Hello, all.
I am starting this as a new thread rather than posting in the
Big libraries on Kindle 3? thread because I didn't wnat to "hijack" the author's thread and I thought it appropriate to address my comments in a new thread given its non-berevity and details.
So... here goes.
The Kindle’s ability to perform meaningful organization of one’s ebooks or, should I say, lack of ability, tends to be disheartening at best and a catastrophe at worst. Consequently, until Amazon introducing nesting of collections and more robust organization management, I’m forced to create my own organization schema.
Being a somewhat anal person who’s meticulous behavior can range from (yes, I’ll admit it) the ridiculous to the absurd, It is very important to me that I organize my ebooks in a very precise and (at least to me) meaningful manner.
I’ve read through the user guide, “played” around with the Kindle’s native collections as well as have pretty much determined what’s going on “below the covers” concerning the Kindle’s internal folder structure. This knowledge has brought me to the conclusion that if I am going to get even remotely close to the way I want my ebooks organized, I’m going to have to create the structure myself. Oh, I would be quite remiss if I didn’t mention that acolegate’s
Kindle Collection Manager for Windows is going to play a very big role in my eventual plan of organizing all of my ebooks.
I believe the above is enough of an introduction and background. Let’s get to the “meat” of the message, shall we?
1. eBook File Names
As a general rule, I name my ebooks using the following syntax:
[TITLE] – [AUTHOR] [(GENRE)].[EXT
For example: 1632 – Eric Flint (Science Fiction).mobi
2. Folder Structure
Again, as a general rule, I create a series of folders named after the various genres and store the appropriate ebook in the appropriate genre folder.
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This is probably an appropriate time to have a bit of a sidebar concerning genres.
Does anyone else besides me have trouble categorizing an ebook into an appropriate genre? I’m not referring to those ebooks who’s genre has already been defined. I’m referring to the ebooks that one picks up from here or there and the genre isn’t necessary known or obvious.
I’ve been using a number of different Websites to determine the genre of a book. While my results have been good, this method is extremely time intensive and can get a bit tedious. Does anyone know of a good Website(s) that specifically focuses on book genres and / or has a great search engine to use to fine a given genre for a given book?
[END SIDEBAR]
Ok… So far, so good. Now comes the fun part of copying my ebooks to my Kindle.
I tried a variety of methods – none of which gave me satisfactory results. The lack of nesting folders (collections) is a big drawback when it comes to organization. Somehow, the thought of having hundreds upon hundreds of ebooks sitting “naked” in the same folder ( \Documents ) just makes me shudder!
This is where acolegate’s “Kindle Collection Manager for Windows” is going to play a huge part in my eventual organization. The ability of this application to easily put e-books into collections is PHENOMINAL!! I cannot thank you enough, acolegate, for this excellent applications.
However…
Before I can get there (using KCMW), I’ve got to get my ebook content onto my Kindle.
I realize all one has to do is use the USB cable and connect the Kindle to your computer then copy / move your ebook content into the Kindle\Documents folder. However, for the reason’s stated above, I just cannot bring myself to do that. This is where my genre folder structure comes into play.
I can simple copy over whatever genre folders I wish to the Kindle\Documents folder then use KCMW to put them into an appropriate collection. Viola! You have a wonderfully organized ebook structure that would make even the most meticulous perfectionist satisfied.
Other issues that concern / bother me?
1. What about new content?
Whenever I get new ebooks for a specific genre, I’ll “store” them in their genre folder. What I don’t know is the best way to copy the new content over to the Kindle without either copying over the old content or, “segregating” the new content into a sub-folder in the genre folder then, once it is moved to the Kindle, move it out of the segregated folder and into the genre folder.
If I was to copy over all content in the genre folder AND I already have some ebooks of the genre on the Kindle, am I going to end up with duplicate copies?
I suppose another way to copy over the content is to delete the existing ebooks in the genre folder on the Kindle, copy over the genre folder from my computer to the Kindle and then read the ebooks to the appropriate collection using KCMW.
2. How many ebooks should I keep on the Kindle?
I have well over 3,000 ebooks of various formats (.prc, .mobi, .pdf, .azw, etc.). Is there a “normal” amount of ebooks to keep on your Kindle? It would seem to me (from what I’ve read as well as my own personal opinion) that it is a personal choice. Certainly, memory space on the Kindle isn’t going to be an issue. And, any indexing that needs to be done would be with the Kindle under external power and at a time that I wouldn’t need to use it.
Nonetheless, is it better to keep your entire collection of ebooks on the Kindle or, is it better to move books “back and forth” as your reading demands dictate?
I’m sure there are other issues and ideas that will come up over the course of this threads life, however; I’ve posted quite enough for now. I do look forward to your reading through this thread and am very interested in your own ideas, thought and suggestions.
Have a wonderful day all!
Regards,
Gary (Vandy)
Durham, NC USA
In the end you will see, you is you and me is me…
© May 28, 1980