[Sca-cooks] OT-Library software

[Harris Mark.S-rsve60]

Petru asked:
<<<
Branching off a bit here, so sorry about that, but it seems that quite a few
of you are using software to keep track of your personnal libraries.

This seems like a good idea; I was wondering if you had any software
recommendation for Macintosh?
<<<

I definitely recommend the Readerware program. I've mentioned this program here once or twice since I got it around Thanksgiving. I had promised a more comprehensive review but I haven't gotten around to it. That and I'm afraid some folks may consider this too commercial or off topic. However, as I've already broached the subject, I will continue.

This program is available for the PC, Mac OS X, Linux and other systems including the Palm Pilot. Their website is: http://www.readerware.com/

This is a shareware program so you can download it and see if you like it before committing to purchase it. They also have two similar programs for video and audio libraries. I bought these as part of the package deal, but haven't tried to use them yet.

Before I bought the program I asked the company (maybe one individual?) a question or two in a few messages since I couldn't find all the answers in the online info. He was quick and courteous in reply. Even replying over the weekend which I didn't expect. My concerns were mainly on whether I needed the multiple user package to be able to access a single database from my multiple machines. The answer was no, but only one person can access the standard package at one time. Multiple user access, for libraries and stores and such, is available but costs more.

The single package is $40 while the bundle of the three is $70. This is the download price. For $10 more you can get the CD. I bought the bundle of programs on CD because if you buy the bundle they are also giving you a CueCat. The CueCat is a cheap barcode reader which was given out for free for a while by a now defunct company. 

If a book has the proper barcode printed on it, and I've since found that many books do not have this especially older books, you can use the barcode reader to scan the barcode and not have to type anything in. Some barcodes are apparently bookseller numbers and not the ISBN numbers. Unfortunately in that case you will still have to type in the ISBN.

One you enter a series of ISBN or Library of Congress numbers you can have the program search the web for the usual info, author, title, publication date, copyright date, publisher, cost and a few other items. Unlike one other program which I looked at, which only searched Amazon.com, this program has a list of about a dozen places to search including the Library of Congress, Amazon.com, the British Amazon.com and other book sellers.

Unlike other special purpose database products this one is set up so you can alter the data categories and add or change fields. Eventually I may add a field giving how much *I* paid for a book rather than the price it finds on the web or the list price or the date I acquired a volume.

It can produce a number of reports, but I haven't bothered with this yet.

You can also enter data for a book by typing it in. For some of my books I may have to resort to this. Some of my books have neither a Library of Congress number or an ISBN number. A number of SCA publications fall into this category as well as books from the 1960s and before. Some books definitely do have an ISBN number but the program didn't find them on the web. I will eventually go back and do these books again, but expand the number of sites I have the program search from four or five to the entire list of possiblities. When you have the program search from multiple sites you can tell it to merge the info it gets from the different sites. For instance, not all sites have pictures of the book covers so you could get that from one site and the description of a book from another site.

Apparently a lot of paperback fiction type books don't have ISBN numbers. I haven't started to try to catalog by Sci-Fi or fiction stuff yet, so I don't know how true this is.

I usually scan/type in the numbers for about 8 to 15 books and then do something else while the program searches the web. Generally though it can often complete an entry fast than I can write my notation into a book. I've been writing "DB3:" and the date in each book so I know that a book has been catalogued already. This also tells me whether when the program says the book is already in the database whether this is a second copy. And yes, I have found that I had some extra copies of books since I bought them not knowing I already had a copy.

It is possible to download the database on to a Palm Pilot. Then when you go to the bookstore and see a book you want you can check to see whether you already own it. I haven't decided if I wantto do that when shopping the book sellers at Pennsic. Perhaps carrying around a Palm Pilot, even when buying books there is a bit too non-period.

Supposedly you can enter in the ISBN and it will do its search and tell you where the cheapest copies were found, including a number of used book sellers.

I hope this helps. I have no connection to this company except for buying their product.

Stefan
(Whose book count is now 1018, but I'm slowing down as now most shelves of books have been done and it is a matter of finding isolated books and clumps of missed books)