Looking for an E-book Indexing / Inventory / Cataloging Program - Page 8

ProfJulie · 12-29-2007, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aabeg100

I have over 5000 ebooks, novels, comics and scanned ebooks in my collection with a part of them on my harddisk and part of them on my external storage HDD. I also have a collection of over 50 books on my USB that I connect to my iLiad to read.

My biggest concern in using an ebook library was the time and effort it would require to add information about the books and then formatting them.

I found a software called "my ebook library" on the net. It is a beautiful software. The most interesting thing is that you identify the directories where your ebooks are saved and it will automatically add them to your library. If the book has the ISBN in the file name, the software can go online and get the complete information about the book including front cover shot, authors name, date of publishing and complete title and update the library automatically.

If the ISBN number is not in the file name the software allows you to open the file and select the ISBN number and then it will bring all the information from the net.

The website for the software is

http://www.myebooklibrary.co.uk

download, install and enjoy.

Asim Baig

Thanks for the referral and link. I downloaded the software yesterday and it seems to work pretty well. Some additional funcationality would make this software really great:

A way to manually add or import existing book lists (so i could create a comprehensive listing of my books - both paper & electronic - as well as log interesting books for future reference)
A way to import/export data from the database
A way to print books
A place to write out my own comments about the book (although I can append my own comments to the Description box)

I have been managing my book collection via an Excel spreadsheet, but it would be really great to have something a bit more sophisticated.

nairbv · 12-30-2007, 05:15 AM

This "myebooklibrary" software looks like it could become something really good. ... I'm playing with it a bit now, ... it lacks a lot still though too.

I'd kinda like if I could enter in a list of authors at least, ... so that it could check filenames and file paths for author names and such, ... and just assume that if a file contains a string that's also in my "authors list," that string must be the author of said file. things like that would make the data entry a lot easier. I don't want to open every single book and type in the author name, or isbn or any other specific data manually. It should be able to guess a few things and ask me if it guessed correctly... like "in this directory, the folder names represent author names? etc"

I'm guessing that collections are essentially tags right? It would be nice if it checked some kind of categorization like "fiction" and "science" and stuff too from the ISBN and categorized them automatically. Maybe that info isn't really tied to an ISBN number though? I duno how I'd find ISBN number for all these books quickly enough for it to be worth trying anyways though. It'd take an eternity to look up every single book in amazon. As it is, I'm not sure how I could manage to do any sort of data entry with it fast enough to really make progress.

nairbv · 12-30-2007, 05:25 AM

like, ... even just being able to select multiple books at a time in the window and hit "edit" on the whole group at once, so you could give a bunch the same author or something, like you do in itunes, .... at least then some progress could be made.

I'm not sure what it can actually do with the data once it's all loaded either though. It would be a lot more useful if it could then do things like convert the files into one format, and encode stuff like the author and title metadata into the book itself so the data is permanent independent of this particular piece of software.... and maybe once all books are taged and categorized etc, ... it could rename them all with sensible consistent names, and rebuild the organization of my directory structure for me.

I'm also not sure why it relies on amazon. If they have their own database that can look up ISBN numbers, why can't it search that database with the names in the files, and use the info directly to get an ISBN number? why make me click around on some web page looking for it? If it used it's own ISBN database to look up titles and such, it could probably really quickly categorize all my books with good data. I'd probably even pay them for that kind of functionality.

kovidgoyal · 12-30-2007, 01:38 PM

Umm nairbv use libprs500 it implements all those features (except for guessing things about books from filenames which to me is a dicey proposition) and it is in active development.

nairbv · 12-31-2007, 01:48 AM

hmm.... I installed it... I can't figure out any way to add books so that I can start editing them. I see "add books," but it wants me to select a filename. I need to import a whole directory.

gwynevans · 12-31-2007, 10:24 AM

Well, you can select more than one book at a time, even if you can't do a recursive import.

kovidgoyal · 12-31-2007, 11:02 AM

And the recursive import is on my TODO list :-)

nairbv · 12-31-2007, 10:53 PM

ah, OK. I'll wait for recursive import then. I don't have time to go into every directory :-P.

