Just verifying lack of options... And other questions - Page 2

Fbone · 08-12-2015, 02:30 AM

Having a small library and/or adding a couple of books at a time does allow one to keep things neat and orderly. However, when adding dozens of books in one sitting things get backed up due to time and CPU constraints.

Fortunately, many books now have the series number in the title. So I have no need to fill in the series field.

HarryT · 08-12-2015, 02:57 AM

Although, as you say, many books do indeed have series information in the title, it's rarely in a consistent or "sortable" format. It tends to be placed after the book title which means that it can't be used to sort a series into the correct order.

Personally, as a part of my routine of adding a book to my Calibre library, I edit the book's metadata, delete the series name from the title (if it's there) and fill in the series name and number. I regard editing the metadata as essential, since in my experience a significant proportion of books come with incorrect or badly-formatted metadata.

Ripplinger · 08-12-2015, 04:02 AM

I do the same as HarryT... whenever I buy a book, I add it into Calibre and immediately edit the metadata. Otherwise the entire Calibre library is pretty useless for searching, especially if you prefer to sort by series, which I do a lot to find which books I'm missing. Titles as originally downloaded are very inconsistent as HarryT mentioned, and that pretty much drives me nuts.

I do this as routine whether I add 1 book or 2 dozen books at once. I may not do all 2 dozen books at once, but do a few during the day here and there and it really doesn't take much time at all if you're consistent about it.

Fbone · 08-12-2015, 04:23 AM

Again, the workflow you described is easily doable with a few books. Earlier this year I added 3000 Kindle books at one time plus I add hundreds each month. As you said, they all have incorrect or missing metadata most has to be added manually. The DRM has to be removed. Duplicates deleted. Files backed up. In addition, each day I check Amazon for newly added free ebooks . Some days there are over 1000 to scan through.

So I can understand when someone doesn't have a perfectly organized Calibre library.

HarryT · 08-12-2015, 04:50 AM

Having had a Calibre library that was a real mess a few years ago, I made a fresh start some years back and took meticulous care to get everything right. I can fully understand that if you do add hundreds of books a month this may not be feasible; I made the personal decision some time ago not to bother with most "freebies": life is too short to have a library most of which I'll never want to read. Although I have a reasonably large Calibre library (about 6000 or so books) they are all books that I know I have a fair chance of actually wanting to read at some point in the future, although I know that I'll never read most of them.

I agree with Ripplinger that a Calibre library with poor metadata is of very limited use, so for me getting my metadata right as I add books is essential, but obviously whatever works for each of us personally is what's important. The larger your library is, the more important it is to have decent metadata.

Ripplinger · 08-12-2015, 07:43 AM

I started using Calibre from the start when I got my first ereader, so I've never had a backlog of 1000s of books to be added at once. If I did, I'd probably just add them all to remove DRM, and after that point do any newly purchased books correctly with always editing the metadata. Then I'd slowly whittle away at the backlog, doing a little here and there each day until I caught up, even if it took a year.

I only buy what I know I'm interested in reading though. I get a lot of freebies off Amazon as well, but if it's not something I want to read, I don't download it, even it's free. I already have more than I can read in probably 4 lifetimes.

badgoodDeb · 08-12-2015, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

But once you set up the plugboard, and it won't take more than a couple of minutes, you'll never again have to bother with creating text files to keep track of book series. So in the long run, it'll save you much more time which will let you read more instead of managing lists in text files.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I totally agree. It's the ideal solution for the lazy person. Set it up once and then forget about it.

I also don't bother to save my books. I let amazon do that for me. But it would be a Good Idea to deDRM the series that I actually PAY for, and keep them on my local disk, for safe keeping. (Heck, I'm the gal who chides everybody else about "do your backups!!").

So -- got a pointer to a thread where I can learn about these plugboards? I ought to start.

I *was* just looking at my other book indexing program (BookPedia) a day or two ago, for the series-es that I do collect. Only to find that my version is woefully out of date and I don't want to go the route that the current version requires. So: Calibre it is. I mean - I love Calibre, but hate having to learn about deDRM to use it to catalog my books. Grump.

barryem · 08-12-2015, 02:22 PM

I don't read series books as a rule so I don't have this issue but I think if I did what I'd do is prefix the title with some sort of identifier. Something like "HP19-Harry Potter Marries the Hulk".

