Frequently Asked Questions:
A: amazon.com decided to patent what they call "One-Click" technology, an online shopping concept which allows users to buy items online with minimum hassle. This is a technique most online stores have used to some degree since online shopping was possible. And amazon.com patented it. Patents are harmless until used to sue somebody, an action amazon.com has taken. Companies such as Apple have been forced to license "One-Click" for their own websites, for fear that debt-ridden amazon.com might attempt to make this year profitable through settlements or claims. Boycott amazon.com. Nobody likes them anyway.
See the GNU explanation for more history and depth.
A: You can find the ISBN on the back cover, above the bar code. It's also on the inside cover, under the Library of Congress information. The ISBN is limited to ten characters and follows a simple algorithm to determine if the ISBN is valid or not (for geeks: a checksum based on a weighted sum modulus 11). If there is an 'X' in your ISBN, go ahead and type it in; it represents the number '10' in one character where it obviously can't fit as two.
Read more in the ISBN Users' Manual.
A: Discrepancies creep into large records of books. The Library of Congress, barnesandnoble.com, and MIT may have slightly different names for the same author or the same publisher. To eliminate confusion and enhance searching capability, the merge option allows users to suggest possible cases where two instances of one author or publisher exist instead of only one. Random merging by users would be disastrous, so administrators track each case to make sure the suggestion is correct. Keep an eye out for any merging possibilities.
A: See the documentation for the system.
A: No.