Maintenance large library

[tomcooke]

I have a large library(almost 53000 books) which I am trying to organize. I would like one library to hold everything but specialized libraries to hold specific books. I also want to update each of the seperate libraries with any new books plus update the main library. Additionally there is metadata maintenance that needs to be done which is very slow in the main library (several seconds to same per change). Ideally I would like to create small libraries to make metadata changes and then merge those back into the main library.

Is what I describe possible?
What is the best method to accomplish this? Copy out the books and create a new library with them then merge back into the main library? Do I have to delete these books out of the main library when they are split off because the metadata changes might make them look like different books?
or
is it better to do all the work in the main library using a filter to limit the active book view so things work faster and no merging needed later?

This is going to be a lot of work to get really organized so any help at this stage will be greatly appreciated.

Thomas

[Ken Maltby]

First, you might get some more interesting replies on the calibre forum.

What I do is to use the file handling functions built into the OS and organize my library
by folders. Now, one reason for that is that my ereading device is also setup to handle
folder, subfolders, and files.

I have ordered a Kobo Aura HD which appears to use a different approach. So, some
consideration must be given to how you will need your ebooks arranged for your device.

The same is true in relation to how the device will handle Metadata, including if it is used
to sort the ebook listing.

Due to my devices restrictions in file naming conventions and to facilitate changes in a
large directory of files, I have found the free "Oscars Renamer" utility to be of much
value.

http://www.mediachance.com/free/renamer.htm

Luck;
Ken

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by tomcooke

or
is it better to do all the work in the main library using a filter to limit the active book view so things work faster and no merging needed later?

This is going to be a lot of work to get really organized so any help at this stage will be greatly appreciated.

Thomas

Definitely better to use the main library and apply filters. Separate libraries don't communicate with each other, so your maintenance will be much easier with a single library.

What I would do is create a custom column called "library" or "collection" with the type of your choice (if you have a set few collections, I'd just make it a drop-down type populated with the collection names you want), and have it viewable in the tag browser.

Once you have some of your books assigned to these collections, select one in the tag browser, then using the button up in the top right area, save that search. Do this for each collection, and then they will be in the upper left drop down for easy access to the search filters so that you can work on each collection while excluding all others, which is effectively the same as working on a separate library but without the headaches of actually keeping separate libraries updated.

Hope that made sense. I'm on the computer that doesn't have calibre so I'm not looking at it while trying to explain it.

[Ken Maltby]

I just noticed that there is a sub-forum under the calibre forum for Library Maintenance.

Luck;
Ken

[Format C:]

Alfresco.

[Tarana]

I'm in process, because I have the much larger library and genres, but my sister has already completed this.

She has two libraries - main library and SciFi/Fantasy. The Scifi/Fantasy is larger than the main one because that is her primary genre. Any time I give her new ebooks to add, she adds them to the appropriate library. Easy as she only has two choices.

Mine is more complicated because I am 'the keeper of the library' for several family members. I've decided on 3 libraries. Main, Scifi/Fantasy, and mystery/crime/thiller. These groups of genres are easily split because there really isn't any overlap.

I use a transitional library for new acquisitions- this is where I've downloaded and removed DRM and am storing until I get around to downloading the metadata. Then, it goes to its library and I mark it complete.

I also have a personal library where I keep copies of books I've read. Just easier for me.

[yonkyunior]

i'm always check and fixing things per-author.
if i would cleanup whole library, then i just create Target library for it's destination.
53k books really? you wanna cleanup one by one.
i'm thinking your cleanup will download each metadata for each books, including the Library Codes, new updated cover..

if you planning to cleanup in single library, try to max the saved search feature, the readinglist auto tags, and import list.

using importlist feature helps much when i dont know the genre for books, i just search listopia for specific genre, then import the whole list and keep the match and tag it.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by yonkyunior

i'm always check and fixing things per-author.
if i would cleanup whole library, then i just create Target library for it's destination.
53k books really? you wanna cleanup one by one.
i'm thinking your cleanup will download each metadata for each books, including the Library Codes, new updated cover..

if you planning to cleanup in single library, try to max the saved search feature, the readinglist auto tags, and import list.

using importlist feature helps much when i dont know the genre for books, i just search listopia for specific genre, then import the whole list and keep the match and tag it.

Ummm.... the thread you are replying to is over 5 years old and the original poster's last activity was in April, 2013.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Ummm.... the thread you are replying to is over 5 years old and the original poster's last activity was in April, 2013.

Has it been that long?
The problem is probably more common now...?

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Has it been that long?
The problem is probably more common now...?

Yep. I'm in the process of doing maintenance on my audiobook library (ebooks is more or less ok). Over the years, audible has changed formats a couple of times, and use to break larger books up into multiple parts, so I'm going back and downloading my older audiobooks that were broken up so each book is in one file rather than multiple. I sort by name and download a couple of letters worth every few days. Just getting ready to start on M's. There are a lot of M's.

[Tarana]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Yep. I'm in the process of doing maintenance on my audiobook library (ebooks is more or less ok). Over the years, audible has changed formats a couple of times, and use to break larger books up into multiple parts, so I'm going back and downloading my older audiobooks that were broken up so each book is in one file rather than multiple. I sort by name and download a couple of letters worth every few days. Just getting ready to start on M's. There are a lot of M's.

Keep in mind that if you have Ipod Nano's, all but the last 2 may NEED those larger audiobooks broken up. I find books over 20 hours go wonky on a Nano 4th gen. No problem with my newer ones though or the Touch's.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Keep in mind that if you have Ipod Nano's, all but the last 2 may NEED those larger audiobooks broken up. I find books over 20 hours go wonky on a Nano 4th gen. No problem with my newer ones though or the Touch's.

Fortunately, I haven't used a nano in a long time. I'm doing this mostly for database reasons as well as to minimize the number of times I have to go from file to file since the iPhone doesn't support playlists for audible audiobooks anymore.