[Ads-l] Google Books dating error category =?Windows-1252?Q?=96_?=replacing nine with zero

[Shapiro, Fred]

Another problem with Google Books is that its page numbers seem to be arrived at through a mechanical counting process that does not necessarily correspond to the actual page numbers in the source.

Fred Shapiro


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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:28 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Google Books dating error category – replacing nine with zero

In a previous message Fred Shapiro mentioned the following class of
dating errors: An issue of a serial is assigned the beginning date of
the serial rather than the date of the specific issue.

Here is another type of error I occasionally encounter: The digit nine
in a year is replaced by a zero. Thus, 1893 becomes 1803. I conjecture
that when a book is being scanned it is also inspected, and the
metadata observed is entered into a database which is used to
construct the GB database.

Here is an example of an 1893 book mislabeled with 1803.
(This error was present on January 26, 2022)

Year: 1893 Copyright (1803 incorrect year specified by Google Books)
Title: The Writings of Henry David Thoreau,
Volume 9
Section Title: Excursions
Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
Original from: the University of California
Digitized: Feb 9, 2007

https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DdGsdAAAAIAAJ%26&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C718d0f44026d492e8a0208d9e0e09927%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637788077798394390%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=J7AxB3DT9VNpZWyxzF%2B2I7bMuaZudaotb%2FBz0oFSsCI%3D&reserved=0

Garson

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The American Dialect Society - https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C718d0f44026d492e8a0208d9e0e09927%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637788077798394390%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=q4hR16UXm3%2BNXhnw%2F9u9c%2BGlpbwcMKYRIU%2FJlOBnvjk%3D&reserved=0

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2022 10:28 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Google Books dating error category – replacing nine with zero

In a previous message Fred Shapiro mentioned the following class of
dating errors: An issue of a serial is assigned the beginning date of
the serial rather than the date of the specific issue.

Here is another type of error I occasionally encounter: The digit nine
in a year is replaced by a zero. Thus, 1893 becomes 1803. I conjecture
that when a book is being scanned it is also inspected, and the
metadata observed is entered into a database which is used to
construct the GB database.

Here is an example of an 1893 book mislabeled with 1803.
(This error was present on January 26, 2022)

Year: 1893 Copyright (1803 incorrect year specified by Google Books)
Title: The Writings of Henry David Thoreau,
Volume 9
Section Title: Excursions
Author: Henry David Thoreau
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
Original from: the University of California
Digitized: Feb 9, 2007

https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DdGsdAAAAIAAJ%26&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C718d0f44026d492e8a0208d9e0e09927%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637788077798394390%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=J7AxB3DT9VNpZWyxzF%2B2I7bMuaZudaotb%2FBz0oFSsCI%3D&reserved=0

Garson

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The American Dialect Society - https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.americandialect.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C718d0f44026d492e8a0208d9e0e09927%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637788077798394390%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=q4hR16UXm3%2BNXhnw%2F9u9c%2BGlpbwcMKYRIU%2FJlOBnvjk%3D&reserved=0

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org