Home book library

In article
<alpine.OSX.1.00.0802210854220.17240.TakeThisOut@hagrid.ewd.goldmark.org>,
Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody.TakeThisOut@goldmark.org> wrote:

> I suspect that only a small part of the problem I have can be solved by
> software, but I'm hoping that some "system" that I can actually do along
> with software will help.

Seems more like a "system" problem than a software problem. If you were
seriously troubled about getting your books under control, you wouldn't
have waited for apps like Books or Delicious Library. You would have
already had them in, say, a text file as CSV or similar, and doing grep
searches. Or you would have subverted iPhoto or iTunes as a catalogue
(iTunes actually works reasonably well for storing books you have in
PDF).

First step is to ask whether you actually have your books in any order?
If you don't, you probably should think about doing so. My science
fiction is all in author order, although I have hardcovers separated
out. My non-fiction is mostly in Dewey order. There are separate piles
for To Be Read, and To Be Filed. That does help with searches. Every now
and then you need to reorder shelves, etc. On the other hand, since I
moved from a two floor home (containing around 10,000 books) and got rid
of most of my books, I have been less organised.

Data entry comes a lot later. To be honest, a big collection is really
overwhelming. I only broke the back of my data entry when a friend was
unemployed for an extended period, and crashing at my place. I wrote a
little front end to do CSV records, and I paid him to do data entry
(this was on a 1 MHz 6502 based OSI, back mumble mumble years ago).
Find someone who would work cheap, pay them by the book, not by the
hour. Enslaving children can work. Don't expect perfect accuracy. Do
make sure you put the books back on the correct shelves.

Whatever form the data takes, make sure the essentials from it can be
printed in a catalog you can take to sales and/or into Notes on your
iPod or PDA.

--
http://www.ericlindsay.com
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Lewis <gkreme.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'd really much prefer it if I could input a bunch of books and then
> have the software put them in order for me (with various options, author
> order, Dewey, Library of Congress, etc).
>
> Seems the computer should be helping ME get organized, and not my having
> to get organized for the computer. Maybe just me?

Eh? I would have thought that all the library apps could do such
sorting. Some might be more limitted than others in terms of what fields
they can sort on, but surely none of them are going to require you to
enter books in order in the first place; that would be ludicrous and
basically unuseable.

Now they won't sort the physical books for you - just the computer
display. Sorting the physical books requires... um... extra peripherals.
:-)

--
Richard Maine | Good judgement comes from experience;
email: last name at domain . net | experience comes from bad judgement.
domain: summertriangle | -- Mark Twain
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In <NOwebmasterSPAM-1776AD.15431322022008.RemoveThis@freenews.iinet.net.au>, Eric...:

> Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody.RemoveThis@goldmark.org> wrote:
>
>> I suspect that only a small part of the problem I have can be solved by
>> software, but I'm hoping that some "system" that I can actually do along
>> with software will help.
>
> Seems more like a "system" problem than a software problem.

Exactly. I was asking for pointer to advice on a system.

> If you were seriously troubled about getting your books under control,
> you wouldn't have waited for apps like Books or Delicious Library.

You don't know me. I filed my 2004 tax return in 2007. Getting things
done is not my strong point, even when seriously motivated.

> You would have
> already had them in, say, a text file as CSV or similar, and doing grep
> searches. Or you would have subverted iPhoto or iTunes as a catalogue
> (iTunes actually works reasonably well for storing books you have in
> PDF).

I have been using Books for quite some time. But I go in fits and spurts
of actually doing things.

> First step is to ask whether you actually have your books in any order?

It would be a mistake to say that the are entirely random, but it would
they are in no order to speak of either. Every now and then I have a go
at it where I put things in the same category in one place. But even that
effort just barely stays ahead of entropy.

> If you don't, you probably should think about doing so. My science
> fiction is all in author order, although I have hardcovers separated
> out. My non-fiction is mostly in Dewey order. There are separate piles
> for To Be Read, and To Be Filed. That does help with searches. Every now
> and then you need to reorder shelves, etc. On the other hand, since I
> moved from a two floor home (containing around 10,000 books) and got rid
> of most of my books, I have been less organised.

In our previous house we had one big room that worked as our library. And
except for the books in my office, everything was there and I was able to
keep things more organized. In our new house, we really have things
spread out in multiple rooms, which makes things harder. It also makes if
far less likely that something gets put back in the right place after use.

Although we have more shelf space than when we moved, we seem to have
acquired books even faster. So I think I'm also going to have to add more
shelf space somehow.

> Data entry comes a lot later. To be honest, a big collection is really
> overwhelming. I only broke the back of my data entry when a friend was
> unemployed for an extended period, and crashing at my place. [...] I
> paid him to do data entry [...] Enslaving children can work. Don't
> expect perfect accuracy. Do make sure you put the books back on the
> correct shelves.

Your answer is exactly what I feared and secretly knew all along. I have
to first get a "proper place" for each book before I can usefully move
forward with anything.

> Whatever form the data takes, make sure the essentials from it can be
> printed in a catalog you can take to sales and/or into Notes on your
> iPod or PDA.

