[Lady Fitzgerald]

@astra and Sweetpea. I used to think Windows folder and file tree was the easiest way to organize things and, for most of my data, it still is, but I've found it much too limiting for the organization of books and music. I have a commercial program I use to keep track of my music (that sadly has become abandonware since the developer has retired so I'll have to find a new one to keep track of my mp3s once windows 7 gives up the ghost). In an effort to keep track of series names and numbers, authors, titles, and ISBN #s (without having to open each book to dig out info), I had horrifically long filenames. And since a book can be classed in more than one genre, have more than one author, be in a series that part of a greater collection, etc., sorting is a nightmare in a folder and file tree since multiple copies would be needed to cover each organizational possibility. Windows Explorer, etc. are woefully inadequate for tracking down books by various criteria. And God forbid if you ever want to maintain a printable list of what's in your library (handy when hitting the used book stores; calibre can organize both paper and e-books). Calibre uses tags for organizing a library instead of a folder and file structure which allows three dimensional organizing instead of a two dimensional folder and file system. The key thing people often have trouble understanding is calibre organizes books, not files. Once people can grasp that difference, then calibre makes much more sense. Calibre is a work in progress. I've been using it only a few months and already it is twice as useful and easy to use than it was when I first started using it. And it will continue to get better over time. Also, the developer is young so it's unlikely to become abandonware anytime soon due to him retiring (even then, if Kovid decided to abandon calibre, which is not likely since he uses it himself, there are plenty of other people who have been helping with its development that would likely pick up the reins). One can print out lists of one's books, either in their entirety or the result of searches (the way to do that right now is a bit clunky since it requires manually interfacing with Xcel but that will eventually change; at least the option is available). Calibre also simplifies loading a device with e-books. Adding a book to calibre is simple and it will do most of the work for you, if you let it; it's adding an entire library of books automatically that becomes complicated but there are plenty of people in the calibre forum willing to assist in writing a recipe tailored for your filename structure. Same for any other problems you might encounter. The support system there is phenomenal. I would be lost without it. Granted, there is a bit of a learning curve but the same is true of any program this powerful.