(no subject)

[kippurbird]

Dear self.

Cataloging your books is kinda creepy. Especially when you're using the Library of Congress website to do so. Are you sure you're not heading to a manic stage?

Love

Kips.

Comments

[evil_plotbunny]

I own a barcode scanner (one of those free ones Radio Shack gave away about 5ish years ago). I use Readerware to catalog my books. It will look up books via ISBN or LOC, or you can drag and drop from a variety of websites. I then export it as a CSV file so that I can use it with a database reader on my Treo. 6000+ books.

I think I have you beat for obsessive here. ;)

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Um... I want that.

And yes, I bow to you.

[evil_plotbunny]

Of course if I were truly obsessive, I wouldn't have let my books get as out of order as they have (I need to do a major reorganization at some point).

They're giving away the scanners free with purchase. It's not the best barcode reader ever, but it does the job.

I've been running it for at least six years, and while I suppose I'll have to pay for version 3, all of the upgrades between versions have been free. The program runs on java, so it will run on just about any computer platform. I use the VW version to keep track of my DVDs and the AV version for CDs (though I haven't bought any new ones in forever).

Enough with my product placement...as you can see, I've found it more than worth the money in convenience. ;)

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

*laughs* And it reads the barcodes from the book itself, so you don't have to barcode them?

[evil_plotbunny]

It converts the UPC code on the back cover or inside the front cover to an ISBN and uses that to look up the book on a variety of websites and fills in most of the information from that. :)

[dryaunda.livejournal.com]

You're having fun cataloging books by LoC taxonomy, your co-workers would envy you.

[dryaunda.livejournal.com]

Speaking of which, I found an article about cataloging (via Library Link of the Day) which I summarized in my new webjournal. (Are you on InsaneJournal too?)

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Either that or suggest I need to take a vacation. =D

Don't I know it...

[the-norseman.livejournal.com]

Look on the bright side: At least you have room to order your books!

I've filled up all of the bookshelves a long time ago, so I'm organising things according to the volcano principle: I try to remember which stack of books, rising precariously from the floor, has the one I'm looking for.

I probably should stop buying new ones untill I read all the ones I've bought, but it's so hard.

Re: Don't I know it...

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

Naaaaah... Always buy new books! Books are good, you can never have too many books.

I imagine after a few years my bookshelf will look like that, but as I've only been in my place for a few months, I've actually have some sanity.

[kd7sov]

Creepy? Creepy how? My dad catalogs his books (admittedly, not using Dewey or LOC or anything), and he isn't creepy. He just likes to know what he has and where it is.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

I dunno... It's just... I suppose... taking my job a little too far? I mean I catalog books for a living, and now in my spare time I'm doing it for fun.

(Oh, and I absolutely ADORE your icon.)

[kd7sov]

I dunno, I think once you get more than about thirty books you need some way of keeping them all straight so you know which ones you have.

(True, isn't it?)