Problem with Amazon

[Zwergi-21]

Hello Friends!

I'm new to Bookends and I tried to get german Books in my library. Before I used Zotero and visited the amazon.de website. So I searched for a book, choose it and I can import the file into my library.

Now when I choose the "Online Search" and I move to Amazon.de, after typing a book title I get the following message:

Your ONM5T5X751 JWT17C4GG2 is not
registered as an Amazon Associate.
Piease register as an associate at https:/f
partnernet.amazon.de/gp/associates{Join/
landing/main.html.

For this reason I have registered as an Associate and logging in my Amazon account, the same message appears. When I typ in "Amazon" in the Search Bookends Browser, logging in in my account and now I can search for books. But when I choose the book and want to import the metadatas the message appears "0 citation found".

For me as a new user, Bookends seems not very easy for the german market. At this moment it seems useless because I don't want to feature with an import filter or such timerobbering things.

Maybe there is help or an useful link to get easy information.

[Jon]

The problem is with Amazon, not Bookends. The Sonny Software associates ID was inactivated and had to be recreated, which successfully restored searches of Amazon US. But the ID os not accepted on Amazon's international stores for some reason. I've been in contact with Amazon and they're working on it. When they resolve the problem you'll be able to search Amazon.de again.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Jon]

Searching Amazon.de should be restored now. Please try.

Jon
Sonny Software

[pharaoh]

Dear Jon,
In order to solve the problem, do we need to update to the latest version of Bookends 12.8.1?

Rob

[Jon]

No, this was independent of Bookends, actually (the fix was via Amazon). But why not update to 12.8.1?

Jon
Sonny Software

[Philologist]

when I choose the "Online Search" and I move to Amazon.de, after typing a book title I get the following message […]

Amazon.de works for me. I once created an Amazon account, but I don't know whether that's actually the reason why it works for me with Bookends. I have never used that account.

For me as a new user, Bookends seems not very easy for the german market.

Depending on your field of study, some download sources are distinctly better than others. When I say better, I mean they contain more details about the items (books, magazines, etc.)

Amazon, as import source of references, is probably *worst* of all the choices you have. Central information, such as names of book translators, infos on when a book first appeared in print or the original title (by translated books) …, all this is missing.

I recommend first spending some time looking for an online source that contains all references you need, as detailed as possible, and then stick to that source.

At this moment it seems useless because I don't want to feature with an import filter or such timerobbering things.

Unfortunately, different online sources often seem to contain different default import field orders, so you may need to tweak the import filter a bit to fit to your favorite bibliographic format. This is nothing Bookends can do about, if I understand the procedure correctly. Please correct me, Jon, if I'm wrong.

For the humanities I have found Germany - GBV (GVK).fltr to be the best online source. It's a Library Network of the German States Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thüringen and the Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage. GBV stands for "Gemeinsamer Bibliotheksverbund Verbundzentrale". Here I've found many English books that I couldn't even find in the Library of Congress.
https://www.gbv.de

[Jon]

The associate ID that matters is the one held by Sonny Software, not the user. As I said, it has been revalidated and Bookends can use the Amazon APIs again.

Yes, every online source is different, and that's why each has its own filter. But it's not the order of the data that matters (the filters don't care where the information is in the reference record, just that it is there), it's the variability of the content.

I agree that Amazon leaves a lot to be desired as a source of book information. We added Google Books earlier this year, but in my experience it's actually inferior. Individual university libraries may suit your needs better, but they vary considerably as well.

Jon
Sonny Software

[Philologist]

The associate ID that matters is the one held by Sonny Software, not the user.

OK, I got it.

Individual university libraries may suit your needs better, but they vary considerably as well.

That's the reason why I recommended GBV (the Library Network of the German States) to the original poster.

The import filter Germany - GBV (GVK).fltr *combines* university AND public libraries.

One of the included libraries is the great Berlin State Library [Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin], also referred to as Stabi. It's a *huge* universal library for scholars. Their Southeast Asian department used to buy *all* valuable books published in Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, etc.) They also have a large Latin American department, which collects books from all over the Spanish speaking world.

More about this library here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_State_Library

The old import filter for Stabi in Bookends is obsolete. It doesn't work anymore. A new import filter can be found here as an attachment.
Those who are interested can remove Germany - Stabi Berlin.fltr from ~Library/Application Support/Bookends/Custom Import Filters and replace it with the new one.

Alternatively, one can
1) duplicate Germany - GBV (GVK).fltr in ~Library/Application Support/Bookends/Custom Import Filters
2) Change the name to Germany - Stabi Berlin.fltr
3) Open Import Filter Manager (from File > Import Filter Manager)
4) Click on the Internet button and enter "stabikat" as Database name.

[Jon]

Thank you for the updated filter, I'll include it in the next update.

Jon
Sonny Software