you list must match. So it is following the rules when you discovered your book wasn't large print.

You won't get a RWAP for your shortened ISBN as long as what you typed matches the book. If it is listed as a hardcover that is what the person requesting is expecting.

Rebecca, thank you.  Yes, they are book club editions, which for some reason were issued with the same ISBN as the LP editions.  It matches the PBS database partially.  The ISBN matches, it is HC, but it is not LP.  So I did what should be (IMHO) and marked it was the correct ISBN but it was not LP and entered all the data as if it was a new book.

Thank you for the response of not having a RWAP.  That was what I was most curious about.  I have shipped close to 50 books now and have never had any RWAP and was trying to ensure I had not done something that would cause that.  I try very hard to list the book exactly and confirm title, author, and ISBN when listing in addition to confirming if LP (I do have some books that are) when listing to ensure my book is as accurate as possible.

Thank you again.

So am I understanding that Barbara very carefully entered the correct ISBN for the books she was posting.  Because she was so thorough, she told the system her books were not LP as the ISBN indicates.  At this time, PBS automatically shifted Barbara to the page that adds a new/short ISBN?  Once again, Miss-on-the-ball Barbara notices the different ISBN (doubt I would!).

Short ISBN's can be tough, because requestors often don't know they are available.  Although apparently Barbara, there are ways to tag your books so other members will know your version is available.  And of course, you may advertise them in the Book Bazaar :-)

Barbara, I've had the same problems with some of my books from book clubs. I've had a paperback versions of children's books but the ISBN on here says it should be a hardcover edition. Then I've had hardcover editions but the ISBN here says it is a paperback. So I listed those books I had without the ISBN. When I first listed a book that way I didn't think it would ever get requested but my books do get requested with the shorter numbers. So I'm sure your books will get requested at some point as well.

I see what you're saying Barbara - and there should NOT be a RWAP on it.  The person requesting this book is requesting the shortened ISBN (they just did a title search, probably), so it'll be fine.