Library of Congress card numbers returning results for Amazon products (not books)

When I attempt to add to my catalog using Library of Congress card numbers, I am sometimes shown Amazon products instead of books. For example:

() a search for 76-25211 returns a result for a "Bosch 4100/4100DG-09 Table Saw Replacement On/Off Switch # 2610008538"

() 48-1984 returns a result for a "Kenmore Kitchenaid Refrigerator Water Valve"

() 90-44502 returns a result for "Black & Decker GH610 Replacement (4 Pack) Lever for AFS Spool System # 90567079-4pk".

What source are you using?

Using the LOC, 76-25211 returns John Frederic Oberlin, by John W. Kurtz

49-1984 returns three books:
Nationale Landwirtschaft, by Robert Gartner
La France, pays de grandes découvertes, by Léon Guillet
Way of the wilderness, by Calvin Rutstrum

90-44502 returns:
British Book News
Encounter on the narrow ridge : a life of Martin Buber, by Maurice Friedman

If you search Amazon on random numbers, you have to expect to get random Amazon products. This is not a bug in LT.

>3 MarthaJeanne: I'm not searching Amazon. I'm using the 'Add to Catalog' feature of the LibraryThing app under iOS (which, obviously, uses Amazon as a source). Also, the numbers are not random; they are the ones listed on the copyright pages, e.g., as pointed out by lilithcat, 90-44502 is a biography of Martin Buber. However, it yields a result for Black and Decker products.

>4 shawn.ucd:

the LibraryThing app under iOS (which, obviously, uses Amazon as a source)

Not "obviously". You can choose which source to use. I use Overcat and LOC on the app, not Amazon.

As >3 MarthaJeanne: says, if you use Amazon, you'll get crappy data.

>2 lilithcat: Under iOS, my 'Add to Catalog: Sources' are Amazon and Overcat. When I uncheck Amazon, and search for 90-44502, it correctly returns the Buber biography. However, when both Amazon and Overcat are selected, a search on the number only returns the Amazon Black and Decker products, and not the Buber biography. For what it's worth, adding books on the librarything website with Amazon selected as the source *does not* return any results -- for Black and Decker or otherwise. So the way the app searches Amazon seems to be different somehow from the way the website does. And the bad Amazon results on the app crowd out the good Overcat results. (I'm guessing the logic is something like, 'if you find the item on Amazon, don't bother looking on Overcat'.)

>5 lilithcat: The Amazon sources that are listed on the library thing website are: Amazon.com books; Amazon.com UK books; and Amazon.com all media. On the app it just lists Amazon. Is the app searching *all* of Amazon instead of just the books section?

Respectfully, I don't think this issue should be marked 'closed'. It is perhaps a small bug, but it is a bug all the same that a search in a book app should return results for non-books using the default search settings -- especially since the website does not exhibit the same behavior. At any rate, I appreciate the help and feedback. (If I reverse the order in which the app searches sources -- first, Overcat, then, Amazon -- that stands as a workaround.)

In the app under the Account section, click to edit sources then to add sources. Is "Amazon all media" or only "Amazon books" selected?

>8 shawn.ucd: If I reverse the order in which the app searches sources -- first, Overcat, then, Amazon -- that stands as a workaround. That's not a workaround; it's a function of the app. It's a legitimate method for searching. If you were using the website, you'd also order the sources you want to use.

>9 aspirit: "Amazon books" is selected. Interestingly (or not), using "Amazon Canada books" as a source and searching on LOC numbers also returns non-book Amazon products.

I'll note that searching for 90-44502 on "Amazon books" via the LibraryThing website returns no results, whereas on the app it results in non-book Amazon products. So it seems that the website and the app are doing different searches even when the source for each is "Amazon books."

>11 shawn.ucd: I can replicate that. Using Amazon books as a source in the app brings back non-book products. Using the same source (ETA: & same search string) in the website does not bring back anything.

>10 lesmel: Yes, I know it's a feature of the app that you can affect the order in which sources are searched. I say it's a workaround in this case because the reason I want/have to list Amazon books after, say, Overcat in the sources is because Amazon books is returning bad results. Also, the default -- and sole -- source on the app is Amazon books (sorry, that's unclear: by default, the app comes with Amazon books as a source; all others must be added by the user). So to avoid this problem a user has to add an additional source and then drag it above the Amazon books source.