I'm kind of curious though if it will make any guesses (or have a way to merge) when a directory contains a bunch of files that represent one book. Most of the time when books are a mess of HTML, they're zipped, but,.. sometimes they're not. I'm not sure how it would go about doing that. Maybe by default it just calls every file a book, but later you could say "these files are the same book" in the UI somewhere? ... or maybe if it sees links to other files in HTML it can assume that the other html files are part of the same book? Sounds like a pain.

kovidgoyal · 12-31-2007, 11:48 PM

Its going to assume all the files in a directory are different versions of the same book. Try to guess what files are part of what book is a mugs game. If you have multiple ebooks in a single directory use the standard import rather than the recursive one.

nairbv · 01-01-2008, 05:42 AM

hm.... well, that won't work for me either then. *most* of my directories are authors or subject directories, ... I have some directories that are books, but it would take far less time for me to go around finding and zipping those book directories (or merging them in some kind of interface) then it would to separate the books by the same author that are in author directories.

It won't even recognize that two .lit files in a directory are separate books? If I have a directory with 10 lit files (or even 10 txt or pdf or doc files or zip or rar files), then it can probably be assumed that those 10 files represent 10 books , ... whereas a directory with 10 HTML files is far more likely to represent a book.

then also though, the directory of HTML files will probably have a subdirectory for images. If I have an HTML file that represents a whole book, and then in the same directory have a bunch of directories that represent other books, ... ugh... what a mess.

kovidgoyal · 01-01-2008, 12:04 PM

What you're asking for is basically the program to be tailored to your specific needs so you don't have to do the work, that's not going to happen with any program. You need to spend some quality time with your collection getting it into some sort of order and thereafter use a cataloging program, whether libprs500 or something else so that this mess never recurs.

nairbv · 01-02-2008, 02:02 AM

I'm just trying to find the software that's appropriate for me, and all I'm saying is that this doesn't look like it will be it, as you describe it.

I do have some things to clean up, but I don't want to have to put every book in it's own directory, even if I could do it at the snap of my fingers. It just doesn't seem like a very clean way to organize files. 99% of the time it would be one file per directory and that just seems silly. Why have directories if they're only ever going to contain one file?

I think most software would be designed to, at a minimum, recognize two different .lit or .prc or .pdf files as being two different books.

JSWolf · 01-02-2008, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nairbv

I think most software would be designed to, at a minimum, recognize two different .lit or .prc or .pdf files as being two different books.

What I want is for the software to be able to catalog the same ebook but have it listed under different formats. So for example, if I download a HTML source from PG and then convert it to LRF and also have the HTML0 file, that it would be listed as HTML0, LRF, and HTML for the one entry so I know what I have. Also, in the comments, I would put that I used Book Designer to convert it and any special instructions. Also same goes for say a LIT that was converted to LRF using lit2lrf.

nairbv · 01-02-2008, 09:35 AM

jswolf: yeah, I think that would make sense too, ... but would you expect it on import them that way? to make every directory one book? or would you expect to have to merge multiple files that represented one book? I mean, .. if the files had the exact same file name besides extension, and were in the same directory, maybe then you could assume they were the same book. ... but don't most people put all books of a particular author in one directory? ... at least in fiction directories?

JSWolf · 01-02-2008, 09:40 AM

What I would do in that case if have the program read the metadata or filename and maybe prompt for combining entries if it found the book title close. But if it found the author and title the same, then combine automatically. That way, it helps to semi-automate things.

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12-30-2007, 05:15 AM	#107
nairbv Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 15 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: still looking for an ebook reader device	This "myebooklibrary" software looks like it could become something really good. ... I'm playing with it a bit now, ... it lacks a lot still though too. I'd kinda like if I could enter in a list of authors at least, ... so that it could check filenames and file paths for author names and such, ... and just assume that if a file contains a string that's also in my "authors list," that string must be the author of said file. things like that would make the data entry a lot easier. I don't want to open every single book and type in the author name, or isbn or any other specific data manually. It should be able to guess a few things and ask me if it guessed correctly... like "in this directory, the folder names represent author names? etc" I'm guessing that collections are essentially tags right? It would be nice if it checked some kind of categorization like "fiction" and "science" and stuff too from the ISBN and categorized them automatically. Maybe that info isn't really tied to an ISBN number though? I duno how I'd find ISBN number for all these books quickly enough for it to be worth trying anyways though. It'd take an eternity to look up every single book in amazon. As it is, I'm not sure how I could manage to do any sort of data entry with it fast enough to really make progress.

