Methodology: How lolalist identifies each book.

2026-05-27

When you upload a book list, lolalist extracts the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) and uses it to identify exactly each book on a school list and show only exact matches. In general, all school lists include the title, the publisher, and the ISBN code (the same one that can be read in the book's barcode) in order to avoid confusion: that code identifies the exact edition expected by the teacher. The ISBN code corresponds to a specific edition of a book: same content, same publisher, same format, and same language.

Searching for a book only by title can lead to mistakes: old editions, adapted versions, or different formats. Two books with the same title can have different ISBNs if they belong to different editions. School lists require specific editions in the case of textbooks.

That is why price comparison is only valid if it is done on the exact same product. Therefore, we will get exactly the same books in the store proposed by the school or in any other store we choose.

If an ISBN contains an error, cannot be found, or is not present, lolalist states this explicitly instead of showing incorrect results. In the case of reading books, different editions are usually equivalent (if the language matches and they are not adaptations), but that is not true for textbooks.

To make reading easier, we will often find the ISBN code separated by hyphens. However, those hyphens are optional: the code is the same with or without them.

lolalist's goal is simple: for you to buy exactly the book requested, at the best available price.

If you want to know more about how lolalist finds exactly each book on the list, I suggest reading: A guide to buying school books without mistakes