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An IMDb for Books
darkgray writes "After years of reading books and never really knowing which books were, perhaps, the best out there, and in the meantime getting more and more impressed by sites like the Internet Movie Database, I decided to start a project of my own. I named it the Internet Book List, and now it needs people to vote on books they've read, and even more it needs dedicated people to submit books and author information. Help out Humanity: Add a Book!"
Have you already considered the legal ramifications for what you're doing?
It's a sterling idea, it's just that some publishers might get aggrieved when they see information on their publications being held by a third party.
Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is bowling. There are rules.
Maybe an extension to this could include magazines, journals, and other literature. Including full-text for things that are public domain would be another nice feature.
One of my favorite wastes of time is following threads on Allmusic. I love the way they have a description of a band, and also have information on contemporaries, styles, members etc. that are dynamically hotlinked to other items in the db. If you could do the same kind of thing with the author information, it would be really great.
I'd also like to see something on the order for computer and video game software. Again, everything tied to the ISBN with some necessary database details to file in.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
Amazon edits the reviews in ways that some might object to.
Amazon limits reviews to 1000 words. 1000 words isn't really that much for some reviews.
Amazon lets people review books that they clearly haven't read (because they aren't even available yet).
And maybe you aren't entirely comfortable with the fact that when you submit a review to Amazon "you grant Amazon.com and its affiliates a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media."
Wow, so we can have another site, like imdb and cddb, where thousands of volunteers can create a huge and valuable database, which is then claimed as sole property by a single company which then proceeds to make money for itself by charging for use? No thanks. May I suggest the Library of Congress card catalog instead?
We could even make stuff up, like, "Reportedly Douglas Adams was enjoying a tuna sandwich with pickles when the idea for 'So Long and thanks for all the Fish' struck him."
Major time waster and brain filler : Turn on the tv. Find movie. Look movie up. Read Trivia, Goofs, Memorable Quotes, Alternate Versions, and Movie Connections in that order. On Movie Connections, click another movie that looks interesting. Repeat. My wife wonders why I'm always saying I'm going to go pick up my office but it takes days.
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
In the case of public domain books, having a link to the appropriate files on Project Gutenberg would be nice
Everything's been downhill since the TRS-80
I'm not learning anything new from database of fanboys, objectivists, and self-appointed digerati. This is the same shit we already hear too much about on slashdot.
What would be nice is an internet database with information culled from others that don't come from an IT background or don't even have an internet connection. I might actually learn something new from these people.
Worse are the ill-informed and stupid reviews.. I've seen reviews that say stuff like "Ha-ha! I tricked you! I gave this book one star, but it's the best book I've ever read!" which brings a book's general rating down for no good reason at all... Or the book reviews that say "This book is not for beginners! This is a horrible book!", when the title is "Advanced Technology X", or "This book is not for professional/Advanced Users! It sucks!" for "Technology X for Beginners".
;) I happen to like Hitchhikers, although I agree with your opinion on the lord-of-the-rings books. (yucky) but don't bash the opinion of either lovers or haters of those books. The fact is, they're popular books, and a LOT of people like them--which means they have a good chance of being liked. Which means the reviews are accurate, which invalidates your argument.
People are morons.
But this does not invalidate the review process. Readers of reviews-of-products-they're-searching-for (as opposed to "highest reviews" lists) can still glean SOME idea of what the book/movie is like by reading the reviews. They'll obviously gravitate towards the reviews that sound similar to their take on things--like if they're beginners they'll pay more attention to the reviews by beginners. If they like a certain book and someone mentions that book negatively in a review, they can usually say "Ok, this person's opinion is different from mine".
No process is perfect. I mean, we've all seen obvious trolls modded up to +5's. (Think the sexy-gal-boy-troll) and intelligent posts at -1.
But it's still fun, and we still get stuff from it.
By the way, calling people "stupid" when their opinions differ from yours doesn't demonstrate above-average intelligence.
-Sara
Speaking of Gutenberg, this project could gain a substantial database if Project Gutenberg's books could be added.
And Project Gutenberg probably wouldn't mind having an index of all books, both public domain and copyrighted, to refer people to.
Sounds like a mutually-beneficial relationship to me.
(www.gutenberg.net)
I remember when the IMDB was a collection of huge text files passed around on USENET. Next, it was converted into DOS-based database application. The app and a few hundred megabytes were passed around the 'net. Once the WWW thing caught on, it went to the web. I don't know if there was ever a time it was on the web but not the pimped commercial version it currently is.
Since it was a community effort, I felt it worthwhile to add my own contributions. I haven't felt compelled to contribute (can you?) to the current commercial incarnation, as it's not Free anymore.
My biggest fear is that such a project will sell out like CDDB and IMDB did, riding on the backs of those who selflessly contributed content.
Method of processing duck feet
How are you going to pay for this? Maybe the UN will chip in? I assume you'll be including books written in all languages and writing systems.
This will be an important step toward the long-term goal of the Internet: putting all of human memory online.
One difficulty you'll eventually see will be people trying to censor all mention of certain books. It will be very difficult to verify that the data is not altered or deleted except for authorized and proper purposes.
