Comments on: Online Organization: One More Thing I Need to Do

By: Gale

Gale — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:34:42 +0000

Hi Katie Mack you are not alone. I’m still tracking data in Excel, but like you I continually add new categories or data items I want to track. I love filtering the data on several criteria such as DIKs, ratings, series, periods, etc. Like you I get a lot of enjoyment from managing the data. My latest effort (and I’ll agree I’m probably a little weird, too) is I did a physical inventory of just over 4,000 books (yep, I’m also packrat) adding a condition rating for each. This turned into a great opportunity for sorting and organizing – which is still a work-in-process. My husband keeps suggesting I convert to MS Access, but my Access skills don’t compete with the flexibility of Excel.

By: KristieJ

KristieJ — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:03:17 +0000

I have an account at LibraryThing, Shelfari and Goodreads as well as an excel spreadsheet I’ve have for over ten years now. For information gathering, nothing beats the excel spreadsheet. As for the online sites, LibraryThing is my favourite.

By: Kara

Kara — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:12:28 +0000

Victoria…it is really easy to use…it downloads all the info on the book (even the cover). Then it gives you the ability to alter the info, add your own, add tags, comments, notes, etc.

By: marcella

marcella — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 08:16:52 +0000

I’ve had my books listed in a spreadsheet for years, but since discovering Shelfari 2-3 years ago, I’ve been adding less and less data to the spreadsheet. I just love Shelfari, it’s almost as addictive as collecting & reading books.

By: Katie Mack

Katie Mack — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 03:49:48 +0000

LOL, Gail and Elysa

By: LeeB.

LeeB. — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 01:09:04 +0000

I track the books I read on spreadsheets, which comes in very handy when filling out the AAR annual poll.

And I do have books I’ve read on Shelfari, but just the ones I really liked. It is nice to see the covers.

By: Victoria S

Victoria S — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:55:31 +0000

I recently found Shelfari and fell in love. I am soooooooo computer illerate, and even I find it easy to use. One of my favorite features is the “Series”. So I know if I’m missing any book in any given series.

Kara: that Book Collectors program sounds like fun. I may have to look into that.

By: Elysa

Elysa — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:58:02 +0000

I do not like computers very much – technology makes me feel stupid – so I do all of my organizing manually (besides actually touching and smelling books is fun for me). Also, several circumstances make it unnecessary for me to keep track of my books electronically.

Before I graduated in May, my books lived in 4 plastic containers and whatever flat surface I could find – which was most of my room. Because I had to travel back and forth between home and college, I had to choose which books went to school with me (I only had room in my truck and ultimately my dorm for 3 of the plastic containers). Inevitably, I came home every semester with more books than I started out with.

Consequently, I got to know each book through several re-sortings and packings. Also, because space was at a premium and I re-read all the time, I have gotten much better at trading in, giving away, or donating books that I know I will never read again.

As a graduation present my mom bought me some really nice wall to wall glass-fronted bookcases. For now I still have some space in there – probably not for long though. I keep everything in there sorted alphbetically by author and then in chronological order with single titles and series separated from each other. Thankfully, once I read just about anything, it remains in my head forever so I do not really need a computer program to help me keep track of what I read, like and have a desire to buy.

Katie Mack –
If it makes you feel any better, my mom made fun of me for a week because she came home from work one night and saw me sitting on my bed just staring at the magnificence of my bookshelf after I had finally put them together an got my books organized in them. And I agree with Gail, if I ever decide to do a tech upgrade in organization I’m inviting you over.

By: Gail

Gail — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:35:20 +0000

I recently started using Excel just to record how many books I am reading (and re-reading) each year because when it was time to vote on the AAR Poll for 2009 I couldn’t remember who I liked best in each category.

I usually get bored typing all the data in and go read a book, but I’m going to check out Shelfari today. I think what I really need is Katie Mack to come to my house

By: Kara

Kara — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:30:28 +0000

I use Shelfari online…and also an Excel spreadsheet. I recently purchased a program called Book Collectors and am currently transferring my library into that database…this way I can run custom reports and see what I own and even add my TBR list to it.

I am still discovering new things with Shelfari that I really like.