A long time ago when I was listening to audiobooks on MP3 players I'd break up the files into 14 minute segments and name them like that. This was in the days before MP3 players had reliable resume or bookmark features. It let me sort them in order.

Not quite the same thing, i know, but it would work for books in series, too.

Barry

HarryT · 08-12-2015, 02:35 PM

Deb, Ripplinger gave good instructions on how to set up a plugboard in post #6 in this thread. Basically all you do is add the plugboard to Calibre and make sure that Calibre's metadata for your books includes the series name and number. Then, when you send the book to your Kindle from Calibre, the book's title will be modified by the plugboard to add the series information to it.

Try it - it's one of those things that's easier to do than to describe

.

badgoodDeb · 08-12-2015, 02:40 PM

Oh-I thought I had to install a "plugboard" package or something. Roger - I can manage this! I assume. Will go give it a try.

Thanks Harry, for the pointer, and Thanks Ripplinger for spelling it out in post #6.

badgoodDeb · 08-12-2015, 02:53 PM

Should I delete the otherwise identical copy of the book from the Kindle first, before I send it down again with a new title? (Having read some issues about people not being about to delete books...). I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do so.

HarryT · 08-12-2015, 03:00 PM

Probably best to delete it first. I always do so when I update a book on my Kindle.

Almamida · 08-12-2015, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barryem

I don't read series books as a rule so I don't have this issue but I think if I did what I'd do is prefix the title with some sort of identifier. Something like "HP19-Harry Potter Marries the Hulk".

[...]
Barry

Do you know were I can buy this book ?

By the way, thanks for this thread, I learned how to manage my Series on my Kindle easily thanks to you.

badgoodDeb · 08-12-2015, 04:01 PM

Ooo - marvelous! I tried it on a few that were already non-DRMed (bought elsewhere) and already in Calibre. Deleted them first, then redownloaded. The Kindle actually remembered the Cloud labels they had had, and dropped them into the correct Cloud folders. So now, they are not only labeled with titled which tell me the correct order, but when I have previously placed the "next up" book into a "read next" Cloud collection, it still shows up there!! But with a new title, telling me where it is in the series.

Very cool!

I don't, however, look forward to the downloading and deDRMing of books that I haven't already done that to. Maybe a little at a time.

badgoodDeb · 08-12-2015, 04:49 PM

Hmmm. But on another series, the change only "took affect" on 2 out of 8 titles. I wonder why the others wouldn't let themselves be labeled with the series & order. I *did* delete and re-download them. Twice.

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08-12-2015, 02:30 AM	#16
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,284 Karma: 101696762 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	Having a small library and/or adding a couple of books at a time does allow one to keep things neat and orderly. However, when adding dozens of books in one sitting things get backed up due to time and CPU constraints. Fortunately, many books now have the series number in the title. So I have no need to fill in the series field.

08-12-2015, 02:57 AM	#17
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Although, as you say, many books do indeed have series information in the title, it's rarely in a consistent or "sortable" format. It tends to be placed after the book title which means that it can't be used to sort a series into the correct order. Personally, as a part of my routine of adding a book to my Calibre library, I edit the book's metadata, delete the series name from the title (if it's there) and fill in the series name and number. I regard editing the metadata as essential, since in my experience a significant proportion of books come with incorrect or badly-formatted metadata.

08-12-2015, 04:02 AM	#18
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	I do the same as HarryT... whenever I buy a book, I add it into Calibre and immediately edit the metadata. Otherwise the entire Calibre library is pretty useless for searching, especially if you prefer to sort by series, which I do a lot to find which books I'm missing. Titles as originally downloaded are very inconsistent as HarryT mentioned, and that pretty much drives me nuts. I do this as routine whether I add 1 book or 2 dozen books at once. I may not do all 2 dozen books at once, but do a few during the day here and there and it really doesn't take much time at all if you're consistent about it.

