It's a terrible reason to hold on to a book...

[jducoeur]

... but when I appear to have the only copy in all of LibraryThing, I don't think I can bring myself to sell it.

(There's been a lot of that this month. Two of the CDs I ripped to my iPod last week didn't exist in all of Gracenote. And they weren't even vanity discs from friends...)

Comments

[unicornpearlz.livejournal.com]

Its ok. Most of my books aren't even listen in library thing. And that's ok. I dint want to share my knowledge anyway, unless its on my terms

[dlevey.livejournal.com]

I've got a number of CDs that don't exist in many databases - also not vanity disks (mine or others).

[jducoeur]

I've got a modest number, but they're mostly fannish home-produced things. Other than that, I usually expect Gracenote to be pretty complete. (Although, granted, the crowdsourcing has weakened over the years, as the tools for contributing have become more obscure.)

In this case, one was a folk disc that is regional but professionally produced, so it was slightly surprising. The other was actually purchased at some major store like Tower many years ago, and is from a Significant Rock Band (not big-name, but not a local indie group), so I was considerably more surprised.

And now that I think of it, I find that my *most* unique item is no longer so unique. Last I checked, I had the only copy of "Fly, Hippopotamus, Fly" on all of Google, but it is apparently now available on CD from CDBaby. Which is a definite relief -- there was an odd sense of responsibility that my ancient and scratched LP might be the only one remaining -- but does imply that I may have to buy many copies for various children...

[aneirin-awenyd.livejournal.com]

I'm often asked by Gracenote if the info can be added to their database.

I know a lot of folk musicians.

Many are nationally known, but still not in Gracenote.

Maybe the folk community is more likely to play from disc than mp3?

[laurion]

I have dozens of discs that didn't exist in Gracenote. Probably over 50. But I have a lot of discs by small college groups with limited publishing and distribution, so that isn't a surprise.

So, what book is it, so we can find someone else with it to join LibraryThing, thus freeing you of the burden?

[jducoeur]

Heh. In this case it's obscure enough that it's not terribly surprising: it's the TeleJokeBook, volume III -- the annual collection of rec.humor.funny that Brad Templeton used to publish, back in the mists of time.

Although, now that I do a little more exploration, I am realizing that there is actually a second copy: it turns out that msmemory had named our copy the "TeleJoke Book", and the other copy uses the more correct "TeleJokeBook", so LibraryThing hadn't linked them. And in digging around, it does appear that the remaining copies of the book are still for sale. So I suppose there is less onus on me to keep it.

I confess, the only reason I *had* been keeping it was that I had vaguely remembered that my "Compleat Poster" gag was in it. But having actually reviewed it for the first time in fifteen years, I'm not noticing it in there.

(OTOH, the joke itself is oddly funnier to me now, remembering that I wrote it when I'd been on the 'net for *three whole years*, which seemed like eternity back then. Moreover, it's ruefully amusing how relevant it is to the current FB discussion about Carolingia's excess of communication channels. We really never learn...)