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View Full Version : iTunes for eBooks??


jodrell
01-01-2009, 11:46 AM
Well the title says what I'm looking for really, some way to organise my eBooks on my Mac that is more advanced than just a folder full of files . . . it'd be nice if you could do things like sort by Author or Genre too (this would be especially handy where there are multiple books in a single file) and if it would show which ones have been read etc . . . basically like iTunes.

What does everyone else use?

zelda_pinwheel
01-01-2009, 11:54 AM
you might take a look at calibre, which is a very good library management program which also supports format conversion. it's developped by kovid goyal who is a member here so the support is also excellent, and it's available for macs. take a look in the dedicated calibre forum (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=166) to get started.

HarryT
01-01-2009, 12:03 PM
Can it be used with the CyBook, Zelda? I was under the impression that it was a "Sony Only" thing. However, I've never tried using it, so I could be completely wrong!

zelda_pinwheel
01-01-2009, 12:17 PM
well, i had the impression that one reason kovid changed the name from libprs (or whatever it used to be) was that he intended to support more than just the sony devices. currently, it can manage ebooks in any format. it is an excellent file management system since it manages "logical books" which means each book has one entry in the database and you can then add as many different formats (individual files) to that entry as you like. it has excellent editable meta-data management and allows you to add tags (sortable) and comments which can be used for a description.

it cannot (to my knowledge) yet "send to device" as it does when you connect a sony, however using the "save to disk" > "save single format" command, having specified the prc format as default format for that in the preferences, you can easily export a book to an external drive (the cybook), which seems like a reasonable compromise. i suggest it because for the moment i'm not aware of a better application ; there may be one that i don't know about.

pilotbob
01-01-2009, 01:29 PM
Can it be used with the CyBook, Zelda? I was under the impression that it was a "Sony Only" thing. However, I've never tried using it, so I could be completely wrong!

Harry,

Don't fret.... we are all wrong once or twice in our lives.

BOb

kovidgoyal
01-01-2009, 02:40 PM
I just received a working driver (at least on linux) for the Cybook for calibre from John Schember and llasram is working on adding MOBI output support to calibre, which means that the Cybook gen3 will be a fully supported device in calibre, pretty soon.

pilotbob
01-01-2009, 02:52 PM
I just received a working driver (at least on linux) for the Cybook for calibre from John Schember and llasram is working on adding MOBI output support to calibre, which means that the Cybook gen3 will be a fully supported device in calibre, pretty soon.

Nice. Any docs on creating a driver? I could try my hand at doing a Kindle one if I could find the time.

Also, mobi "output" support means conversions to mobi format? If so, that probably isn't needed as much since most ebooks can already be found in that format.

BOb

kovidgoyal
01-01-2009, 02:56 PM
There is already an unmaintained Kindle driver in the calibre package. You'd just have to modify it to get it working. Basically, all calibre drivers have to implement the interface defined here http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~kovid/calibre/trunk/annotate/kovid%40kovidgoyal.net-20080503012900-ch7vk8ob2st34dqw?file_id=303%40b0dd1a5d-880a-0410-ada5-a57097536bc1%3Alibprs500%252Ftrunk%3Asrc%252Flibpr s500%252Fdevices%252Finterface.py

pilotbob
01-01-2009, 02:58 PM
There is already an unmaintained Kindle driver in the calibre package. You'd just have to modify it to get it working. Basically, all calibre drivers have to implement the interface defined here http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~kovid/calibre/trunk/annotate/kovid%40kovidgoyal.net-20080503012900-ch7vk8ob2st34dqw?file_id=303%40b0dd1a5d-880a-0410-ada5-a57097536bc1%3Alibprs500%252Ftrunk%3Asrc%252Flibpr s500%252Fdevices%252Finterface.py (http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Ekovid/calibre/trunk/annotate/kovid%40kovidgoyal.net-20080503012900-ch7vk8ob2st34dqw?file_id=303%40b0dd1a5d-880a-0410-ada5-a57097536bc1%3Alibprs500%252Ftrunk%3Asrc%252Flibpr s500%252Fdevices%252Finterface.py)

Thanks... I'll take a look. Still have not done much python, and currently trying to learn Ruby... but, if something is started it may be doable.

BOb

Pulp
01-01-2009, 03:16 PM
I just received a working driver (at least on linux) for the Cybook for calibre from John Schember and llasram is working on adding MOBI output support to calibre, which means that the Cybook gen3 will be a fully supported device in calibre, pretty soon.

Excellent news! http://biboz.net/gifs/smiles-de-bananas/emoticonos_bananas_files/banana_bailando.gif Thanks alot!

DDHarriman
01-01-2009, 04:16 PM
Cool......................

AlexBell
01-02-2009, 06:41 AM
I just received a working driver (at least on linux) for the Cybook for calibre from John Schember and llasram is working on adding MOBI output support to calibre, which means that the Cybook gen3 will be a fully supported device in calibre, pretty soon.

Marvelous news! Please make sure you announce it widely when it happens.

Regards, Alex

jodrell
01-02-2009, 08:33 AM
Does that men it'll be able to output eReader format books into a format that the Cybook can read?

zelda_pinwheel
01-02-2009, 08:36 AM
Does that men it'll be able to output eReader format books into a format that the Cybook can read?

yes, if i've understood correctly, they are currently working on that feature. it should be possible soon.