Looking for an E-book Indexing / Inventory / Cataloging Program - Page 6

kovidgoyal · 10-19-2007, 08:24 PM

Umm is there some reason you dont want to use libprs500?

JSWolf · 10-20-2007, 09:37 AM

Can libprs500 take an ISBN code and go out on the net and have a lookup of the info?

kovidgoyal · 10-20-2007, 12:38 PM

Not yet, but that will be an easy feature to implement.

Evadman · 10-21-2007, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Umm is there some reason you dont want to use libprs500?

Because I didn't see it. I will check it out tonight. But to JSWolf's point, data entry is the bane of any cataloging software. Without an auto lookup feature, it may as well be worthless, especially for me. Since my cataloging 'program' right now is a thousand directories separated by who owns it (Some books are for work, and thus work owns the book in reality so I can not loan them out, etc) or by category or by author, doing data entry is not going to happen. Obviously on quite a few of my personal books there is not an ISBN code since the book was never published and I will need to do some data entry when and where I feel like it, but the title and file directory location such can still be pulled from the book.

My ebook Directory (copy paste to address bar or you will get bad referrer graphic) And yes, it is on a RAID 5 NAS device that is tape backup'd.

Evadman · 10-21-2007, 05:14 PM

weird, my post said a moderator needed to review it. anyway, when it shows up this will make more sense :P

I installed libprs500, and started playing with it. got some errors on installing the drivers, which I assume are for direct accessing the reader. that explains why the program shows my reader as having more memory than it actually does, and that my card has 0 bytes free when there is actually about 900 mb free.

the metadata edit is a nice feature, that is one of the things I was looking for. It was a pain creating batch files to edit the metadata for bulk files. Metadata is, and will always be, one of the most important parts of any electronic file. Be it a picture, MP3, ebook, database, whatever. The best tool I have found for editing metadata is for MP3's and called 'ID3 TagIT'; All it does is metadata. We need a tool like that for ebooks, where you can take a file, add, modify or find (aka ping library of congress, amazon, whatever) whatever metadata you need, and store it with the file. Obviously this will take a good amount of work, since there is no defacto standard for ebook metadata, though lit probably is the closest. that means there are quite a few different standards the metadata tool must be able to use.

<edit>
Actually, it doesn't edit the metadata, it just looks like it does. I edited the metadata for author on about 40 ebooks in lit format, converted to lrf, and the author did not change. I checked the lit file, and that too is the same, the change I made did not actualy get transfered tot he file, dispite the tool saying the author is now who I specified.
</edit>

integrating the sony reader access into the tool is a damn nice touch as well, it just doesn't work for me. Which is just fine, I don't use the internal memory, as the size is a joke. With how much memory costs these days, ($8 a gig or so) there should be a few gb easily in the reader itself. I just swap microsd cards.

Improvements I can see:
Remove the 'bulk convert' from the menu if it doesn't work. That just makes users angry :P
As near as I can tell, there are only the 6 fields that can be sorted in a collection. (title, author, size, date, rating, publisher) there needs to be user defined fields and values. Something like the tags that you have implemented, but that looks to only be searchable. Along the same lines, there needs to be a 'location' field where the file structure is mirrored in the tool, or the tool makes the file structure, or options to make the tool do that (mirror or make file structure) as most users will already have some kind of structure. Few will have a thousand ebooks in the same directory

The book cover is not read from lit files. The default image is displayed.

There is an ampersand in front of the 'rating' label on the metadata page

adding a book (or set of books) takes a long time. Based on my admitidly brief calculations, it would take about 900 days to add my entire collection if I were to do it in bulk. I doubt it would take that long, as the time probably scales reverse logarithmetically, especially being written in python.

There are usability enhancements that would greatly increase the pen of the tool. The help needs to be more robust. There is not enough information on how to do specific tasks, or, if it is there, it is non-intuitive to find.

Best tool I found so far though

kovidgoyal · 10-21-2007, 06:21 PM

It's an open source effort, which means you're welcome to jump in. Submit a few patches, and once I know I can trust your code, I'll give you svn access.

A lot of the issues you raised already have open tickets and I will get around to them when I get time. If there aren't already tickets, open new ones. :-)

It doesn't save the changed metadata to the file it keeps it in the database. Mainly because I don't have the time to write metadata editing routines for all the various ebook formats. At them moment there is write support only for RTF and LRF (though it doesn't actually edit the metadata when saving to disk, i haven't got around to implementing the hooks).

