12 replies to this topic

[Nathan Parker]

In addition to Bible Software, I still have a small collection of printed books in my library I'd like to keep track of. I was using an excellent free application called Books, and I've been cataloging them using the LOC system. The problem is, Books never successfully made it over to Snow Leopard, and I've been running it on my Leopard-based PowerBook. Now that my mother's using my PowerBook for her primary machine, I'd rather find a new way to catalog books on my Mac. I have all the author/title/LOC numbers handy, so all I need is an app to load the info in and an afternoon to do it.

I've been looking at Bento (a database solution) to do this. Has anyone else used Bento to catalog their print library? If so, how well did it do? Should I go with this or is there another, better solution for the Mac out there I could use?

Thanks for all the help!

[DanG]

I've used several and think Delicious Library is the best.

[Nathan Parker]

I've used several and think Delicious Library is the best.

That does look like an amazing app! It's in the Mac App Store as well, so quick and easy to download. Is there any iOS integration with it? Not something I'd have to have, just curious. I'll probably give it a try!

Thanks!

[mikes]

That does look like an amazing app! It's in the Mac App Store as well, so quick and easy to download. Is there any iOS integration with it? Not something I'd have to have, just curious. I'll probably give it a try!

Thanks!

You can generate a web page that you can view in iOS Safari. Do not know about specific app though.

[DanG]

That does look like an amazing app! It's in the Mac App Store as well, so quick and easy to download. Is there any iOS integration with it? Not something I'd have to have, just curious. I'll probably give it a try!

Thanks!

Used to be an App for iOS, but Amazon made them pull it. (I got a copy before they removed it from the App store) As far as I know, most library apps get their info from Amazon who doesn't want them using their info for an iOS App. I don't know if any library app has a companion app for iOS—just not sure.

[J. T.]

I've been toying around with Delicious Library, especially after making two recent book purchases that were existent in my library. Delicious Library is a great visual representation of what you have on the shelf. For users of BookEnds, you can export your delicious library to your bibliographic tool. The biggest downfall to Delicious LIbrary is its inability to maintain Journal Articles and/or PDFs. I suspect this is do in part because it's not designed to be a bibliographic reference tool.


James Tucker

[R. Mansfield]

Over twenty years ago, I created a database in MS Works for DOS to keep a catalog of my printed books, with info on Dewey Decimal number, author, title and a "status" field (in case I had loaned a book out). That same file was converted to Excel, then MS Access, and after I switched to the Mac in the nineties, to FileMaker. Currently it is in Filemaker 10 format.

It's been very handy for me, but I do like some of the user-friendly aspects of Bento. However, in trying out a demo copy of Bento, I discovered that the software stripped out additional zeros at the beginning of any number. These zeros are essential for a Dewey decimal number as 004 is different from 4.

Filemaker is much more powerful than what I need, but it has worked well nonetheless.

At some point, I'm going to start adding electronic books to the database, including those in Accordance. At one time, this database was crucial for keeping books in order on my bookshelves and allowing me to find one quickly. But as my electronic library now grows faster than my physical library, such a database will be essential for allowing me to see what books I have on a particular subject.

Edited by R. Mansfield, 21 February 2011 - 02:04 PM.

[JohnK]

Please share your methodology in adding the electronic books to your data base.

[ryangeer]

I'm not familiar with Delicious - but I use a program called Bookpedia I've been pretty happy with.

[D.S.Moses Nickerson]

In addition to Bible Software, I still have a small collection of printed books in my library I'd like to keep track of. I was using an excellent free application called Books, and I've been cataloging them using the LOC system. The problem is, Books never successfully made it over to Snow Leopard, and I've been running it on my Leopard-based PowerBook. Now that my mother's using my PowerBook for her primary machine, I'd rather find a new way to catalog books on my Mac. I have all the author/title/LOC numbers handy, so all I need is an app to load the info in and an afternoon to do it.

I've been looking at Bento (a database solution) to do this. Has anyone else used Bento to catalog their print library? If so, how well did it do? Should I go with this or is there another, better solution for the Mac out there I could use?

Thanks for all the help!

I'll through in another plug for Delicious Library; it's also updated fairly regularly with improved scripts etc. and if the last major upgrade was any indication, paid upgrades are generally fair every few years.

[R. Mansfield]

Please share your methodology in adding the electronic books to your data base.

It's nothing really profound. I have a series of basic fields: Dewey Decimal Number, Author, Title, ISBN, Status/Location. The last category is for when I've loaned out books or if, for instance, I keep my books at my office instead of at home (where most of the books are).

I may add a checkbox or radio button to distinguish between print and electronic.


With print books, I've always added the Dewey Decimal code right inside the cover of the print book with a pencil. I can add this as a note at the beginning of most electronic texts with the exception of Accordance titles {ahem].

With print books, having the Dewey Decimal code allowed me to have a shelf order. With a database of mixed print and electronic titles, the Dewey Decimal code will allow me to know what books I have since the Dewey Decimal code is essentially one big topical index.

Oh, and while this is simple enough that it would work in a spreadsheet, I found when running it in Excel that anything over a couple thousand titles moves much faster in an actual database program instead.

[Ken Thompson]

I have been using Booxter for quite sometime and find it to be a great program. I also have a copy of Delicious Library but prefer to use Booxter.

Ken

[Nathan Parker]

Thanks for all the excellent feedback guys! I'll probably try Delicious Library since it's easy to purchase from the Mac App Store, and it seems to have a nice GUI. Nice that I can publish my collection to the web. That'll be handy. Good news is I have my books already numbered and on the shelf in their respected places, so I just need to make the jump from my previous software to Delicious. Should be able to catalog everything in an afternoon. Seems like a great app to move my library cataloging over. Thanks for all the help!