Hackito Ergo Sum - Latest Comments in The Library Problem

Re: The Library Problem

Zack Grossbart — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 16:52:16 -0000

Thanks for reading. In some ways this project never ends. We're always adding and removing books. Adding all of the books we had at that time to the system took us about a month of on and off work.

Re: The Library Problem

Tavian Hunter — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 16:46:50 -0000

The was a great read. Can I ask how long this whole project took to complete?

Re: The Library Problem

D. A. Hosek — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 09:48:45 -0000

With 3000 books, you just sleep closer to the ceiling. You can use some of the books to make a staircase so you can get in and out of the bed.

Re: The Library Problem

Burt Smith — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 21:50:49 -0000

Heheh

Also note that for the $4,750 price of the uber-shelves, he could replace the particle board ones over 150 times each and still be ahead. So I don't find the tradeoff unreasonable :)

Re: The Library Problem

Burt Smith — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 11:16:13 -0000

Finally last year I decided to start using software to catalog my books after I got tired of laboriously typing entries into a giant text file, and I settled on Readerware as well.

I don't net anywhere near the speed you do, largely because I tend to enter extra information beyond what Readerware picks up.

I've catalogued about 2,500 books (and games, I catalog my games also), but still have almost 10,000 books in the giant text file and I don't know how many books and comics yet to be cataloged.

Readerware has indeed been a huge timesaver. Unfortunately, I recently inherited my grandfather's collection of books, the vast majority of which are older than even the Library of Congress number, so they take significant time to catalog. It will be well worth it in the long run when I can narrow my search to books from his library.

Bookcases remain an issue, however - the majority of my books and stuff are still in banker's boxes on pallets in the basement :(

Someday ...

Re: The Library Problem

DILIP KUMAR — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 07:31:03 -0000

It's nice to know there are still people who like to arrange things! I use the Dewey system,, and sometimes compromise purity to keeping books together where I want them...http://doingthedewey.blogspot.com/...
I use slotted angle steel shelves as well as the cheapest partcicle board... not good for the rain forests!

Re: The Library Problem

Paul Bellehumeur — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 23:48:10 -0000

Call me a cyber-syllogomaniac if you want, but I easily fit more than 500,000 books under my bed as eBooks on a 3-Terabyte USB disk drive (with a backup in the basement synced with FreeFileSync).

After chopping off their bindings with a professional paper cutter, I scanned my paper books years ago with Adobe Reader pro and a Fujitsu fi-4530C duplex color high speed sheet feeding scanner. Meanwhile, bittorrents helped to dramatically augment my personal eBook collection.

Calibre is one nice program that reads most ebook formats for cataloging purposes. On android tablets, Mantano can display most of them. Look for a brief list of indexing software here: http://www.asindexing.org/r.... Keep in mind that a complete index of 3 TB worth of eBooks can take another 1.5 to 2 TB.

The future trend is semantic webs. Google it and UIMA which IBM is aiming at solving complex medical problems after using it to beat the top 2 Jeopardy contestants.

Hope this helps you on your way to figuring how to locally fit the library of congress in your room and find the books (and info) you need in an eyeblink...

Re: The Library Problem

Bruno de Coninck — Wed, 29 May 2013 11:40:47 -0000

Hi there! I have to do something similar at work and I have a problem : some books don't have the Library of congress number printed in it. How can I create the cutter number to classify those documents? o.O

Re: The Library Problem

David Cantrell — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:55:28 -0000

Re foreign language books, I find that Readerware works just fine - I have books in Japanese, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Faroese, Welsh, Anglo-Saxon and Latin in my database as well as English. It even copes with multi-lingual books (such as a tri-lingual copy of Aelfric's Colloquy I have). Sure, there may be no Library of Congress code for these books, but Readerware doesn't care, it can still catalogue them by looking up the ISBN or (in a coupla of cases) by me manually inputting data.

Re: The Library Problem

Aero_pyro — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 10:27:47 -0000

Surely you didn't read this article "carefully". So tell me, how will you ever store 3,000 books under your bed, assuming that the other 500 books are the ones that you like and are also stored somewhere-out-there-inside-your-house. Elizabeth, this article was made for the purpose of helping people with loads of books. And by loads I don't mean 10 or 20 or 40 books. The author is obviously talking about people with a hundred or more books (though this article have already helped me even if I only have around 30 books). Having a software to track the whereabouts of your books and store information about the books AND A SYSTEM to store/classify your books would be a great help, specially if you are a researcher or just someone who would like to reread the books that you have already read. Rummaging around boxes and boxes and boxes of books just searching for that one tiny book will surely be really a pain in the ass.