Evadman · 10-21-2007, 08:22 PM

I would contribute, but I don't know python. Languages I know

kovidgoyal · 10-22-2007, 11:08 AM

Well there are other ways to help. Bug reports and documentation. Also python is really easy to learn, and a rewarding experience as well :-)

JSWolf · 10-22-2007, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evadman

Because I didn't see it. I will check it out tonight. But to JSWolf's point, data entry is the bane of any cataloging software. Without an auto lookup feature, it may as well be worthless, especially for me. Since my cataloging 'program' right now is a thousand directories separated by who owns it (Some books are for work, and thus work owns the book in reality so I can not loan them out, etc) or by category or by author, doing data entry is not going to happen. Obviously on quite a few of my personal books there is not an ISBN code since the book was never published and I will need to do some data entry when and where I feel like it, but the title and file directory location such can still be pulled from the book.

The features I want or need is the ability to look up a book from the ISBN and possibly fill in a desctription. The ability to specify multiple formats for the book LRF, LIT, PRC, HC, PB, HTML, etc.. depends on how many copies I have. specifiying which file is the source used to convert if it's not DRM and I did convert it, DRM or not DRM, a description field so I can know what the book is other then forgetting, cover image, if I've read it or not, and for each format where it's stored, if it's an ebook, the ability to click format and get it to load if that's setup properly. I'm not being too picky I hope.

Quote:

My ebook Directory (copy paste to address bar or you will get bad referrer graphic) And yes, it is on a RAID 5 NAS device that is tape backup'd.

I did the copy/paste and it still didn't work. Why not just attach the image?

kovidgoyal · 10-22-2007, 11:38 AM

I'm working on a lookup feature that should allow you to look up book metadata based on ISBN or author/title/publisher information. It requires a free account at isbndb.com

igorsk · 10-22-2007, 02:14 PM

Try also Amazon. You can use ISBN as ASIN.
There's even a Python wrapper: http://code.google.com/p/boto/ Except it doesn't support ECS at the moment...

kovidgoyal · 10-22-2007, 02:38 PM

Thanks, that's a good tip.

FixB · 11-13-2007, 02:11 PM

Is this feature (ISBN lookup for metada) functional on the latest (0.4.20) release?
Each time I've tried it, I got the following message :

Quote:

'NoneType' object is unsubscriptable
Detailed traceback:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "libprs500\gui2\dialogs\fetch_metadata.pyo", line 129, in fetch_metadata
File "libprs500\ebooks\metadata\isbndb.pyo", line 130, in create_books
File "libprs500\ebooks\metadata\isbndb.pyo", line 43, in fetch_metadata
TypeError: 'NoneType' object is unsubscriptable

Should I create a Ticket for this, or did I do something wrong ?
Thanks !

kovidgoyal · 11-13-2007, 02:21 PM

Yeah its functional. Create a ticket. EDIT: Actually it's already fixed in svn :-) But I'm curious what query caused this error.

EDIT2: That error is almost certainly cause by an incorrect key

PhilT · 11-13-2007, 03:21 PM

Sounds like a job for Ruby on Rails and Amazon Webservices (for the lookup). Once I actually get my book reader I might look into it. Shouldn't be too hard to do as long as Amazons webservice does what I think it does (Allows you to look up books).

EDIT: isbndb.com - Missed the post about this. Looks ideal.