And this leads to another topic. Does anyone know how I can get something
from my Mac to "Notes" on my iPhone?

Cheers,

-j

--
Jeffrey Goldberg http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
http://improve-usenet.org/
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In <jollyroger-B494E3.19172421022008.TakeThisOut@earthlink.vsrv-sjc.supernews.net>,...:

>> <http://www.delicious-monster.com/>
>
> We use Delicious Library to manage our 800+ DVD collection here at home.
> It does the job well. It's got book support built right in. I suggest
> you give it a trial run.

I will take a look. Thanks.

-j


--
Jeffrey Goldberg http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
http://improve-usenet.org/
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In article
<alpine.OSX.1.00.0802210854220.17240 RemoveThis @hagrid.ewd.goldmark.org>,
Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody RemoveThis @goldmark.org> wrote:

> I suspect that only a small part of the problem I have can be solved by
> software, but I'm hoping that some "system" that I can actually do along
> with software will help.
>
> My home office, has three large full bookcases. I also have books piled
> up on my desk, under my desk and elsewhere around the room. There are
> also book cases in other rooms of the house, some of them overflowing
> (books set two deep on the shelves). My wife's office at home is neater
> (well anything is neater then my office), but most of her work books are
> at her real office. My daughter's bedroom is quickly coming to resemble
> my office. Every room in the house has some place for books (including
> the bathrooms).
>
> We don't know what we already own. There have been times when we've
> bought things twice, not knowing that we already had a copy. And we can't
> find anything.
>
> I've been kind of using Books.app in a careless sort of way.
> Occasionally entering various books. But I've been doing nothing
> systematic.
>
> So does anyone know of a system that actually works for keeping track of
> books and helping us locate them within the house?

My husband made a little Helix collection just for our CDs and DVDs but
he still buys duplicates all the time. If he had an iPhone and could
store the list there, I'm guessing it would happen far less frequently.

Since we have thousands of books in our home "library", I can appreciate
your dilemma. More recently, I've been giving some books away to others
who want to read them. In turn, they read and give them away as well.
Having had a large library for so many years, what has worked best for
me is simply keeping my bookshelves organized by topic. Most of our
books are non-fiction. Whether one uses my method or a software method,
it still requires putting the books back where they can be found again.
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Dave Balderstone <dave.RemoveThis@N_O_T_T_H_I_Sbalderstone.ca> wrote:

> In article
> <alpine.OSX.1.00.0802210854220.17240.RemoveThis@hagrid.ewd.goldmark.org>, Jeffrey
> Goldberg <nobody.RemoveThis@goldmark.org> wrote:
>
> > I suspect that only a small part of the problem I have can be solved by
> > software, but I'm hoping that some "system" that I can actually do along
> > with software will help.
>
> Have you looked at Delicious Library?
>
> <http://www.delicious-monster.com/>
I have the same problem as the OP and downloaded a copy of Delicious
Library.
My problem is that my G5 iMac doesn't have an iSight camera but a
Logitech USB camera that works OK with iChat and Skype. Can it be made
to work with Delicious Library does anyone know?
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In <gkreme-CBF174.12443722022008.DeleteThis@news.giganews.com>, Lewis wrote:

> I mean, I can order the display my title or author or whatever, but I
> can't say "Give me my list of books sorted in Library of COngress order"
> or "Dewey Decimal" or "by genre, and then by Series if there is one,
> then by author."

I haven't tried it, but it looks like Librarian Pro might have that
ability, at least for LOC ordering. At least they have a sample print on
their website which prints labels with LOC numbers. I'm extrapolating
from that.

-j

--
Jeffrey Goldberg http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
http://improve-usenet.org/
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Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody DeleteThis @goldmark.org> wrote:

> In <gkreme-CBF174.12443722022008 DeleteThis @news.giganews.com>, Lewis wrote:
>
> > I mean, I can order the display my title or author or whatever, but I
> > can't say "Give me my list of books sorted in Library of COngress order"
> > or "Dewey Decimal" or "by genre, and then by Series if there is one,
> > then by author."
>
> I haven't tried it, but it looks like Librarian Pro might have that
> ability, at least for LOC ordering. At least they have a sample print on
> their website which prints labels with LOC numbers. I'm extrapolating
> from that.

Book collector (collectorz.com) has about a bazillion fields that you
can choose to sort on. Well, ok actually counting them it looks like
only 93 or so (I was sort of sloppy in counting and could be off by a
few). Looks off-hand like pretty much every field they have, some of
which it is hard to imagine actually wanting to sort on - but they are
all there.

The list definitely includes all the above-mentioned fields, in addition
to the 4 user-defined fields, which you could use for pretty much
anything.

I'm a little surprised that any commercial book cataloging app doesn't
have that kind of flexibility. It seems sort of basic. In any case, I
just checked to make sure that I hadn't just incorrectly assumed the
capability was there in book collector. It is. That wasn't what pushed
me to book collector (handling contents was), but I'm glad to se ethat
it is there.

--
Richard Maine | Good judgement comes from experience;
email: last name at domain . net | experience comes from bad judgement.
domain: summertriangle | -- Mark Twain
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