[Publib] Amazon fail

[Knieriem, Lesley]

I'm surprised that this hasn't hit the library listservs yet, but
considering the heavy use of Amazon.com by librarians for
quick-and-dirty readers advisory and in print status, it probably should
be brought up.

 

Amazon has been removing "sales rankings" from a number of print titles,
apparently based on publisher-supplied metadata.  Certain subjects (most
notably those related to gay and lesbian literature, but also disabled
sexuality, tantric sexuality, etc.) have been apparently deemed "adult"
and removed from searching.  This means that they are not searchable
from the Amazon.com front page (but are from the "book" page), do not
show up on bestseller lists, recommended lists, "if you like" lists,
etc.  As some have pointed it, it is roughly the equivalent of a
bricks-and-mortar store removing certain titles from the shelves,
wrapping them in brown paper, and keeping them at the customer service
desk for those who know exactly what to ask for. Generally speaking,
this seems to apply ONLY to print titles, and only certain editions -
the Kindle edition and the movie version of Proulx's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
do not have the rankings removed, but the in print paperback and
hardback do.  

 

This is also not applying to graphic sexual titles in general -
collections of Playboy centerfold photography, or Anne Rice's "Sleeping
Beauty" erotica, for example - are not affected.  Non-fiction titles
without sexual content (such as the current best seller UNFRIENDLY FIRE
about the military "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy, or biographies of well
known gays and lesbians such as Ellen DeGeneres) are.  Clicking on the
user-generated tag "amazonfail" calls up about a thousand affected
titles, last I checked, many of them classics, self-help, and children's
titles.

 

It is very confusing as to what exactly happened.  Amazon apparently
responded to some complaints as early as February with a brief statement
that it was a new policy.  After a Twitter and Facebook firestorm
exploded yesterday, they are now claiming that it was a "glitch" that
will be addressed sometime today.  Others are speculating that Amazon
(which has made good money serving all their customers regardless of
tastes and interests, has been the victim of a trolling attack.  As I
type this, I have not received responses to my complaint e-mails and
calls, nor have the removed rankings been replaced.

 

Obviously Amazon.com is a private company, and has the right to restrict
access to their retail offerings in any way they wish.  Librarians,
however, might want to seriously consider their use of their website as
a reference tool, and to seriously consider their patronage as private
citizens.

 

Tons of good links about this can be found by Googling "amazonfail".
Some places to start:

 

www.dearauthor.com <http://www.dearauthor.com/> 

http://jezebel.com/5209088/why-is-amazon-removing-the-sales-rankings-fro
m-gay-lesbian-books

http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11992.html

http://tehdely.livejournal.com/88823.html

http://is.gd/s5Xr

 

 

Lesley Knieriem

Rogers Public Library

Rogers AR

 

 



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