10-21-2007, 05:14 PM	#80
Evadman Member Posts: 10 Karma: 30 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	weird, my post said a moderator needed to review it. anyway, when it shows up this will make more sense :P I installed libprs500, and started playing with it. got some errors on installing the drivers, which I assume are for direct accessing the reader. that explains why the program shows my reader as having more memory than it actually does, and that my card has 0 bytes free when there is actually about 900 mb free. the metadata edit is a nice feature, that is one of the things I was looking for. It was a pain creating batch files to edit the metadata for bulk files. Metadata is, and will always be, one of the most important parts of any electronic file. Be it a picture, MP3, ebook, database, whatever. The best tool I have found for editing metadata is for MP3's and called 'ID3 TagIT'; All it does is metadata. We need a tool like that for ebooks, where you can take a file, add, modify or find (aka ping library of congress, amazon, whatever) whatever metadata you need, and store it with the file. Obviously this will take a good amount of work, since there is no defacto standard for ebook metadata, though lit probably is the closest. that means there are quite a few different standards the metadata tool must be able to use. <edit> Actually, it doesn't edit the metadata, it just looks like it does. I edited the metadata for author on about 40 ebooks in lit format, converted to lrf, and the author did not change. I checked the lit file, and that too is the same, the change I made did not actualy get transfered tot he file, dispite the tool saying the author is now who I specified. </edit> integrating the sony reader access into the tool is a damn nice touch as well, it just doesn't work for me. Which is just fine, I don't use the internal memory, as the size is a joke. With how much memory costs these days, ($8 a gig or so) there should be a few gb easily in the reader itself. I just swap microsd cards. Improvements I can see: Remove the 'bulk convert' from the menu if it doesn't work. That just makes users angry :P As near as I can tell, there are only the 6 fields that can be sorted in a collection. (title, author, size, date, rating, publisher) there needs to be user defined fields and values. Something like the tags that you have implemented, but that looks to only be searchable. Along the same lines, there needs to be a 'location' field where the file structure is mirrored in the tool, or the tool makes the file structure, or options to make the tool do that (mirror or make file structure) as most users will already have some kind of structure. Few will have a thousand ebooks in the same directory The book cover is not read from lit files. The default image is displayed. There is an ampersand in front of the 'rating' label on the metadata page adding a book (or set of books) takes a long time. Based on my admitidly brief calculations, it would take about 900 days to add my entire collection if I were to do it in bulk. I doubt it would take that long, as the time probably scales reverse logarithmetically, especially being written in python. There are usability enhancements that would greatly increase the pen of the tool. The help needs to be more robust. There is not enough information on how to do specific tasks, or, if it is there, it is non-intuitive to find. Best tool I found so far though Last edited by Evadman; 10-21-2007 at 06:01 PM. Reason: See <edit> tag.

10-22-2007, 02:14 PM	#86
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Try also Amazon. You can use ISBN as ASIN. There's even a Python wrapper: http://code.google.com/p/boto/ Except it doesn't support ECS at the moment... Last edited by igorsk; 10-22-2007 at 02:28 PM.

11-13-2007, 02:21 PM	#89
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Yeah its functional. Create a ticket. EDIT: Actually it's already fixed in svn :-) But I'm curious what query caused this error. EDIT2: That error is almost certainly cause by an incorrect key Last edited by kovidgoyal; 11-13-2007 at 02:27 PM.

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10-19-2007, 08:24 PM	#76
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Umm is there some reason you dont want to use libprs500?

10-20-2007, 09:37 AM	#77
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,897 Karma: 128597114 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Can libprs500 take an ISBN code and go out on the net and have a lookup of the info?

10-20-2007, 12:38 PM	#78
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Not yet, but that will be an easy feature to implement.

10-21-2007, 06:21 PM	#81
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	It's an open source effort, which means you're welcome to jump in. Submit a few patches, and once I know I can trust your code, I'll give you svn access. A lot of the issues you raised already have open tickets and I will get around to them when I get time. If there aren't already tickets, open new ones. :-) It doesn't save the changed metadata to the file it keeps it in the database. Mainly because I don't have the time to write metadata editing routines for all the various ebook formats. At them moment there is write support only for RTF and LRF (though it doesn't actually edit the metadata when saving to disk, i haven't got around to implementing the hooks).

10-21-2007, 08:22 PM	#82
Evadman Member Posts: 10 Karma: 30 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Sony Reader PRS-500	I would contribute, but I don't know python. Languages I know

10-22-2007, 11:08 AM	#83
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Well there are other ways to help. Bug reports and documentation. Also python is really easy to learn, and a rewarding experience as well :-)

10-22-2007, 11:38 AM	#85
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	I'm working on a lookup feature that should allow you to look up book metadata based on ISBN or author/title/publisher information. It requires a free account at isbndb.com

10-22-2007, 02:38 PM	#87
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Thanks, that's a good tip.

11-13-2007, 03:21 PM	#90
PhilT Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: iRex iLiad	Sounds like a job for Ruby on Rails and Amazon Webservices (for the lookup). Once I actually get my book reader I might look into it. Shouldn't be too hard to do as long as Amazons webservice does what I think it does (Allows you to look up books). EDIT: isbndb.com - Missed the post about this. Looks ideal.

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