12-30-2007, 05:25 AM	#108
nairbv Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 15 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: still looking for an ebook reader device	like, ... even just being able to select multiple books at a time in the window and hit "edit" on the whole group at once, so you could give a bunch the same author or something, like you do in itunes, .... at least then some progress could be made. I'm not sure what it can actually do with the data once it's all loaded either though. It would be a lot more useful if it could then do things like convert the files into one format, and encode stuff like the author and title metadata into the book itself so the data is permanent independent of this particular piece of software.... and maybe once all books are taged and categorized etc, ... it could rename them all with sensible consistent names, and rebuild the organization of my directory structure for me. I'm also not sure why it relies on amazon. If they have their own database that can look up ISBN numbers, why can't it search that database with the names in the files, and use the info directly to get an ISBN number? why make me click around on some web page looking for it? If it used it's own ISBN database to look up titles and such, it could probably really quickly categorize all my books with good data. I'd probably even pay them for that kind of functionality.

12-30-2007, 01:38 PM	#109
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,373 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Umm nairbv use libprs500 it implements all those features (except for guessing things about books from filenames which to me is a dicey proposition) and it is in active development.

12-31-2007, 01:48 AM	#110
nairbv Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 15 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: still looking for an ebook reader device	hmm.... I installed it... I can't figure out any way to add books so that I can start editing them. I see "add books," but it wants me to select a filename. I need to import a whole directory.

12-31-2007, 10:24 AM	#111
gwynevans Wizzard Posts: 1,402 Karma: 2000000 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: iPad 2, iPhone 6s, Kindle Voyage & Kindle PaperWhite	Well, you can select more than one book at a time, even if you can't do a recursive import.

12-31-2007, 11:02 AM	#112
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,373 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	And the recursive import is on my TODO list :-)

12-31-2007, 10:53 PM	#113
nairbv Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 15 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: still looking for an ebook reader device	ah, OK. I'll wait for recursive import then. I don't have time to go into every directory :-P. I'm kind of curious though if it will make any guesses (or have a way to merge) when a directory contains a bunch of files that represent one book. Most of the time when books are a mess of HTML, they're zipped, but,.. sometimes they're not. I'm not sure how it would go about doing that. Maybe by default it just calls every file a book, but later you could say "these files are the same book" in the UI somewhere? ... or maybe if it sees links to other files in HTML it can assume that the other html files are part of the same book? Sounds like a pain.

12-31-2007, 11:48 PM	#114
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,373 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Its going to assume all the files in a directory are different versions of the same book. Try to guess what files are part of what book is a mugs game. If you have multiple ebooks in a single directory use the standard import rather than the recursive one.

01-01-2008, 05:42 AM	#115
nairbv Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 15 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: still looking for an ebook reader device	hm.... well, that won't work for me either then. most of my directories are authors or subject directories, ... I have some directories that are books, but it would take far less time for me to go around finding and zipping those book directories (or merging them in some kind of interface) then it would to separate the books by the same author that are in author directories. It won't even recognize that two .lit files in a directory are separate books? If I have a directory with 10 lit files (or even 10 txt or pdf or doc files or zip or rar files), then it can probably be assumed that those 10 files represent 10 books , ... whereas a directory with 10 HTML files is far more likely to represent a book. then also though, the directory of HTML files will probably have a subdirectory for images. If I have an HTML file that represents a whole book, and then in the same directory have a bunch of directories that represent other books, ... ugh... what a mess.

01-01-2008, 12:04 PM	#116
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,373 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	What you're asking for is basically the program to be tailored to your specific needs so you don't have to do the work, that's not going to happen with any program. You need to spend some quality time with your collection getting it into some sort of order and thereafter use a cataloging program, whether libprs500 or something else so that this mess never recurs.

01-02-2008, 02:02 AM	#117
nairbv Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 15 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: still looking for an ebook reader device	I'm just trying to find the software that's appropriate for me, and all I'm saying is that this doesn't look like it will be it, as you describe it. I do have some things to clean up, but I don't want to have to put every book in it's own directory, even if I could do it at the snap of my fingers. It just doesn't seem like a very clean way to organize files. 99% of the time it would be one file per directory and that just seems silly. Why have directories if they're only ever going to contain one file? I think most software would be designed to, at a minimum, recognize two different .lit or .prc or .pdf files as being two different books.

01-02-2008, 09:35 AM	#119
nairbv Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 15 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: still looking for an ebook reader device	jswolf: yeah, I think that would make sense too, ... but would you expect it on import them that way? to make every directory one book? or would you expect to have to merge multiple files that represented one book? I mean, .. if the files had the exact same file name besides extension, and were in the same directory, maybe then you could assume they were the same book. ... but don't most people put all books of a particular author in one directory? ... at least in fiction directories?

01-02-2008, 09:40 AM	#120
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,792 Karma: 146391129 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	What I would do in that case if have the program read the metadata or filename and maybe prompt for combining entries if it found the book title close. But if it found the author and title the same, then combine automatically. That way, it helps to semi-automate things.