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Need LOTS of Book Organizational HELP Needed (Going FULL GEEK here)
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I solved this problem by not letting people in the house.I'm only sorta joking.
Depending on how many average-sized books fit on a shelf, I'd skip the position indicator. It's gonna end up being high maintenance, which increases the odds of stuff not getting done.
Christa wrote: "I solved this problem by not letting people in the house.I'm only sorta joking."
:-D
*sings*
Have I told you
lately
that I love you
Christa wrote: "I solved this problem by not letting people in the house.I'm only sorta joking.
Depending on how many average-sized books fit on a shelf, I'd skip the position indicator. It's gonna end up being..."
That makes sense. So, in a sense, It would be the same process BUT instead of P=Position, I stick with just the shelf number? Sort of combining the two?
So...
BC1EFS1 = Bookcase 1 Epic Fantasy shelf 1
BC2EUFS3 = Bookcase 2 Epic & Urban Fantasy Shelf 3
like that?
That WOULD give more room for growth - and less re-work requirements.
Yeah, like that. It should still be specific enough that it won't take you ages to find out what's missing if need be, and it'll be a lot less to keep up with as things grow and change.
Christa wrote: "Yeah, like that. It should still be specific enough that it won't take you ages to find out what's missing if need be, and it'll be a lot less to keep up with as things grow and change."Yeah. I'll only have to clean up about 100 book locations right now - which is good.
So I was talking with my cousin about this last night. She asked why (my brother and I) prefer "geek" over "nerd." Then proclaimed me (us) "Nerdy Geeks," lol. I can work with that. ;)
She then asked me if my library was in alphabetical order.
No.
Is it in order by genre?
...Not quite...
Well, how is it organized??
By favorite author - then genre.
*strangled noises*
She then tells me that it's hopeless but she agrees with Christa that putting position in was a terrible idea that would only cause agony later.
We also mused if I should try the dewy decimal system...but both agreed it was too much for such a small library.
LOLDewey offers little for fiction anyway, for folks like us that wouldn't be happy with mere alphabetizing. :D
Christa wrote: "LOLDewey offers little for fiction anyway, for folks like us that wouldn't be happy with mere alphabetizing. :D"
IKR??!
OK, this is what I've come up with so far. What do yall think?Code Creation
Position 1 B = Bookcase
Position 2 Bookcase number (1-5)
Position 3-5 Bookcase code (EFF, EUF, USY, RNF, & MNS)
Position 6 S= Shelf
Position 7 Shelf number (1-5)
So This:
EUFS2P1 The Death of the Necromancer
EUFS2P2 Stories of the Raksura vol 1
EUFS2P3 Stories of the Raksura vol 2
EUFS2P4 The Serpent Sea
EUFS2P5 Shadowshaper
EUFS2P6 Three Parts Dead
EUFS2P7 Elfhome
would turn into
B2EUFS2 The Death of the Necromancer
B2EUFS2 Stories of the Raksura vol 1
B2EUFS2 Stories of the Raksura vol 2
B2EUFS2 The Serpent Sea
B2EUFS2 Shadowshaper
B2EUFS2 Three Parts Dead
B2EUFS2 Elfhome
Now all the codes are the same for books on the same shelf.
I can admit that this doesn't quite hit my sweet spot... but it's better... Right?
Isn't this a redundant? Position 2 Bookcase number (1-5)
Position 3-5 Bookcase code (EFF, EUF, USY, RNF, & MNS)
If you have 5 bookcases why do they need both a number and a code?
I also wonder what you will do if your favorite author releases a new series that is outlined at 20 books or you find a new author that becomes a favorite and has 6x 5 book series that need to be added to your shelves. According to your organization, you would put them near the front of that genre which would move EVERYTHING else down. I would have a problem with that.
Yeah, that IS redundant. But I wanted to drill down and be specific. IDK, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Any good suggestions.
I'm not too concerned about my very favorite author - she died quite a few years ago - but I do understand what you mean. I've been re-evaluating book locations and rearranging lately. But this would be the first "full scale" change I've made in at least 5-6 years. Things would drastically change if I can win the "I need moar books" / "no you don't" war. But that's a constant battle and a different conversation.
MrsJoseph wrote: "Yeah, that IS redundant. But I wanted to drill down and be specific. IDK, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Any good suggestions.
I'm not too concerned about my very favorite author - she d..."
Honestly, I don't even have a bookcase anymore* so this isn't something I have given a lot of thought too. I just know that having to relabel them when I added books would really bother me.
