At 04:35 PM 8/31/02 +0200, Axel wrote:
As time goes
on, and more and more books are printed with their LC
numbers, that code would end up coming out as even better.
Isn't it true that every book in the Library of Congress, i.e. pretty
much every book in the English language, has an LC number, even if it
isn't printed inside the book? If so, then LC numbers are close to
ideal book identifiers.
However, an ISBN -> {all equivalent ISBNs} converter would also be
really nice. Personally, I think there's nothing wrong with the
traditional method of identifying a book by title and author though.
Spelling differences can always be solved by appeal to authority: use
the spelling of the Library of Congress.
Not sure anyone has worked on that type of converter, never seen it anyway.
Could be useful or even profitable.
Use of Library of Congress numbers is complicated by several things: one is
the use by many libraries of the Dewey Decimal System; the other is the
ease of use of the ISBN number and its entrenched position on the internet.
BTW check out [[how to find a book]] and see how it is and how it could be
improved. Needs more work on how to find a book in your local library.
Fred