[Ads-l] Google Books dating error category =?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=93_?=replacing nine with zero

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Wed Jan 26 16:29:49 UTC 2022


Fred Shapiro wrote:
>
> 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.

Yes, I've also encountered this class of errors.

Here is a subclass of this error type. Google Books sometimes
specifies a page number for a magazine that is larger than any page
number within a volume. The problem occurs (I conjecture) because
Google Books maintains an internal page counter used to assign page
numbers when no page number appears on a page.

Sometimes Google Books is unable to detect the final page of an issue;
hence, it continues to increment its internal counter and uses it to
assign page numbers. The initial pages of the subsequent issue are
assigned page numbers as if they were a continuation of the previous
issue.

Thus, if the previous issue was 200 pages long then the eighth page of
the subsequent issue would be assigned page 208.

Garson

_________________________
> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> 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

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



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