RationalWiki talk:Recommended Books

Can someone dig up and ad ISBNs to these? I think if done right, they end up providing handy links to places to buy the books, too. human  13:00, 22 February 2008 (EST)

Good idea - how does one 'do them right' though? And how about we don't link to Amazon, but some independent booksellers - Amazon have enough business as it is. DogP  14:56, 24 February 2008 (EST)


 * It's automatic: ISBN 0470844264 yields ISBN 0470844264 - if you follow the link, you'll see it is then set up to create search queries at a several online booksellers. I see no reason not to add some smaller operations, the only problem is the smaller they get, the less likely the search link is to be useful.  Maybe some "favorite" independents could be added to that file without "search" links? That way even simple bricks'n'mortar ops could be listed.  Oh, and in a way, Amzon also reps the little guys - a lot of small stores are present in the "available new and used from..." link, I have found. human  15:18, 24 February 2008 (EST)

Oh, that's kinda cool actually, I didn't know MediaWiki did that. Can we add Powell's (www.powells.com) at least? DogP  15:25, 24 February 2008 (EST)
 * Absolutely, I was actually thinking of them. My namesakes ;) Do you want to do it or shall I give it a try? I think we could add a list of more specialized sellers under heading with no search links. (topics: sex, religion, politics, etc.?) human  16:01, 24 February 2008 (EST)

How does one do that? DogP  22:31, 24 February 2008 (EST)
 * It's gonna take "magic". But I've been researching it and think I might be able to get it done.  (It's a mediawiki thing, which usually googles well)  The four links that currently come up, by the way, are MW defaults - how much do you think Amazon, etc., donated to the MW foundation for that?  Hmmmm.  Anyway, when I do it, I'll add Powell's - any other good ideas?  And that are there that should be gone?  Does B&N encourage/help small resellers like Amazon does?  If not, they don't deserve our promotion. human  23:36, 24 February 2008 (EST)

A proposal
A list of titles doesn't do much; how about a one-sentence summary of why the book in question matters? PFoster 19:14, 22 February 2008 (EST)
 * I think that proposal can haz brainz. human  19:59, 22 February 2008 (EST)

ISBN Problems
Any idea why an ISBN # wouldn't work? That one I'm giving for the Burleigh book is correct, but doesn't 'work' at any of the sites. DogP  14:35, 19 March 2008 (EDT)
 * I didn't try it "first", but I did move a dash so the numbers were formatted the same as the others. Still seems to fail.  Triple check the ISBN? human  14:50, 19 March 2008 (EDT)
 * ISBN was wrong, I fixed it. (check B & N link now) human  14:59, 19 March 2008 (EDT)
 * Wow, that's really weird.  The ISBN I entered is absolutely, completely correct, including original formatting.   Quadruple checked.   Is there a difference between US ISBN numbers and elsewhere - I didn't buy the book in the US.   DogP  15:13, 19 March 2008 (EDT)
 * Almost - the two numbers are for different editions (UK and US) of the same book, which also have different ISBNs. I don't think the location of the dashes are technically significant, BTW - they're just there for better readability. -- AKjeldsen Godspeed! 15:25, 19 March 2008 (EDT)
 * Might be an out-of-print edition? Or perhaps hardcover versus trade paper? I got the ISBN I replaced it with by searching for the title at Amazon.  Doesn't the "I" stand for "International"?  human  15:30, 19 March 2008 (EDT)

This is interesting, as well. Yes, I suspect each distinct edition has its own ISBN. This one even has a different title! Hmmm, wait, I get it. It's a two-volume series... human  15:33, 19 March 2008 (EDT)
 * This is the British edition with the first ISBN, the one DogP bought, while this is the American edition with the second ISBN. Their ISBNs are different because they were published both in different countries and by different publishers (or different imprints of the same publishing house to be exact). Every different edition of the same book have to get a different ISBN, otherwise it would be impossible for bookstores and libraries and such to tell them apart when ordering. -- AKjeldsen Godspeed! 15:45, 19 March 2008 (EDT) (I knew those nine years working at a public library would be useful one day.)
 * And also to readily tell which edition is being cited in footnotes, as well, right? (although the publication data should tell a researcher that) Remember those 1984 citations we were chuckling over on CP? human  15:54, 19 March 2008 (EDT)
 * Very cool to know all that.  Thanks for all the info guys!   Oh, and that's a fine book, by the way, tremendously interesting.  DogP  15:55, 19 March 2008 (EDT)

Recommended Websites?
Do we have a list of recommended websites, and if so, why isn't it linked here? Totnesmartin 14:03, 7 August 2008 (EDT)
 * Should be at rationalWiki:blogroll, and it is linked from the main page... <font color="#DD00DD" face="comic sans ms"> ħ uman  20:49, 7 August 2008 (EDT)