IA import dropped Unicode characters

[cdrini]

Problem

This import: https://openlibrary.org/recentchanges/2025/12/30/edit-book/160483814 dropped unicode characters like é and è. Note the subjects. They appear correct on internet archive though.

Reproducing the bug

1. Locally, import https://openlibrary.org/import/preview?source=ia:worldalmanacbook1991mark

• Expected behavior: subjects correctly include unicode characters in subjects, as they appear on ia
• Actual behavior: unicode characters dropped

Context

• Browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc):
• OS (Windows, Mac, etc):
• Logged in (Y/N):
• Environment (prod, dev, local): prod

Breakdown

Requirements Checklist

• [ ]

Related files

Stakeholders

• @hornc

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[Aayushdev18]

Hi @cdrini
I’d like to work on this issue if it’s available. Happy to investigate the IA import and Unicode handling and propose a fix. Thanks.

[tfmorris]

The MARCXML record uses combining diacritics, which IA preserves, but I think it would be better to normalize things to NFKC form for consistency.

Another error with this import is the edition title, which is correct on Worldcat, IA, Goodreads, and LibraryThing (all linked to this edition), but wrong on OpenLibrary.