Cataloguing my book collection

[ojwk]

I must have between 2-4k books in my possession and it has got to the stage where I am buying novels from Amazon because I don't know whether I have them already or can't find them.

I've been very impressed with RedLaser and its speed at a barcode reader. I've also noticed that it has the ability to export a list of raw barcode numbers as an email attachment. Line separated values.

Does a Mac application exist that could import that .txt list and load up a 'library' of my books, searching the raw barcode number with some online source to give the title, author and maybe jacket cover image?

It would be cool if I could then enter more information as to where the book was in the house 'upstairs bathroom bookcase' or such.. At present my books are organised aesthetically, that is they are clumped together in contrasting or complementing colours with the walls depending on the room.

Such a mythical app probably doesn't exist but I'd appreciate it if anyone who knew of one (or who could propose a viable alternative aside from rearranging) would let me know.

Thanks.

 

[miles01110]

http://delicious-monster.com/

 

[ergdegdeg]

^ This app does not have the ability to import ISBN lists but it does have a barcode scanner built in. Works quite well. Also, it allows you to add additional information such as the location. The rest of the information is pulled from amazon.

 

[miles01110]

^ This app does not have the ability to import ISBN lists but it does have a barcode scanner built in. Works quite well. Also, it allows you to add additional information such as the location. The rest of the information is pulled from amazon.

The info on importing/exporting is a little vague;

Delicious Library 2’s import helper examines your text files and suggests options, easily snarfing data from a variety of formats.

Export your library to XML, delimited text files, Excel, a variety of standard bibliography formats, or even back to Delicious Library 1 if you’re a masochist.

Delicious Library 2’s native file format is industry-standard sqlite3, and, for hackers, we’ve even included our ‘xcdatamodel’ source, so you can write your own CoreData applications that read Delicious Library 2’s files (if AppleScript isn’t enough).

ISBN search might be tough to come by. Most consumer-level programs probably won't have it because most people don't use the ISBN.

 

[ergdegdeg]

I just tried importing a text file with three ISBN numbers and it just crashed twice. I'm afraid importing the OP's file would probably not work.
Edit: tried it again, this time with a tab delimited file and it worked ok. It just didn't pull any information from the web.

 

[ojwk]

Ahh I may have erroneously thought that these numbers were ISBNs. I think they are actually just barcode numbers.

Thanks for the link, i'll give it a try.

 

[ojwk]

Its kind of frustrating. This is exactly the kind of app I need but its annoying that the import function only relates to existing databases of books etc.. The iSight scanner may be a good option but it does involve moving a lot of books instead of using the iPhone as a kind of mobile handheld barcode reader.

Ah well..

 

[nissan.gtp]

librarything.com

 

[ergdegdeg]

Well, what exactly is a "barcode number"? Is it the number below/above the barcode on the books? This should also be the ISBN, if I remember correctly.

 

[Cameront9]

I've not used this program, so I don't know if it does what you want or not, but an alternative to Delicious Library is BookPedia:

http://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/

 

[dbwie]

If you're not interested in seeing the book covers, etc, on a bookshelf, you can simply use any bibliography software to catalog your books. For example, you can use EndNote X3 (http://www.endnote.com). It can connect to the Library of Congress online where you can bring up reference information for just about any book (including out of print) by searching for author, title, ISBN, etc, and save it to your EndNote library.

You can import and export in a variety of formats. I have imported books from Delicious Library into EndNote before. There is a free alternative to EndNote, called Bibdesk, which may be able to do the same thing.

EDIT: after reading the original post more closely... cannot use a barcode scanner with these apps, to the best of my knowledge. However, you can add notes or attached files (e.g. your books location, etc) in the reference, and the references are searchable in spotlight)