Would you recommend it as a document management software?

[Kelpo]

Calibre brands itself as an e-book library manager. However, Calibre is not limited to e-book file formats like .epub and .pdf, instead it can store .pptx, .docx, .xlsx, etc. So, would you recommend it as a document management software? Is it capable of storing thousands of documents? Is it practical or efficient doing such thing on Calibre?

[Kelpo]

My files are very varied: Manuals for my external hard drive, school problem sets, event files, up to scientific publications.

[DaltonST]

Kelpo:

To help you decide for yourself, since the decision is quite personal and specific to each user or group of users, you could compare what functionality Calibre has to the various "real" DM software applications described in
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2490969,00.asp

Is it capable of storing thousands of documents?

Yes. There is no limit other than the storage capacity, RAM and CPU power of your computer. 50,000 and 100,000 ebook Calibre libraries are common. And you can have an unlimited number of Calibre libraries.



DaltonST

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by Kelpo

So, would you recommend it as a document management software?

What is your specific use-case?
* What type of documents are to be managed;
* Who uses these documents;
* How do they use them;
* When do they use them;
* Where do they use them;

If your use case includes active documents, then Calibre,in and of itself, is not suitable. In conjunction with other software, it might be suitable.

If your use case includes archiving documents, then Calibre can be used. What I do, is export the document to PDF, with a file name of Document Title YYYYMMDDHHMMSS, then import it into Calibre.
I didn't realize until today, that Calibre does not define PDF as an eBook file format. As such, I'll play with my office suite's export to ePub and export to FB2 functions, to see how well they work as document archive formats.

Is it capable of storing thousands of documents?

Yes.

Caveat # 1: Do not, under any circumstances, allow the program to automatically delete files, when running a duplicate file checking operation. You will lose your only copy of a document, if you allow "delete when duplicate file is found";

Caveat # 2: Once the library exceeds a couple of hundred books, both Calibre Server and Calibre Companion are extremely painful to use;

Caveat # 3: You will spend far more time adding, and verifying meta data, than you originally budgeted for. Yet, if you don't add/correct that metadata, you won't be able to find the document that you are looking for;

Caveat # 4: Bibliographies.
The Bibliography Export function in Calibre won't export the data in the citation format that you want. You'll have to either run a program that can convert it into the appropriate format, or hand massage it.

Recommendation # 1: Dedicate one computer to Calibre, and use it only for Calibre, or operations directly related to Calibre.

Recommendation # 2: Computer hardware:
* Have at least 4 GB of RAM for the OS, and an additional 1 GB of RAM, for every 100,000 items in your calibre library.
* Have at least three external drives:
** Drive # 1 is your working Calibre Library. The only thing on this drive is your library;
** Drive # 2 is your incremental backup library. Everytime you change something/anything in Calibre, do an incremental backup to this drive;
** Drive # 3 is your full backup library. Do a complete backup of your Calibre Library once a week;
** If budget and time allow, Drive # 4, which is your second full backup library. If you have the time, and money, implement a rotating 42 drive backup schedule;

Recommendation # 3: Calibre Libraries:
* Import Library: This is a small library, into which all content is initially imported. Metadata is then verified, and either added, or corrected, as appropriate.
* Main Working Library: All items are exported from the Import Library, to this library. This library (Main Library) is your working library, in which all content is stored;
* Supplemental Library: The optimum break size for Calibre Libraries is around 100,000 items. I budget 250 GB per 100,000 items.
Consider creating Supplemental Libraries either on a per project basis, or every 100,000 items. The downside of creating a library every "x" items, is that you have to do several searches, rather than a single search.

Is it practical or efficient doing such thing on Calibre?

It all depends upon your specific use case.

I have a horror of putting any private content into the cloud. As such, the majority of document management solutions are, for me, unacceptable.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

[. . .] I didn't realize until today, that Calibre does not define PDF as an eBook file format [. . .]

On what basis do you make that assertion?

IMO if calibre can convert from and to a file type it's a 'calibre eBook format', and calibre can convert to and from PDF. XLSX is a format one might store in a calibre 'document' library, but it can't be converted to anything, so it's not a 'calibre eBook format'

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Caveat # 2: Once the library exceeds a couple of hundred books, both Calibre Server and Calibre Companion are extremely painful to use;

I use calibre server against libraries with > 100,000 books - painlessly.

Some of my colleagues have thousands of books stored on their Calibre Companion equipped tablets. Some even have tens or hundreds of thousands, via CC's cloud storage feature.

As in everything it depends on the use case and user preference. FX - I only keep a few dozen 'books' on my tablet, so CC would be overkill for me.

BR

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

On what basis do you make that assertion?

CF https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...12&postcount=4

I use calibre server against libraries with > 100,000 books - painlessly.

Compare how long, and how easily one can find a specific item by Dewey Decimal or LCC#, using Calibre Server, and from within Calibre.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

CF https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...12&postcount=4

I suspect you don't fully appreciate the context in which Kovid made that statement.

Here is some factual evidence from the software he wrote. Note the absence of XLS, LOG, CSV, MP4 etc, although I do have such things in my calibre libraries.