The book database looks like it's pretty heavily geek-weighted right now. Not saying they aren't some of the best titles, but the top fives seem all to be your standard geek picks for books snd suthors.
Why don't we just lobby for the Library of Congress to put its catalog online with voting and posting?
Why not get a copy of the library of congress records?
They've got quite a lot of books in there and they're public, so you should be able to get them at the cost of reproduction.
(although, given the sheer size, that might mean some money)
Seems to me to be a good 'skeleton' for a database like this.
Isn't there a GNU-style license for DB data? Or better, a declaration that all data added is acknowledged to be in the Public Domain (as a previous poster said, it really is because the title/auther etc. is a matter of fact and not copyrightable). Then provide mechanism for multi-level mirroring (a group of 1st-tier mirrors that allow mirroring by a larger group of 2nd-tier mirrors that in turn allow mirroring arbitratily). That was any number of individuals can grab the whole DB from one of the eventual plethora of 3rd level mirrors. At least that's the theory.
You do realize that IMDB.com is run by Amazon, don't you?
:)
You may have just ruined imdb.com for me. I hope your happy with yourself now
It is another conflict of interest but the extent of which I don't know. How much information is traded between the two entities? Do they use the same database for ratings? Do they use the same sources for reviews? Are they just separate groups within the same organization? I don't know, but I'll still stand by my original opinion that imdb.com is better for getting information on movies.
Isn't discussing books online a violation of Amazon's recent patent. Granted, that only applies in contexts where the books are also offered for sale. But if you offer them for sale at anywhere other than Amazon, they can come after you, as long as that silly patent holds up. Meanwhile, I'd suggest that sites which do both discuss and link books consider bn.com - as complete a catalog as Amazon, no bad patents. Let's keep Bezos busy making more enemies.
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
Readerware uses Amazon.com, Library of Congress, and several other sources to dish up info about the books, as well as a picture of the cover. It's surprised me on some of the books it can find - even a narrow circulation book published by the company I work for...
http://www.readerware.com/
I'm not sure of how inter-connected the two sites are. But my gf applied for a job at IMDB and it's at Amazon HQ here in Seattle. She apparently knew all along...I had no idea until then. If you want to buy a movie you are looking at IMDB you'll notice it conveniently links to Amazon's site. And you'll also notice that when you are on Amazon you can get quotes for a movie you are looking to buy from IMDB. I don't know how linked the reviews are. I just quickly chose The Shawshank Redemption for a check and on IMDB it has over 1000 reviews whereas on Amazon it had something closer to 600. Maybe I should have chosen a less popular movie, but it looks like it's not just one db for all reviews, which actually strikes me as being weird.
IMDB now has a fee-based service, so it looks as if it's trying to be it's own money-making entity as opposed to just a tool for directing people to Amazon. But I'm also sure it does produce quite a bit of synergy for the company(apologies for the buzz-word). IMDB for me is a WONDERFUL tool. It's amazing the breadth and depth of it's information. And it does not bother me that it has anything to do with Amazon. Probably mostly because I don't have any problems with Amazon.
Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful
ABE used to be the online bookselling venue of choice, but that's before the new idiot management decided to impose a new commission fee structure on top of what their dealers were already paying, and kicking off those dealers who refused to sign the new agreement.
Information on ABE's new policies can be found here.
roght now, the best service to look for books online is bookfinder.com, which searches not only ABE (and Amazon & B&N if you want it to), but also more than a dozen other independent book-listing sites, including TomFolio.com, the site I currently list my science fiction books on (in addition to my own site.
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
For-profit or not, IMDb is MUCH more useful as an informational site than Amazon is. Despite IMDb's tie-in with Amazon, it still is presented in a info first, sell second fashion, in my opinion.
IMDb lists tons of titles which you have absolutely no chance of buying from them.
IMDb has the extremely useful 'home pages' for any actor, director, etc. which you can see their entire body of work and even sort the info in a bunch of different ways. Where is a comparable feature for authors on Amazon?
IMDb does not try to sell me clothing, kitchenware, and other such nonsense on a movie review page. Amazon on the other hand..
A movie's 'home page' is not ridiculously long and bloated like a book's home page on Amazon.
You can do some pretty tremendous things with IMDb's advanced search that I have yet to see in Amason. Character name search for example?
IMDb has a much more pleasant interface. Almost everything on the site is a link to gobs more information.
Amazon is a great online store, but in terms of being a raw informational web database, I feel it leaves a lot to be desired. I think an 'IMDb for books' is something good to strive for. It DOES fill a need.
Regarding copyrights, I haven't even thought about it. I didn't realize people would be so annoyed for putting their time into a project like this. I do, however, intend to read up on the GNU licenes and whatnot and make sure I end up not even being able to sell other people's work for my own profit.
It might be nice with some money to upgrade the server, though. :p
Yes that list was a problem but I saw your email and you were not exactly polite about being removed. This has all been fixed an now there are forums instead. This is a brand new site and you should cut them some slack!
"It is not how things are in the world that is mystical, but that it exists." -Ludwig Wittgenstein