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0 ### What is the Open Library? 0 ## What is OpenLibrary.org?
1 1
2 The Open Library - a project of the Internet Archive - is an open semantic wiki that aggregates bibliographic metadata from world’s leading 2 OpenLibrary.org, a project of the Internet Archive, is an open semantic
3 libraries and publishers that includes references to electronic book collections, physical libraries and booksellers. 3 wiki that builds on bibliographic metadata from world’s leading
4 libraries and publishers that includes references to electronic book
5 collections, physical libraries and booksellers.
4 6
5 Our goal is to display a page on the web for every book ever published. 7 ## How do I edit the information about a particular book?
6 8
7 ### How can I help add or edit information about a particular book? 9 Book bibliographic metadata is editable by clicking first on the book in
10 question to arrive at the correct details page. Click the edit button
11 within the description section and make your desired edit. Be sure to
12 press save when your edit is complete.
8 13
9 When you're looking at a book's page, click the edit button within the description section and make your desired edit. Be sure to press save when your edit is complete. (It's also useful if you leave a short note about the edit you made.) 14 ## How do I add information about a book that is not cataloged in OpenLibrary.org
10 15
11 The fields that we have to describe records on Open Library can seem a bit confusing. We've made <a href="http://openlibrary.org/addbook/help">a page to try to help explain what the different fields are</a>, and provide examples of the sort of data to enter in each. 16 Follow the [“add a book”](http://openlibrary.org/addbook) link from the
17 home page.
12 18
13 ### When I search Open Library, the book I want doesn't show up. Can I create a new page about it in Open Library? 19 ## How is this different from Project Gutenberg?
14
15 Yes! Absolutely! There's a link called "[“Add a Book”](http://openlibrary.org/addbook)" on the home page.
16
17 ### Can Open Library help me value a book that I have?
18
19 No, Open Library cannot tell you how much your book is worth. If we know that a book is for sale somewhere, we will display links to the various booksellers who have it available under the "BUY" heading on the right-hand side of the book's page. (If we don't know, there won't be any links under "BUY".)
20
21 ### Can Open Library help sell a book for me?
22
23 No, Open Library is not a book store. We actually don't have any physical or electronic books.
24
25 ### How do I search for a particular book on Open Library?
26
27 Searching for a book's title is probably the easiest way. You can do that from any search box on openlibrary.org.  Otherwise, use the [advanced search](http://openlibrary.org/advanced) to search for things like a particular author, ISBN or full text of a book (if we have access to a scanned version).
28
29 ### How do I search for a particular subject on Open Library?
30
31 Subject headings are searchable from the [advanced search page](http://openlibrary.org/advanced).
32
33 ### How can I see all the books by a certain author on Open Library?
34
35 You can do an author search via the [advanced search page](http://openlibrary.org/advanced), or, you can simply use this shortcut in the normal search box - "authors:". So, if you want to see all the books we know about by Martin Amis, you could type "authors:(martin amis)" in any search box.
36
37 ### Which book classifications system will you use? Dewey? LC? Tags?
38
39 All of the above. We want to have as much classifying information as
40 possible, so that people and libraries can use whichever mechanisms they
41 like.
42
43 ### How is the Open Library different from Project Gutenberg?
44 44
... ...
51 51
52 ### Have you heard of WorldCat? Have you talked to OCLC? 28 ## Have you heard of WorldCat? Have you talked to OCLC?
53 29
54 The Open Library is an open source project of the Internet Archive, and has lots of helpers that do not work for and are not directed by the Internet Archive. The Internet Archive has been working to provide resources, such as databases, to the OpenLibrary project. 30 The OpenLibrary project is an opensource project of the Internet
31 Archive.  This is important because the OpenLibrary project has many
32 participants that do not work for and are not directed by the Internet
33 Archive. That said the Internet Archive has been working to provide
34 resources, such as databases, to the OpenLibrary project.
