Getting DVD references from Amazon.com

[rlanderson]

I tried using the internet search tool to get a reference for the DVD of Fahrenheit 9/11. The search returns a number of books about the film, but not the DVD of the film. Is it possible to get media references from the Internet search for amazon.com? My current research project is going to require quite a number of DVD references, it would be really cool if I could get the data directly from Amazon rather than having to manually input the references.

[Jon]

Hi,

No, Bookends won't search for DVDs. There are a number of options out there, though, either inexpensive or free: Delicious Library, Booxster, Books (I think it does DVD's, but haven't checked in a while), and several others. Some, like Booxster, let you export in BibTeX.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Luhmann]

There are many of us who do serious academic scholarship about films, for this reason it would be very useful if Bookends could import DVD information from Amazon, as well as search Library of Congress for various media, and even include IMDB search as well. But Amazon movies would be a good start!

[Jon]

Hi Luhmann,

I doubt that will ever be a Bookends feature (just like barcode reading). But there are many very good apps that do this already (the DVDPedia app comes to mind, as does Delicious Library). We have plans to make transfer of data from some of these to Bookends easier in the future (unfortunately, the delay of Leopard has delayed that as well).

Jon
Sonny Software

[Luhmann]

For the record, I use DVD Cache. But it does not have bibtex output.

UPDATE: DVDpedia looks nice. I'll give it a spin.

UPDATE: I see it still doesn't have Bibtex export, although it does look like it offers a number of other export options.

It would really make life much easier if Bookends Amazon search could pull in movies...

[joewiz]

Luhmann - just wondering: what fields from Amazon would be necessary to import for your citations to movies?

[danzac]

I would never make use of this but support it on principle, and I don't quite understand the hesitation in doing so. Films need to be properly referenced like any other information medium, and that's what BE is for.

It sounds like those who have contributed to this thread are already using BE for referencing films, why not make it easier to bring that info in?

[Jon]

Danny, you've never heard of a suggestion you didn't support. There is nothing stopping anyone from entering DVD information in Bookends if they want to (or an inventory of their stamp collection). But I see no need to add the overhead of yet another search feature that would be used by a precious few and would be tangential, at best, for the purpose for which Bookends is intended.

Just as with notetaking, there are other apps out there whose sole purpose is to perform the task, and because they are designed exactly for that task they will do it better than Bookends ever would. The solution is not to cram it into Bookends, but to facilitate information exchange. To that end, Luhmann (and anyone else who would like this) should be asking the author of their favorite DVD collecting app to allow information export in a common format (like BibTeX).

Jon
Sonny Software

[danzac]

But I consider the LOC search essential, and someone in film studies would no doubt feel the same way about a film search.

"Film studies". If the films are cited in a scholarly journal, Bookends should deal with it (as well as any scholarly journal). If they are for sale on Amazon, Bookends won't find them.

Once more, you can enter any information you want into Bookends. But it won't automatically catalog your personal library, search non-reference databases for information, or trace your family's geneology. There are excellent apps out there for theses purposes, which you should use.

If you want such a universal application, please ask Microsoft, which no doubt has just the thing in mind...

Jon
Sonny Software

[Luhmann]

Luhmann - just wondering: what fields from Amazon would be necessary to import for your citations to movies?

I couldn't quickly find the Chicago guidelines (which is what I use), but here are the APA:

Audio-Visual Media
References to audio-visual media must include the following elements: name and function of the primary contributors (e.g., producer, director), date, title, the medium in brackets, location or place of production, and name of the distributor. If the medium in indicated as part of the retrieval ID, brackets are not needed (see example for Audio Recording).

examples are on the website:
http://www.library.cornell.edu/newhelp/ ... g/apa.html

[Jon]

Danny, I see that I inadvertently "edited" your last post when I meant to "reply" to it. I'm sorry about that. I can only plead that it was getting late... Of course without your post, mine makes no particular sense. For anyone following this thread, I'll just summarize by saying that Danny thinks that Amazon DVD searches fall within Bookends' scope and would like to see them supported.

Jon
Sonny Software

[danzac]

Jon, no problem. I figured that's what happened. And it just so happens that Quicksilver gives me a big clipboard and my comments are still on there. so i've repasted them below

Danny, you've never heard of a suggestion you didn't support.

If it's a good idea, why not That's partly what a forum is for, and all the good suggestions are testament to your top-notch users. We suggest and then leave it to you to decide what's best.

There is nothing stopping anyone from entering DVD information in Bookends if they want to (or an inventory of their stamp collection).

Well, I don't think films are quite the same as stamps. There are academic journals devoted to film studies, not sure if there is one on stamps I can't really speak for those who requested this, but I don't think they are wanting Bookends to be Delicious Library, cataloguing their DVD collection. It is for use in their academic writing. Of course there is nothing stopping them from using BE this way, they already are. Is there harm in asking you to make it easier for them to add citation info?

But I see no need to add the overhead of yet another search feature that would be used by a precious few and would be tangential, at best, for the purpose for which Bookends is intended.

Perhaps I am off base here, but this is where I disagree. How is it tangential to the purpose of Bookends? Bookends is a "reference management and bibliography generation software. Bookends is a database application that allows fast and easy retrieval of reference
information" (p.10 of the user guide). I guess it can be considered tangential in the sense that the existing LOC and Amazon searches are tangential to the actual reference and information management as well.

Just as with notetaking, there are other apps out there whose sole purpose is to perform the task, and because they are designed exactly for that task they will do it better than Bookends ever would.

I don't disagree with you here Jon. But I've used Delicious Library and DVDpedia, these apps sole purpose is cataloguing and providing a nice interface- not information and citation management. Booxter is the closest thing to this only insofar as it can export.

The solution is not to cram it into Bookends, but to facilitate information exchange. To that end, Luhmann (and anyone else who would like this) should be asking the author of their favorite DVD collecting app to allow information export in a common format (like BibTeX).

Agreed. And I'd go a notch further and say that those who want this should be requesting online export systems from IMDB and Amazon, etc. But I'm not sure that creating a search for the internet search feature/Reference Miner qualifies as cramming.

[Luhmann]

I have to admit a little confusion. I don't see this as adding a new feature (in the sense of bloated Microsoft software) but simply creating additional import filters for the existing internet search feature. Is Amazon's DVD data really that different from its Book data?

Perhaps it would make more sense to open up the internet search architecture so that people can make plug-ins in the same way that they can do for citation import and/or bibliographic formats?

[Jon]

Yes, DVD searches are different. We already allow users to configure search options when there is a standard, like z39.50. But Amazon is sui generis (I prefer idiopathic) so it would make no sense in this case.

Jon
Sonny Software

[noumenal]

Just to add my 2p to this thread. I write on film and (speaking personally) there is no way I would rely on the information from Amazon to maintain my reference database.

But maybe that's just me!