Managing anthologies

[jecilop]

For anyone happening upon this thread from this year 2023, the new link feature in Calibre to which you can add a link to a tag is great for enhancing anthology management when you want an entry for the original book as well as individual entries for each story and author.

I am doing this now with a special library that is primarily like a bunch of anthologies.
I create a tag for the entry/book such as:
Book: Greatest Suspense Anthology 2023 , or
Anth: Greatest Suspense Anthology 2023 , or...
whatever ordered tag system you want....

I apply it to the antho, of course. Then, I apply it to any entry I create for each story from the anthology.. Then, you can click the tag, and it will show all stories and the antho with that tag. If you add a link to the original book, perhaps as a details pop-up, you can click it at any time to reference the antho without going to the antho should that meet your needs as it does perfectly with mine. For example, you may just want blank entries as basic records but not include a bunch of details for each story. You can click the tag link to see details from the original book.

Of note, if an entry is set up like this where it's a record of the individual story but I have to go to the original antho to read it, I have a custom library mgnt column in which I use a basic tag to indicate that I have to cross-reference the story to see or read it. Then, of course, the antho tag is applied for an easy shortcut to the book. Click the tag, it goes to the book and all other entries. Click the link I apply, and it open either details OR you can tell it to go to the entry if that is preferable for your needs.

This has proven particularly helpful when many antho's may contain or reference the same individual story or poem entry. I can take the single entry with multiple antho reference tags.

example entry: title: Lakeside Murders may have tags: Antho: Greatest Suspense Anthology 2023, Antho: Lakeside Stories 1, Antho: Chills and Thrills Vol 1

The only custom column is the one I choose for my individual library management. All else is with existing defaults and managed easily by using a consistent tags system for such books like starting with Antho: or whatever you choose.

I hope this helps someone.

[PaulBeijer]

Thank You Jecilop! This was by far the most helpful answer. I will definitely try this.. Best, Paul