And here's a snippet from the manual he wrote

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Compare how long, and how easily one can find a specific item by Dewey Decimal or LCC#, using Calibre Server, and from within Calibre.

If I were to search my 113,704 item library by Dewey Decimal number I wouldn't have to wait long because that library contains documents, not books as such. And I have no idea what an LLC# is, LLC to me is either Limited Liability Company or Link Layer Control.

I do most of my searching via X1 and or Windows Search (< 2 secs for a full text search of my calibre libraries, 3 decades of emails, over million images, 5,000 blog posts, several decades of tax returns in half a dozen countries, a few thousand videos and transcripts, et cetera) and I use Evernote as the main front end to 3 calibre library server tasks.

BR

[fidvo]

As someone who uses (abuses) Calibre in ways for which it was never intended, I can say with certainty that Calibre can work as a good document management system.

For me, at least. Whether it will work for anyone else depends upon several factors. Some of the important considerations:

1. It assumes one file per document.

A PDF file is fine in Calibre. But consider something like HTML, where images and other auxiliary files are stored outside the main file. Calibre has special handling for HTML, but there could be other file formats that store additional files externally. And even HTML has limitations in Calibre.

If you anticipate using any formats like this, Calibre is not for you.

You can, however, use multiple formats of the same document, as long as they have different file extensions. For instance, you could have MS Word and PDF versions of the same document.

2. You're limited on what you can do with the files externally.

Any program or process that makes changes to the file names or directory structure are off-limits. The good news is that you can still edit the files. I keep notes in Calibre, and I've never run into a problem editing them.

HOWEVER:

3. Some document editing software makes temporary backup copies of the files as you edit them.

As long as these backup files are deleted cleanly when you close the file, you're all right. Even if they aren't, you'll just end up with extra files in your library folder, which usually doesn't hurt anything, but you'll want to run Check Library frequently to keep your library folder clean.

4. Calibre is all-or-nothing.

Either use Calibre exclusively to manage your documents, or don't use it at all. If you're going to use it, make it your official document repository. If you want to keep a separate copy of those same files externally, never put a file in that external set manually. Always go through Calibre and Save-to-Disk. The general rule of thumb is that if you lose every copy of your documents except the ones in Calibre, you really haven't lost anything.

Note: This does not apply to distinct collections of documents outside Calibre. Just make sure these are clearly separate from the ones you add to Calibre, with no chance of overlap.

If you're willing to live with the above limitations, Calibre will probably work just fine for you.

[Fiat_Lux]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

wouldn't have to wait long because that library contains documents, not books as such.

Documents can be assigned Dewey Decimal Numbers. Or, for those that prefer them, Cutter Numbers.

More pointedly, any semi-decent Document Management System will mandate that Dewey Decimal Numbers, Cutter Numbers, or similar set of identifiers be used.

And I have no idea what an LLC# is,

That was a typo. It should be LCC#

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Documents can be assigned Dewey Decimal Numbers. Or, for those that prefer them, Cutter Numbers.

More pointedly, any semi-decent Document Management System will mandate that Dewey Decimal Numbers, Cutter Numbers, or similar set of identifiers be used.

My impression is that the OP wants to file personal documents. It's not obvious to me how would one would use DDN numbers or LCC codes to classify Utility Bills, Tax Returns, Investment Portfolio records, Bank Loan Agreements, Insurance Policies, Wills, Marriage Certificates, Correspondence with Family and Friends, etc.

I worked in Due Diligence teams on a few multi-national M&A deals. Don't recall any documents having Dewey Decimal or US Library of Congress classifications; if they did we didn't make any use oif them. IIRC the financial and legal documents were organised according to regulations in force at the time and place the document was issued, or the rules as set down by the relevant internal auditors.

BTW TLA's don't mean the same thing to everyone. Initially I wondered if 'LCC' had something to do with the City of London Corporation. When that drew a blank, I went to WikiP. I guess you're referring to the United States Library of Congress Classification and not the Lithuanian Civil Code

BR

[Vestonehue]

Iam a little bit late, but iam using this DMS for the past years and like it a lot. Iam using it for work in a small company too. Its free.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux

Documents can be assigned Dewey Decimal Numbers. Or, for those that prefer them, Cutter Numbers.

More pointedly, any semi-decent Document Management System will mandate that Dewey Decimal Numbers, Cutter Numbers, or similar set of identifiers be used.

Most of the Document management systems I've seen would need extra configuration for Dewey or Cutter which are specific to LIBRARY systems, not systems managing and archiving arbitrary documents.
Actual Library management systems will give every item a unique ID, generated by the system so as to track more than one copy of the same physical item. Those items then need that ID attached as either a barcode (that can't be confused with ISBN) or RFID tag, or maybe both. If there a publisher code ISBN (books) or something like it, then that would be in the metadata. The metadata is unlikely to have Dewey or Cutter info in Europe.

A document management system would often include an archival system and ability to scan arbitrary documents and optionally automatically index those from a barcode on the front page or every page, often generated at print time. The document may be electronic with later added handwriting, signatures or electronic additions.