Quote:
Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8
I'm thinking of creating a table in Microsoft Word (A table is easier to create than a spreadsheet. Many times people think that they have to use a spreadsheet; from what I know, I think, however, that a table would suffice unless you need the computer to do calculations within the document.). In one column, I'd put the ISBN numbers--one for ISBN-8 numbers (if available) numbers and another one for ISBN-13 numbers (if available), the title, the authors' names (last name first) in separate columns ("fields?"), and maybe another category or two. Oh, of course by publisher (Open Road or whoever).
With a click or two, I could sort the entries(?) in the categories by ISBN *'s, titles, the author's name, publisher, whatever, alphabetically or numerically, of whatever I desire. So, with a click and a glance, I would be able to know what I have and where it is. The only fly in the ointment, that I can see, is that it would take a lot of time to make entries for the books that I already have.
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I've always found spreadsheets easier for something like that, not because I think I have to use them. Sorting by columns is quite easy, but I haven't used Microsoft Word in a long time, so I have no idea how it compares to sorting tables in that. Even if sorting is similar in ease, if you end up with more than a couple of columns, spreadsheets are
much easier to deal with. There's no set page size to deal with, so as you add columns, you just scroll horizontally, or simply full-screen the spreadsheet program to see more columns at once. Also, there's no padding in spreadsheet cells by default, while all the word processors I've used add padding by default to table cells. This means more rows and columns in the same amount of space. You can probably edit the table properties to remove all padding, however. Another thing that saves space: no margins in the spreadsheet. Not sure you can set them down to zero, but you can at least make them smaller in Word.
For something like this, which has no real personal info, I'd do it in a spreadsheet in Google Drive. That way I can access it from any computer with Internet access, and even on my phone if need be. I actually use spreadsheets for lots of things, and very few have calculations in them.
But you should use whatever you're most comfortable with, after all you're the one who has to maintain it.