In the beginning, every GR user with a certain number of shelved books was a librarian. I'm not sure when or why they changed that but as the site grew the potential for abuse would have become a problem. Now, you have to pass a test and it's not easy. I was an early GR user and don't know the librarian's manual backwards and forwards. I edit a page from time to time and if I see a far right book with a fulsome description by its author I *cough* edit it.
Not long ago I came across a review of a fascist book published in 1921. The book's description was misleading and I wanted to edit it to make the tone more neutral and factual. When I opened the edit page there was a note from the 'Goodreads Team' saying that anyone who tried to edit it would lose their librarian privileges and possibly their account. Why? I've seen that more than once. It suggests that there was a tug of war over the description that resulted in a 'hands off this book in every conceivable way' even though the description was pro-fascist and should have been changed. The thing is - most of the junk that ends up in the metadata at GR comes from Amazon and it comes repeatedly. I correct it when I see it but some books seem to be forbidden territory. I have no idea who the Goodreads Team are. Were they ever real? Are they AI now? Are they like Wolfram & Hart in the Angel series? Are they like the Wikispook Philip Cross?
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2025-05-14 11:23 pm (UTC)Not long ago I came across a review of a fascist book published in 1921. The book's description was misleading and I wanted to edit it to make the tone more neutral and factual. When I opened the edit page there was a note from the 'Goodreads Team' saying that anyone who tried to edit it would lose their librarian privileges and possibly their account. Why? I've seen that more than once. It suggests that there was a tug of war over the description that resulted in a 'hands off this book in every conceivable way' even though the description was pro-fascist and should have been changed. The thing is - most of the junk that ends up in the metadata at GR comes from Amazon and it comes repeatedly. I correct it when I see it but some books seem to be forbidden territory. I have no idea who the Goodreads Team are. Were they ever real? Are they AI now? Are they like Wolfram & Hart in the Angel series? Are they like the Wikispook Philip Cross?