My father owns a lot of books and I'm planning of classifying them using LCC. Then buy Readerware to have a software to KEEP TRACK of the books, to know what BOOKS WE ALREADY HAVE, what BOOKS TO LOOK FOR in case I needed a specific one to help me in my research, and to know what SPECIFIC PLACE (or shelf) TO LOOK FOR. This way, time wouldn't be wasted searching ALL the books that you have just to look for a book authored by Ms. Rowling or someone by the name Ewin. Hope this will help you understand what this article is all about. :)

Re: The Library Problem

Martyknox — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 03:10:57 -0000

Sorry re-read your question RE: HD 51 before HD 4000. I had the same trouble when I started using Excel, or even making up file names. You have to type HD 51 as HD 0051 with leading zeros as placeholders (what a wonderful invention the zero is!!)
So that way HD 0051 is ahead of HD 4000.
I give programs a speaker and had the same problem because program 7 for example came after program 40 in my files on my computer so I always got into the habit of putting in leading zeros as placeholders.

Re: The Library Problem

Martyknox — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 02:44:01 -0000

You want to use the HD 51 as a text name not a number. You have the same problem with parts numbers , social security numbers, addresses, etc. If it is not an actual number you are going to add subtract, multiply or divide treat it as a label or alpha-numeric text. In Excel select FORMAT-CELL-NUMBER then choose GENERAL or TEXT. You call still use SORT to arrange any column you see fit. I use this feature all the timre for addresses, phone numbers,parts numbers, etc.

Re: The Library Problem

Zack Grossbart — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:38:07 -0000

The particle board has held up pretty well over the years. There's been some slight sagging, but nothing to worry about.

I'm glad you got the CueCat to work. I'll have to give mine another try one day.

Thanks,
Zack

Re: The Library Problem

Home Owner — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:12:40 -0000

Zack, how are the HD bookshelves that "rescued" you from the need to buy a $4,750.00 solid cherry bookcase back in 2006 holding up now? The particle board usually performs terribly under constant heavy loads like books and tends to sag over time. Sometimes lamination helps but not always. It's 5+ years later now, so you now have a great test subject, so to speak. Do you see any sagging or warping?

I'm running out of space in my solid cherry bookcases (yeah, I had to rub it in :) and the local factory that built them is out of business, so I'm looking for options for additional bookcases.

By the way, most of the $4,750 price was probably due to excessive decorations, fancy mill work and moulding, most of which does little other than waste space and looking pompous and unnecessary in a 21st century library. The cherry wood grain, in my opinion, is decorative enough by itself and, with just a little bit of moulding looks great against the books, especially older and leather bound volumes. It's still an expensive option (hence my question above) but it can be done at 1/3rd of the price and still look great.

Oh, and on an unrelated note: I wanted to defend the little CueCat. It does work! In fact, barcoded book ISBNs is the best barcode it ever reads. Yours was probably not modified (de-clawed as they call it) to remove the scrambling which is enabled by default in off-shelf units. Anyhow, it's all very old news now and CueCat does look rather silly in a library, so I've also replaced mine with a laser scanner.

Cheers!

Re: The Library Problem

Gerson Arruda — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:10:24 -0000

Good. Very webned this problem. How libraries catalogs their books wharehouse. How they organize and find the books asked by costumers?

Re: The Library Problem

Shadowstormcrow — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:20:42 -0000

Thank you for your article; this was the first place I was able to truly understand cutter numbers in LOC. My own library is still growing (just under 2000 books) but I use Readerware (all hail!) and CueCat (I did have some troubles at first, but there is a patch available if your computer just refuses to plug and play). I didn't know that Readerware could look up LOC numbers. I am not very good with programming languages, so I still haven't been able to make it work for me. For others in the same boat, I have found www.worldcat.org to be useful in finding LOC numbers (most, but not all universities, surprisingly, as well as some colleges catalogue with LOC) as well as Dewey. Just be aware, not all libraries put books in the same subclass: this can be especially true about fiction. I have had to adjust numbers to put subjects together that are logical to my circumstances (i.e. Mosaic instruction books were found under NA (Fine Arts, Architecture) and TT (Technology, Handicrafts).

Thanks again for your article.

PS for those still having trouble with CueCat, there are many open software options. I use CatNip. Not surprisingly, my cats are jealous.

Re: The Library Problem

Bitsy Griffin — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 16:25:30 -0000

I've shared this article with several people who may not have as many books as you, but . . . . I'm an MLS student and ran across it looking for references for a paper. Nice job.

Re: The Library Problem

Joan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:40:57 -0000

Thanks for the reassurance that I'm not alone on the planet! I'm librarian for a small Eastern Orthodox church in rural northern Indiana. I inherited the library when it was just a small bookcase with about 30 books on it. I detest Dewey Decimal - haven't had to use it since junior high school - so we now have what may be the only church library that is on LCC. It's grown to around 500 volumes with a goal to double in size by the end of the year. We have title, author, and subject catalogues done the old-fashioned way - too many people in the church aren't computer-literate. I've created posters and a handbook to introduce people to the LCC system. Most people didn't know there was anything but Dewey Decimal, but the response has been very positive. Thanks for putting this out here!

