New Venue: www.amazon.com

I adore the new "from where" feature, especially because it has spurred people to start adding new venues.

On the downside, amazon.com was just added as a venue, and at least 3 users have chosen it as a source for books in their library.

I'm sure more online venues that do not host "bona fide, time-limited and interactive events of interest to book lovers" are on the way.

Not sure if there's a solution -- just throwing it out there for discussion.

Yep. I see amazon.co.uk and amazon.fr. I really dislike this. It's the "thin edge of the wedge", and until LT figures out a way to allow online venues to be used for the "from where" feature without polluting LT Local, I do not think they should be added.

And bookdepository...

I agree, and there's been some discussion here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/121199#2844381

I wish staff would weigh in and, ideally, come up with another solution for online venues. I don't understand why free text is insufficient. We could have a combining system like we do for tags, to combine free text fields and thereby aggregate things.

These are multiplying: other online stores like "the works (online)," several presses and publishers,* and judging by the "cataloged" links on the venue page, these are getting added precisely so people could add them to "from where."

We need some kind of statement from staff that either this is ok (and thus that Local is fundamentally changing and is no longer for venues and events but just a listing of every possible way to buy books) or that it's not ok and that these sources need to be listed a different way (and perhaps developing some kind of new feature that could deal with online stores).

* ETA: Obviously, presses and publishers are fine in Local if they have a storefront and/or host book-related events onsite.

As soon as I got to the first book in my library that I bought online, I immediately added "online" as a free-text option -- obviously because I know Amazon can't be in the local section.

Similarly, I'm not going to add bookstores I've patronized in the past which became defunct a long time ago and never made it into the local database on LT. They will go into the free text section, too.

In the meantime, my mouse is itching to delete these online venues. It's agonizing!!! I'd like to propose that the "Local Patrol" should go ahead and remove them as per LT terms and conditions.

After it has been removed, then maybe we could email the adder to let them know about the rule regarding online venues, and recommend they add "online" or "Amazon" to their free text section instead?

Similarly, I'm not going to add bookstores I've patronized in the past which became defunct a long time ago and never made it into the local database on LT. They will go into the free text section, too.
Tim said in the other thread that that was ok to do: "Defunct venues are fine. There's a check-box for it. I added Wordsworth in Cambridge, MA for this sole purpose."

>6 rsterling: Good to know! Now I just have to remember their names and addresses... ;-)

> 4

But there is a statement from staff. When you add a venue and click "online", you get a warning in red: Management and members take a very hard line about online venues. Online venues must host bona fide, time-limited and interactive events of interest to book lovers.

So until there's another statement from staff changing that, then I think we have to comply with that one.

That's what I mean: we need a new, current statement from staff about what to do with online venues specifically in relation to this new feature. I presumed that everyone on this thread already knows about the existing guidelines; hence the discussion. So far, all Tim said in relation to "from where" and online ventures was that he was of two minds, and that's not enough of a definitive statement to contradict the one that shows up on venue pages. What I'm saying is that it would be good if staff could weigh in on this discussion and either revise the existing statement on online stores (my least favorite option) or provide some clear guidelines about what to do instead of entering them in Local (and perhaps develop some new mechanism for dealing with these kind of "from where" entries in a useful way).

It would probably be good to start with a general discussion of what Local is for. The initial impetus seemed to be events, but I don't think that's so much the focus anymore.

Yup. More coming. I'm workin' workin'.

Thanks.

You're a trooper, Tim!

All I'll add is that it is not even remotely obvious that the 'From Where' links to LT Local.

When editing a book you click the link get taken to a lightbox (already annoying), type in where you've got it from and go onto the next part of your editing process. I'm not t all surprised online stores appear because there is no indication that they shouldn't. Or even that they should go in the free text field - which is another click away, IF you remember to look up for it.

14 - Online stores will only appear in two cases: if someone has deliberately put them in Local, or if you have already used them as a free-text entry. People can't add online stores from the lightbox; they have to go to Local and add it first, where there's a big red message that says not to add online stores.

>15 rsterling: ....but if you search for 'www' in venues you'll get some on-line options (not amazon, as it happens). Click on one and it's added to your book details without any sign of the big red message.

I am so glad that something is being done about this problem, because, whatever point of view one holds, the introduction of the 'where' feature did use the Local list in a new way.

#11 Glad to hear something more is coming on this.

#10The initial impetus seemed to be events, but I don't think that's so much the focus anymore. I had barely looked at the Local pages before this feature and would not have thought to look there to find out about book-related events. If that was the original purpose of the Local pages, it makes more sense of the requirement that the venues should be restricted to places that hold time-limited events of interest to booklovers.

However, it is not obvious to me that bookshops are places that hold events. Book shops sell books, and are places you can go and browse through books whether you buy them or not. They may or may not hold events; most that I use do not. It seems rather odd that the criterion for whether a venue is local or not is that they hold events, when many that are definitely geographically local do not.

> 17

It seems rather odd that the criterion for whether a venue is local or not is that they hold events,

That isn't the criterion, except for online venues. ("Online venues must host bona fide, time-limited and interactive events of interest to book lovers.")