Instructions
Reference
Select the edition from the listing. If not found, first add the title and/or edition and return to this form. Note that a maximum of 30 editions will be included in the dropdown, but as you type, the listing will be updated to include only those matching your entry.
Edition Number
(Optional) Specify the edition number (e.g. 1st edition, 2nd edition), if you wish to make a note of it. Generally speaking, we are not keeping separate records (those selected in the Reference field) for each printing/edition from the same publisher, as the list can get quite long and people are often not concerned with whether it is the 3rd or the 7th edition. DO add a new edition (even if from the same publisher) if there is a significant difference, such as paperback versus hardcover (this will often include a change in ISBN), or a notworthy expansion of the content.
Limited Edition Number
(Optional) If this is a limited edition, specify the copy number. The total number is recorded with the edition, so if you enter simply “5”, the listing will read something like “#5 of 1000”.
Collection
- My Library
Use this option for references you own. - Virtual
This option applies to online resources for which it is impossible to have a physical copy. - Wish List
Use this option for references you do not own but would like to add to your collection. - Sold/Donated/Returned
If you borrowed and later returned an item, or you used to own it and then sold or donated it, use this option to retain any notes you wish to keep while separating it from your actual holdings or wish list. - Removed
Use this option to remove the item from your listings entirely. Notes will also no longer appear on the page for the title (see Notes and Private Notes). The administrators may occasionally delete items with this setting. Before that happens, you can request to have it ‘reinstated’ in case this setting was applied in error.
Location
(Optional) If you want to keep track of which room, bookshelf, or shelf-within-a-bookshelf an item is kept, add a note here.
On Loan
This field only appears when the collection setting is ‘My Library’. Use it to note the item has been loaned out. You can use the Private Notes area to record to whom it was loaned.
Progress
- Reference Only
Use this option for items such as dictionaries and encyclopedias – things you are very unlikely to read from cover to cover - Unread
This category is for items you’ve not yet started to read, or perhaps only skimmed through. If you have many in this category, use the To-Read option to prioritize those you want to get to first. - To-Read
You might consider items in the Unread category as on your “to-read” list. This option is to set apart those you’re most keen to get to. - Partially Read
Self-explanatory, we trust - Completed
Self-explanatory, we trust
Notes and Private Notes
In addition to the page for your copy, public notes will appear on the page for the title. They are listed with the title rather than the edition, as nearly all comments will be applicable to any edition. Private notes will only appear on the page for your copy.
Why offer an area for private notes? There was no clear goal. Maybe you want to jot down a reminder to will the rare, signed copy of Chapelle’s The Search for Speed Under Sail to the webmaster and you don’t want to make the others jealous. More seriously, perhaps you want to write formal notes to share with everyone, and the rest is shorthand that only you will understand, so you keep that private. You could use the private area to note where you left off, like a digital bookmark. Clearly that does not need to be public. You might just a private/shy person that doesn’t want their writings to fall under the scrutiny of others. It doesn’t matter.
Note! Private notes are not encrypted, so don’t think you can get away with writing smack about the webmaster.