A book (with an ISBN listing) must be known to the PBS database in order to be added to a Wish List.
You can try to add the ISBN to the system - this is as easy as searching for the ISBN (putting the ISBN into the space at the top of any page on the site and clicking Search).
- This will sometimes add the listing to the database, and you will be able to Wish List the book from the added listing.
- You can find the ISBN for the book by searching for the book on another (non-PBS) internet archive.
We (The PBS Team) can't add the item to the database manually - if you can't add it by using the method above, the item can't be added yet.
- Our database is regularly updated.
- if your book is not in the database, it could be added at any time by a routine update.
- You can used "Saved Searches" to check on this easily--save the search for this item and run the search every now and then to see if it comes up in the search results.
- You should be sure that your Search terms are accurate
- You may not be finding the book if you are spelling the author name or title wrong
- If a book was published without an ISBN
- it will not be possible to put that version of the book onto your Wish List, since the Wish List functions by ISBN
- if a non-ISBN version of the book has been Posted into the database in the past, it can be added to your Wish List, but this means that ONLY that specific copy of the book will trigger a Wish List offer
- The "PBS ISBN" (the short, usually 5-digit number attached to a non-ISBN listing to keep track of the book in the PBS database) applies to only that particular copy of the book; only if that particular copy is reposted into the system by a previous receiver of that particular copy will you be alerted to its availability.
Related Links
How to Use Saved Searches
What is the Wish List?
How the Wish List Works
Printing Troubleshooting Tips