08-12-2015, 04:23 AM	#19
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,284 Karma: 101696762 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	Again, the workflow you described is easily doable with a few books. Earlier this year I added 3000 Kindle books at one time plus I add hundreds each month. As you said, they all have incorrect or missing metadata most has to be added manually. The DRM has to be removed. Duplicates deleted. Files backed up. In addition, each day I check Amazon for newly added free ebooks . Some days there are over 1000 to scan through. So I can understand when someone doesn't have a perfectly organized Calibre library.

08-12-2015, 04:50 AM	#20
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Having had a Calibre library that was a real mess a few years ago, I made a fresh start some years back and took meticulous care to get everything right. I can fully understand that if you do add hundreds of books a month this may not be feasible; I made the personal decision some time ago not to bother with most "freebies": life is too short to have a library most of which I'll never want to read. Although I have a reasonably large Calibre library (about 6000 or so books) they are all books that I know I have a fair chance of actually wanting to read at some point in the future, although I know that I'll never read most of them. I agree with Ripplinger that a Calibre library with poor metadata is of very limited use, so for me getting my metadata right as I add books is essential, but obviously whatever works for each of us personally is what's important. The larger your library is, the more important it is to have decent metadata.

08-12-2015, 07:43 AM	#21
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	I started using Calibre from the start when I got my first ereader, so I've never had a backlog of 1000s of books to be added at once. If I did, I'd probably just add them all to remove DRM, and after that point do any newly purchased books correctly with always editing the metadata. Then I'd slowly whittle away at the backlog, doing a little here and there each day until I caught up, even if it took a year. I only buy what I know I'm interested in reading though. I get a lot of freebies off Amazon as well, but if it's not something I want to read, I don't download it, even it's free. I already have more than I can read in probably 4 lifetimes.

08-12-2015, 02:22 PM	#23
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	I don't read series books as a rule so I don't have this issue but I think if I did what I'd do is prefix the title with some sort of identifier. Something like "HP19-Harry Potter Marries the Hulk". A long time ago when I was listening to audiobooks on MP3 players I'd break up the files into 14 minute segments and name them like that. This was in the days before MP3 players had reliable resume or bookmark features. It let me sort them in order. Not quite the same thing, i know, but it would work for books in series, too. Barry

08-12-2015, 02:35 PM	#24
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Deb, Ripplinger gave good instructions on how to set up a plugboard in post #6 in this thread. Basically all you do is add the plugboard to Calibre and make sure that Calibre's metadata for your books includes the series name and number. Then, when you send the book to your Kindle from Calibre, the book's title will be modified by the plugboard to add the series information to it. Try it - it's one of those things that's easier to do than to describe .

08-12-2015, 02:40 PM	#25
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,543 Karma: 64201357 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Oh-I thought I had to install a "plugboard" package or something. Roger - I can manage this! I assume. Will go give it a try. Thanks Harry, for the pointer, and Thanks Ripplinger for spelling it out in post #6.

08-12-2015, 02:53 PM	#26
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,543 Karma: 64201357 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Should I delete the otherwise identical copy of the book from the Kindle first, before I send it down again with a new title? (Having read some issues about people not being about to delete books...). I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do so.

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08-12-2015, 03:00 PM	#27
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Probably best to delete it first. I always do so when I update a book on my Kindle.

08-12-2015, 04:01 PM	#29
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,543 Karma: 64201357 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Ooo - marvelous! I tried it on a few that were already non-DRMed (bought elsewhere) and already in Calibre. Deleted them first, then redownloaded. The Kindle actually remembered the Cloud labels they had had, and dropped them into the correct Cloud folders. So now, they are not only labeled with titled which tell me the correct order, but when I have previously placed the "next up" book into a "read next" Cloud collection, it still shows up there!! But with a new title, telling me where it is in the series. Very cool! I don't, however, look forward to the downloading and deDRMing of books that I haven't already done that to. Maybe a little at a time.

08-12-2015, 04:49 PM	#30
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,543 Karma: 64201357 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Hmmm. But on another series, the change only "took affect" on 2 out of 8 titles. I wonder why the others wouldn't let themselves be labeled with the series & order. I did delete and re-download them. Twice.