Re: The Library Problem

barticus — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:57:07 -0000

Anybody with "bart" in their name & an organized home library has got MY attn!
So many great considerations in this blog will take a while to digest. And to think I was two weeks INTO "developing" my own custrom cataloguing "system"; i.e. re-inventing the WHEEL? Or an "INDEX"? No WONDER I was feeling "crushed". So, finally I tried the "WEB" & Voila! Guess my age & habits of a physical~book nut lifetime kept me "out of the loop" until NOW! THANKS for the BLOG "ZG"!
Big Bart Las Vegas

Re: The Library Problem

Rich — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:50:13 -0000

My suggestion is a way to satisfy the need to have some kind of exterior labelling without damaging the book or creating a lot of work. Consider printing out some kind of single-sheet version of the record from your software with the LC call number showing at the top; the sheet can be folded and tucked into the book with the top and number exposed. If you're finicky about looks, trim the sheet so that it sticks up like some kind of rare book collection flag. Choose a fancy font and parchment paper or letterhead to give it a customized feel, like those old paste-in bookplates which we all love but can't bear to use. Using library-style spine labels hurts book resale value like wallpaper hurts house resale value...

Re: The Library Problem

Brf — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:57:17 -0000

I wish I would've found this link before I purchased Finderware a few years ago. You are spot on with Finderware being more aimed at smaller libraries. there are so many little quirks with that program and I've emailed support multiple times pleading for an update to address the issues I've identified. They politely respond back thanking me for my input and "great ideas" but they never update the software.

In the end I bit the bullet and purchased Readerware. The program is awesome. it is totally configurable with custom columns and so many ways the user can customize the views it's amazing. The program will adapt to any library requirements you may have, so if you're considering getting a library program to manage your book collection Readerware is simply the best. Don't waste your time and money anywhere else.

Re: The Library Problem

Emily Odza — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:12:25 -0000

In terms of making inkjet-printed labels water and smudge proof, I found Golden Archival Spray at an art store.... that was designed to protect inkjet (photo) prints. I sprayed all the label sheets and did a test -- water still smudges. This might mean at least two more spray coats. And the saga continues....

Re: The Library Problem

Emily Odza — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:50:33 -0000

Thanks to Gem (11/21/2008) for the Cutter calculator website, and the OCLC site that tells the popularity of a classification number for a particular title.

And Zack - utilizing "gap and slack" is going to be a lifesaver. Otherwise, the organization will be for naught, as the collection grows. The project has already inspired some purging, and the multiple copies turned up by this project are also an eye-opener!

I am sorry to say, in reference to a comment above, that I inkjet-printed 45 pages of labels and wish I had laser printed them, to save the effort of covering with clear tape afterwards. It's not too late, but a laser printer needs to be located. I am also going to take to heart Brad Knowles' advice (12/12/07). On the other hand, the clear tape protection can be applied at any time (before the next flood!).
I am definitely recommending earthquake protection for these shelves!

It's not just kids that create havoc; the Siamese routinely inserts chaos into the lower shelves of paperback fiction: I am recommending that these be boxed in clear plastic archival quality boxes.

Re: The Library Problem

Zack Grossbart — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:26:25 -0000

Wow Emily! Thank you so much for sharing the details of your project.

I'm afraid I don't know enough about Excel to help you with your first question, but I know a lot about reshelving books. The best solution I have found is to use slack and a gap. Slack means knowing the books you have well enough to get a good idea where you should leaves some space on the shelves. The gap mean using a mostly empty bookshelf in the middle. As you sort the books the empty shelf gives you more space for shuffling things around.

I hope this helps and good luck with your project.

Re: The Library Problem

Emily Odza — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:54:28 -0000

Just to add to my comment/description above, the rate of books catalogued per hour was also slowed down by the fact that Library of Congress often did not have the items (pamphlets, self-published books, etc.) in this very special library, at least not by the title of the edition that I had in front of me. Many of them however could be found in libraries that specialized in or were local to the issues being written about. WorldCat was one way of quickly locating the item in a library. Then I "copy catalogued" what call number that librarian had assigned to the item. Often times, two libraries (for instances, both in the UC System but at different universities) would catalog the item differently. Here it wasn't too useful to split hairs, as the main purpose of the catalog was to group like items with like items, and to be able to find the damn book!

Another interesting fact is that often times the professor I was working for would have gathered some interesting fiction that related to or illustrated a particular subject or era in history and shelved it (in his informal system) with the nonfiction. But in our new system, the fiction will be shelved far from its nonfiction cousins. However, Readerware stores keywords and subject headings, so I hope that the works of fiction can eventually be found again by consulting the catalog.