Which custom columns do you use?

[quarkpott]

Hello,

I use Calibre to manage my home library of paper books. I have now been thinking which one columns would be useful to describe a book well. So far I only use price, location and page number.
What other columns do you use?

[Karellen]

I also use Calibre to manage my paper library with stub files, as well as my ebooks.

This is the metadata I track. I have been thinking of adding a word count for the novel, but haven't got around to doing that yet...

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by quarkpott

Hello,

I use Calibre to manage my home library of paper books. I have now been thinking which one columns would be useful to describe a book well. So far I only use price, location and page number.
What other columns do you use?

A rather useful column is ayes/no column for Read.

[theducks]

I prefer a Date for read ( also use Year 2000 to mark abandoned)

I also have columns for the Count Pages PI
2 others I have T/F Verified (EPUB), where it passes the Debug part of the Editor and a date that I do (clean/tweak to my style) Edits. Blank is not done.

BTW I use tri-state T/F. T pass, F failed (not fixed) blank NOT Verified

IMHO Lean and Mean. don't make a column for something a saved search can show. Blank can have a meaning (there is a place in the Add your own columns form for notes. use it )

[ownedbycats]

Here's how it looks for me.



1. I use a 0-byte 'paperbook' file to filter my physical books.

2. I use a custom 'ratings' column in order to use a 10-point scale instead of the default 5-point one.

3. I use an integer #percentread and a template that converts them into a reading status. But it's easier to just use a boolean like JSWolf suggested.

4. Knowing when a book was last read is useful sometimes.

5. Chapter, page, and wordcounts, though for obvious reason I skip wordcounts for paper books.

6. Book type: I have Fiction, Nonfiction, Fanfiction, Comics, Magazines & Periodicals, and Documentation & Manuals. This mostly is for sorting into virtual libraries.

7. Some Kobo-specific columns. This is for eBooks on my device.

8. Filedate and filename are also for eBooks -- I get them automatically with a plugin.

I also have a bunch of fanfic-specific columns and one specific to documentation/manuals, but I hid them for the screenshot.

[quarkpott]

@Karellen: Movie sounds like a very interesting column, I like it.
@JSWolf: Oh yes, I didn't even think of that - very useful of course
@theducks: On a date for read I've never really found anything, but maybe I'll include it anyway.
@ownedbycats: I'll definitely record the number of chapters, I'll have to take a closer look at the rest.

@All: Thanks a lot to you guys, I can definitely do quite a bit with this.
But I am still open to further ideas.
That I have not come to the read column is almost embarrassing.

[Sirtel]

Page count, Reading status, Device column (which devices a book is on, if any), From (where I acquired the book), Price.

I also have a few composite columns to use for catalogs and a custom series column for numbering the many omnibus editions in my library (I don't want to split them).

I don't have any columns for editing status, as I don't need them. If a book has no page count, it's not been edited yet and that's easy to see at a glance. I only use a custom page count and run it after I've finished editing metadata and formatting.

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

1. I use a 0-byte 'paperbook' file to filter my physical books.

I use a Yes/No column for that.

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

2. I use a custom 'ratings' column in order to use a 10-point scale instead of the default 5-point one.

How did you change from 5 to 10-point rating scale?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by thiago.eec

How did you change from 5 to 10-point rating scale?

You can't do it with the default column. So I created a custom rating-type column with "allow half stars" enabled.



Then I used search & replace to copy over existing ratings and swapped the columns around in the book list.

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

You can't do it with the default column. So I created a custom rating-type column with "allow half stars" enabled.

Attachment 192800

Then I used search & replace to copy over existing ratings and swapped the columns around in the book list.

Sorry. I misunderstood you statement.
I thought you were saying that the ratings would vary from 0 to 10.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by thiago.eec

Sorry. I misunderstood you statement.
I thought you were saying that the ratings would vary from 0 to 10.

Yes. Half-stars give you a 10-point scale.

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Yes. Half-stars give you a 10-point scale.

I mean, the value varies from 0 to 5, using a 0.5 increase.
I thought you meant the value would varie from 0 to 10.

[ownedbycats]

It displays as 1-5 stars, but the database stores it as whole numbers.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Yes. Half-stars give you a 10-point scale.

Why not just do a 10 star column (if possible)?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why not just do a 10 star column (if possible)?

I assumed compatibility reasons, seeing as you can toggle half-stars off and on at will. There's some oddities about how it's stored in the database, too.