Hi all,

This information may be posted somewhere but I cannot find it.   Is there a way to see how many copies of a book is in the system? 

THANKS!

You can see that by putting it on your reminder list.

Yes, put it on your reminder list.  Book listings on your RL will show the number of copies in the system.

ETA - Here's an example:

Genghis Khan Conqueror of the World :: Leo De Hartog
ISBN-13: 9780760711927 - ISBN-10: 0760711925
Copies Available: 3

Yes, what Mary said.  If you put the book on your reminder list, there will be a number of "Copies Available" under the ISBN for each book.  Hope that helps!

AH! THANK YOU ALL!! This is so helpful for me to determine what to do with my book piles.

While deciding what to do with those piles, keep in mind what the site administrators have said about using Number of Copies as a posting guideline:

If you plan to use this information to guide you in posting books, you should know:

• If you Post the book quickly after checking the Reminder List, yours will most likely be the next one in line.
• However, knowing what 'FIFO number' your book is in the system would not be very helpful in predicting how quickly it will be requested.
  • You would need other information about the dynamics of that particular book on the site.

    For example, if you have an obscure book that is the only copy in the system, it could take months to be requested. If another book you have is #33 in the system, but the book is requested very often, it could be requested in just a few days.
    
    If you knew only these FIFO numbers, you might misinterpret them and take #33 off your shelf and donate it, while keeping #1 on your shelf, when you really should do the opposite. this information would not be terribly helpful, and could easily be misinterpreted to mean that a low number would 'move quickly' and a higher number would linger on your shelf, which is often not at all the case.

• We are working on a 'popularity index' which will better indicate how likely a book is to be ordered within a certain timeframe. It is on our long list of ToDos. We hope to have it available to the membership soon!

Absolutely good information, Sianeka...I generally post everything, because even if there are a couple hundred copies in the system, someone who is offered a wishlist book you post might look at your shelf using the "order more from member" button and see that book is one they've been meaning to get, so they can order that book directly from your shelf without your book waiting to go through the whole FIFO queue. I've had that happen many times. And it's true that books that had only a few copies available have taken months and sometimes years to be requested. 

Cheryl

Great info!