Why store your ebook collection on your ereader?

[K. Molen]

I keep all my books on my Kindle not because I feel the need to always have my entire library with me, but because it's easier than managing the storage. Having my complete collection always available is just a bonus.

I currently have 377 books on my Kindle 3 and still have 1816 Mb free. I think it started with about 3000 Mb free, so there should be space left for another 600 books or so. Once I fill it up, then I'll start dealing with managing the storage.

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Library Petting: ...to become consumed with the organization and general curation of your collection; to "wander" the virtual stacks while trailing your hand along the virtual shelves.

I'm guilty of doing this on occasion, but I don't think I've ever done it on my Kindle. That's what Calibre is for. It's much more satisfying there, especially with the new bookshelf view, but also because it supports adding your own data fields to track whatever minutiae you feel like.

[auspex]

Originally Posted by samhy

Kobo has introduced this kind of feature earlier this year. Now there is an "archive" option. Maybe Sony has introduced it in the new firmware. Or will do it in the next one

"you can archive items you've downloaded. After they're archived, they're available in the Kobo Cloud for when you want to read them again.", so no you can't put the book on the device and hide it from the software.

I do have almost all of my library (1000+) on my Kobo. It slows it down in two instances: when powering up (which I almost never do), and when loading the bookshelf list (I have a bookshelf per series, which means that even if I have only one book from a series, it gets a shelf, and I have 200+ shelves). I'm finally starting to remove books from the Kobo if I'm sure I'll never read them again.

I worked out a pretty simple way to manage removing books while generally keeping my entire calibre library synced. I installed KiwiDude's Reading List plugin, created an "Auto populated from search" list, with search tags:"=keep off kobo", and sync options of "Sync to this device as soon as it is connected" and "Remove list items from device". Now, when I want to remove a book, I just tag it as "keep off kobo" in calibre, and it will be deleted next time I connect the device.

[samy2]

I don't trust this cloud archives. I just save my calibre library on mutiple devices and on an cloud service.

[Mivo]

Originally Posted by samy2

I don't trust this cloud archives. I just save my calibre library on mutiple devices and on an cloud service.

I'm the same way. I don't really trust cloud storage, except as a way to share documents between devices (Dropbox) if Goggle Docs/Drive doesn't suffice. It's also a bit more transparency than I'm comfortable with, though that's probably silly since Google knows everything about me anyway and I have little to hide.

Flash drives/USB sticks are so cheap now, it's not a problem to use a few for backups. And if my house burns down, I would have bigger issues than losing my Calibre library! (Then again, perhaps I should bury a memory stick in the garden!)

[greenasterisk]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

Adding and removing is a small, but persistent hassle. I would rather have the option to store them on SD.

This. The thought of wiring up the reader to the computer is a huge chore for me. I just hope there was a way in which Calibre could wirelessly sync to my ereader.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by Breid

I am very possibly representative of a minority viewpoint on this forum, but I am puzzled by other folks' desire to store thousands of ebooks on their ereaders. I am building my collection and add all my purchases to Calibre, which I backup regularly. But I only keep my to be read books on my ereader, and as I currently have 40 titles on that shelf, I reckon that will keep me in reading material for at least a month.

I am wondering if I am a slow reader, or if other folks have a higher 'must store' threshold than mine?

[image by Abhi Sharma / flickr]

40 books, LOL. That keeps me reading for about a year.

Within that year, I'll probably be in the neighborhood of my computer a few times (more like... almost always each day), so I can swap out any books I want to.

Let's say, I have 100 books in my TBR pile, and I store them on one e-reader, intending to swap them out only if they're all read. If I do that, the e-reader would probably be replaced before I got finished with these books, and if so, I'd need to reload the remaining ones onto the new device anyway.

On the other hand, I *can* see the need to do so with a music library on an MP3-player. I did that a long time. Shuffle songs or albums, or pick a certain song or album, and such. It works for music, as an album is only 74 minutes at most. (Yeah, I know there are albums with multiple CD's. I have a classical one, which is a box with 40 CD's. You know what I mean, no wise-cracking )

You don't "shuffle-read" books, changing it every 5 minutes, or even every 75 minutes.

