It would be helpful to be able to add more than one cover (or back cover) image for a book.
I can think of a few use cases for including multiple cover images:
- For hardcover books, showing both the dust-cover/jacket/wrapper image and the case (book cover underneath a dust jacket) image.
- For a hardcover book (usually a commemorative edition) that also includes an outer slip case, in addition to the dust jacket and case.
- For a user’s copy of a book for which the cover is damaged (or in the case of a hardbound book, missing the dust jacket), including both the general database cover image and a local personal-copy image can show the condition of the user’s personal copy, while still showing the book as it appears in the database.
- For books of which the user has multiple copies, showing the cover image for both copies (assume that the copies are identical, except for the wear-and-tear on the book covers). A user could instead create separate entries for the two books, but then would need to distinguish the two, textually, for sorting and reference.
- For older books, often there is no dust jacket, and the book’s case has no distinguishing text (perhaps only a stylized image or design), whereas the relevant info appears on the title page (or more rarely, the indicia page or final text page). Showing the case image alongside the title-page image would help clarify the specific volume referenced in the user’s bibliographic entry.
- For books the include extra or interesting information on the spine, in addition to the front or back cover.
The multiple images would likely be local to a specific user’s book entry, and not necessarily uploaded to the general book database.
This topic is similar to Feature Request: Multiple Cover Images (for CLZ Games Web).