55 35
56 A major difference between OCLC and the Open Library is that OCLC is building a catalog to share among libraries, while Open Library is 36 A major difference between OCLC and the OpenLibrary is that OCLC is
57 building a catalog to share with the public, with the hope that this will get more people involved in using libraries. 37 building a catalog to share among libraries, while OpenLibrary is
38 building a catalog to share with the public, with the hope that this
39 will get more people involved in using libraries.
58 40
59 The Internet Archive and OCLC have discussed working together, and hopefully this will yield a joint project, but nothing has been 41 The Internet Archive and OCLC have discussed working together, and
60 finalized yet.     The plans for the Open Library have been actively shared with OCLC and its records are available to OCLC. 42 hopefully this will yield a joint project, but nothing has been
43 finalized yet.     The plans for the OpenLibrary have been actively
44 shared with OCLC and its records are available to OCLC.
61 45
62 Leveraging the records in WorldCat could mean several things: 46 Leveraging the records in WorldCat could mean several things:
63 47
64 1.  Pointing to WorldCat from the Open Library site 48 1.  pointing to WorldCat from the OpenLibrary site
65 2. Getting records from libraries 49 2. getting records from libraries
66 3. Getting records from OCLC 50 3. getting records from OCLC
67 51
68 Option (1) has the advantage that it can be done with no agreements, but there would be no integrated user experience like there is at Wikipedia, 52 Option (1) has the advantage that it can be done with no agreements, but
53 there would be no integrated user experience like there is at wikipedia,
69 amazon.com, or IMDB. Options (2) and (3) are being pursued. 54 amazon.com, or IMDB. Options (2) and (3) are being pursued.
70 55
71 For background, the Internet Archive had a longstanding deal with the Research Libraries Group (RLG) to make RLG digitized book records (as 56 For background, the Internet Archive had a longstanding deal with the
72 well as other Internet Archive records) available for free with no restrictions. With RLG [now part of 57 Research Libraries Group (RLG) to make RLG digitized book records (as
73 OCLC](http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200625.htm), this deal continues.  To date, the Internet Archive has generally retrieved 58 well as other Internet Archive records) available for free with no
74 records from the source library's catalog rather than RLG because of the preference of the source library.   These records from the Internet 59 restrictions. With RLG [now part of
60 OCLC](http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200625.htm), this deal
61 continues.  To date, the Internet Archive has generally retrieved
62 records from the source library's catalog rather than RLG because of the
63 preference of the source library.   These records from the Internet
75 Archive have been integrated into the Open Library site. 64 Archive have been integrated into the Open Library site.
76 65
77 The Internet Archive's catalog is available using the [Open Archives Initiative protocol](http://www.openarchives.org/), and in bulk from the 66 The Internet Archive's catalog is available using the [Open Archives
78 Mellon funded [OAIster project](http://www.oaister.org), which was designed for metadata harvesting. 67 Initiative protocol](http://www.openarchives.org/), and in bulk from the
68 Mellon funded [OAIster project](http://www.oaister.org), which was
69 designed for metadata harvesting.
70
71 ## Which book classifications system will you use? Dewey? LC? Tags?
72
73 All of the above. We want to have as much classifying information as
74 possible, so that people and libraries can use whichever mechanisms they
75 like.
76
77 ## Can OpenLibrary.org help me value a book that I have?
78
79 OpenLibrary.org does refer users to various booksellers when we have the
80 ability to do so, however we have no information regarding the value of
81 books.
82
83 ## Can OpenLibrary sell a book for me?
84
85 No, OpenLibrary.org is not a book seller. We have no physical or
86 electronic books.
87
88 ## How do I search for a particular book on OpenLibrary.org?
89
90 If you know the title, usually a simple bibliographic metadata search
91 from the home page will yield the results you are looking for.
92 Otherwise, use the [advanced search
93 functions](http://openlibrary.org/advanced), including full text search
94 to find your book.
95
96 ## How do I search for a particular subject on OpenLibrary?
97
98 Subjects are searchable from the [advanced search
99 page](http://openlibrary.org/advanced).
100
101 ## How do I search for a particular author on OpenLibrary?
102 Authors are searchable from the [advanced search
103 page](http://openlibrary.org/advanced).
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