So no, I don't see a point in storing more than about a month (or maybe a year, if you have to) worth of reading on one reader.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

So no, I don't see a point in storing more than about a month (or maybe a year, if you have to) worth of reading on one reader.

But what's the point in NOT doing do?

If the device doesn't have enough memory to store them all, or if too many items adversely impacts searching or browsing, as some have mentioned, that's certainly good reason not to, but I don't think that's what the OP was talking about.

Assuming you can fit them, and that the device will still work well, why not?

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ApK

Assuming you can fit them, and that the device will still work well, why not?

Because I'm an freakhead with regard to perfection of metadata.

IT HAS TO BE CORRECT. Everything, all the time, everywhere. If I find a mistake... *any* mistake whatsoever in the metadata or cover, it must be corrected.

Sometimes I just decide on a whim that all of my books need to have another tag filled out, or I decide that I want the author to be "Tolkien, J. R. R." instead of "Tolkien, J.R.R." for whatever reason.

If that happens, I'd need to re-upload the books to the reader if I kept the entire library there.

Now I don't bother to do that, as I know that the books will be deleted from the reader after a short time; therefore I just update my backup.

[rcuadro]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I'm in the minority too. I only ever have a handful of ebooks on my devices at any given time. I'd explain why, but I don't think it's really all that relevant to anyone but me.

I dont think you are in the minority. If I have more than one page of books on my Kindle it because I am going on a trip to some far off land that does not have wifi. Wait a second. I dont do that I prefer to leave them off until I am ready to read.

[Jewitch]

I'm a slut for free/cheap ebooks, & have about 700 on my beloved Kobo Touch, & over 3000 in Calibre. I read A LOT. I'm retired & have a lot of time on my hands. I'm a non-driver who travels by bus & keeping my nose in a book not while riding keeps me from boredom. I have my collection backed up on an SD card, but it's not always in the Kobo. I briefly had an Aluratek Libre, but more than 100 ebooks, whether on the device or SD card, caused it to cramp up & stop working.

[banjomike]

I keep hundreds of books on my Sony because I can, and the Sony filing system makes it work. On my nooks, nexus, and other reading apps I store maybe 10 books because their idea of a filing system is, not a joke, but nowhere near as flexible and helpful as the Sony.

[DiapDealer]

I think a rumble between the "why nots" and the "whys" is in order. One clearly needs to be established as baseline behavior if e-literature is to survive and thrive. I know I won't be able to sleep until the lines between normal and aberrant are clearly established.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Because I'm an freakhead with regard to perfection of metadata.

IT HAS TO BE CORRECT. Everything, all the time, everywhere. If I find a mistake... *any* mistake whatsoever in the metadata or cover, it must be corrected.

Sometimes I just decide on a whim that all of my books need to have another tag filled out, or I decide that I want the author to be "Tolkien, J. R. R." instead of "Tolkien, J.R.R." for whatever reason.

If that happens, I'd need to re-upload the books to the reader if I kept the entire library there.

Now I don't bother to do that, as I know that the books will be deleted from the reader after a short time; therefore I just update my backup.

Now, see, there's a good reason that had not occurred to me.

You know what CDO is, right?

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I know I won't be able to sleep until the lines between normal and aberrant are clearly established.

Yeah, but when you sleep are you a multi-napper or a long-snoozer?

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by ApK

Now, see, there's a good reason that had not occurred to me.

You know what CDO is, right?

OCD? Oh yes, I know. I have several varieties, including the one that makes me keep a list of the ones I have. Mwuhahaha

Rest assured though, it's only with regard to metadata and digital stuff in general. I have seen too many computers that are a complete total mess.

Me: "Could you find me X?"
Other Person: "Yeah, sure."
*20 minutes later*
Me: "So.....?"
Other Person: "Can't find it...."
Me: "Lemme-see..."

WAK!

Imagine a huge box... and everything is thrown in there. CD's. DVD's. Books. Power Tools. Food. Last week's trash. The kitchen sink. The dog. The previous dog, dead for three years already. Then you have a somewhat adequate image of the state of many computers I encounter.

However, those same people also often make a mess of their house, unable to find ANYTHING you ask them for. Ever. I hate it when I ask something and people need to go on a searching spree, be it in the house, or in the computer.