New Calibre User (Adding Groups)

[dreamtuned]

Hi there,

Calibre is an awesome software that keeps my 1000+ ebooks organized. I am really happy that I've found it.

I am still new to Calibre so I would like to ask if anyone knows how I can put my foreign (non English) books in different category? That is, is it possible to create different groups, like for example "English books", "French books", etc.; so when I click on the group on the main window I would have only books from that group visible.

Thank you all.

[Sirtel]

There are several ways to do it. Virtual libraries is one, saved searches is another. I think the virtual libraries option would suit your purpose better.

[dreamtuned]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

There are several ways to do it. Virtual libraries is one, saved searches is another. I think the virtual libraries option would suit your purpose better.

Hi Sirtel, thanks for the answer.

I've created virtual library "Russian Books" but when I add books they go automatically to the previous "All" window and there is none in the Russian Books library. How I can put them there?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by dreamtuned

Hi Sirtel, thanks for the answer.

I've created virtual library "Russian Books" but when I add books they go automatically to the previous "All" window and there is none in the Russian Books library. How I can put them there?

Do you use a specific tag for the Russian Virtual Library? If so, then you have to add this tag to any book you want in this library. You can add the tag to multiple books at once. Just select all the books you want in the virtual library and click "Edit Metadata".

[theducks]

Originally Posted by dreamtuned

Hi Sirtel, thanks for the answer.

I've created virtual library "Russian Books" but when I add books they go automatically to the previous "All" window and there is none in the Russian Books library. How I can put them there?

'All' is the REAL llibrary. A 'virtual library' is just a filtered View of that.
The great feature of a VL, is it behaves as if it was separate.
EXAMPLE, DO NOT DO.
If you select All (ctrl-A) in a VL, then del all those go away (deleted) from the 'All' library, but not any that did not appear in the one you removed all the books.

Context Menus (when more than one item selected), have additional choices for All, or just the VL

[BetterRed]

Assuming books have language specified in the metadata (most do, if not they should), then make the French Virtual Library search expression languages:"=French" etc. Might worth doing a search for languages:false in All Books, that will list books with no language setting.

No point in polluting the subject tags with things for which there is a Dublin Core metadata element -- like Language, Publisher etc.

A books Language setting is also used elsewhere, you wouldn't want to spell check Анна Каренина against an English or French dictionary .

BR

[dreamtuned]

Thank you all for the recommendations.

What I've did (at least it works for me for now) is I've created Virtual Libraries of the title: Russian Books, French Books, German Books, etc., and in the search expression I put " Russian", "French", "German". Then I tagged all those books appropriately with the same "russian-french-german" tag and now when I open the "Russian" virtual library I have only russian books because of the tag.

This may not be an ideal solution, but it works for me for now until I learn more about the program.

Thank you all once again.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Assuming books have language specified in the metadata (most do, if not they should), then make the French Virtual Library search expression languages:"=French" etc. Might worth doing a search for languages:false in All Books, that will list books with no language setting.

No point in polluting the subject tags with things for which there is a Dublin Core metadata element -- like Language, Publisher etc.

A books Language setting is also used elsewhere, you wouldn't want to spell check Анна Каренина against an English or French dictionary .

BR

Language in the metadata can be wrong. I've bought some English-language books that had Spanish or even Arabic set in their metadata. You just cannot rely on that.

[BetterRed]

If it's wrong then you change it, complain to the publisher/editor/bookmaker/bookseller, and inform the author. I'd be peeved if my books were being sold with the wrong language in their metadata.

BR

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Language in the metadata can be wrong. I've bought some English-language books that had Spanish or even Arabic set in their metadata. You just cannot rely on that.

If it's wrong, edit it. It's really a good idea to have the language correct, because if the language is set wrongly, dictionary lookup won't work.

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Language in the metadata can be wrong. I've bought some English-language books that had Spanish or even Arabic set in their metadata. You just cannot rely on that.

No matter what field you decide to use (tags, language, whatever) you're going to have to set that data somehow.

Editing the language field to be correct seems like the most logical choice, as that's specifically what it's meant to represent and it has the advantage of often being correct already—and as HarryT points out, because it's well-defined, there are other tools like dictionary lookups that will benefit from setting it properly.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by sjfan

Editing the language field to be correct seems like the most logical choice, as that's specifically what it's meant to represent and it has the advantage of often being correct already—and as HarryT points out, because it's well-defined, there are other tools like dictionary lookups that will benefit from setting it properly.

Plus the fact that the Calibre tag browser has a built-in option to show you a list of languages, so it's very easy to find and correct books whose language setting is wrong. If you find that you have five books whose language field is set to Arabic, for example, click on the "Arabic" heading under language, then "Ctrl+A" to select all the books, "Edit Metadata in Bulk", set the language field to English, and click "OK". Done.