I would much rather relabel the shelves than relabel the books so for me a system where I label the shelves with what they are supposed to have rather than labeling the books with where they belong would be better.
I keep track of my ebooks in a Google spreadsheet (and here) but I don't organize them at all on my Kindle anymore since I don't keep most of them on it (and they monkeyed with how to organize things last year or the year before - I really hated the change), just a dozen or so that I may want to read at a time. Most things cycle through fairly fast.
* My favorite paper books are in boxes in a closet; I haven't been willing to get rid of them yet but I doubt I will ever read the paper copies again. I have most in e-book form now anyway. I gave most of the rest of my collection away a couple years ago (when we needed nursery space) and I haven't missed them.
Dazrin wrote: "Honestly, I don't even have a bookcase anymore* so this isn't something I have given a lot of thought too. I just know that having to relabel them when I added books would really bother me.I would much rather relabel the shelves than relabel the books so for me a system where I label the shelves with what they are supposed to have rather than labeling the books with where they belong would be better."
I can't imagine not having a bookcase - and as I get older I find myself reading more DTBs.
I honestly collect books like they claim other women collect clothes, shoes & purses. I like to sit in the room they're in and just look at them. It makes me feel calm and happy.
Weird, aren't I? LOL
So. How does this look?Code Creation
Position 1-3 Bookcase code (EFF, EUF, USY, RNF, & MNS)
Position 4 Bookcase number (1-5)
Position 5 S= Shelf
Position 6 Shelf number (1-5)
Position 7 book number (assigned when added to library - will go no higher than number of books on shelf)
So this:
EFS1P18 Ciara's Song
EUFS1P14 Shadow Blade
Would turn into this:
EFF1S118 Ciara's Song
EUF2S114 Shadow Blade
With the understanding that the numbers currently assigned as book number are the ones they already had and any NEW books (like The Dragonriders of Pern which I purchased yesterday) would have a more random book number assigned.
I haven't decided where to shelve Dragonriders as I am not sure what it is besides Fantasy. From the GR shelves it appears not to be YA but the idea reminds me so much of Mercedes Lackey's work(s) that I've been giving thought to putting it on my EFF shelf.
BUT
I have other books by McCaffery that are SF (brainship). And 1 other book about Pern that I also haven't read. That makes me want to shelve her in my SFF section. Right now I have her shelved with Lackey because I have another book that they wrote together.
My cousin told me I need to talk to a librarian, lol.
MrsJoseph wrote: "I haven't decided where to shelve Dragonriders as I am not sure what it is besides Fantasy. From the GR shelves it appears not to be YA but the idea reminds me so much of Mercedes Lackey's work(s) that I've been giving thought to putting it on my EFF shelf.BUT
I have other books by McCaffery that are SF (brainship). And 1 other book about Pern that I also haven't read. That makes me want to shelve her in my SFF section. Right now I have her shelved with Lackey because I have another book that they wrote together. "
Well, the Pern books are science fiction not fantasy anyway, so I would go for the SF section personally. ;)
(view spoiler)
LOL! You're RIGHT. I recall those JOn's reactions, lol. Also, I did read somewhere that the author considers them SF because they started that way.
I'll let her do her thing, lol.
Andre Norton's Witch World started the exact same way - as SF - but she totally turned it into a mostly Fantasy series.
So, I had a whole thing typed up abut how I used to organize my shelves until it hit me that you are doing this because people steal books from you. Now instead of book cataloging, I'm wondering how you can track down the thief, retrieve your stolen books, and beat the crap out of the person(s) who took them.
Nyssa wrote: "So, I had a whole thing typed up abut how I used to organize my shelves until it hit me that you are doing this because people steal books from you. Now instead of book cataloging, I'm wondering ho..."I wish!!
But in the meantime, I'm gonna catalog the HELL out of my books - so I can make a printout to do a nightly/after visit book check.
By shelf and by case.
So, how does this sound?Code Creation
Position 1 B= Bookcase
Position 2 Bookcase number (1-5)
Position 3 S= Shelf
Position 4 Shelf number (1-5)
Position 5-7 N = book number (assigned when added to library - will go no higher than number of books on shelf)
So THIS: B1S1N18 = Bookcase #1, shelf #1, numbered 18 = Ciara's Song
I'm trying to decide to count # of books on a shelf or # of books in a case.
So, here I am putting in my NEW book codes when I realize that I've already found the fatal flaw: numbering the books. I wanted to be able to SEE what number of books were on a shelf (so if I spot an empty spot I just count and go).
This is not going to work because when I add books, I have to count each time and look it up. Not a good look - it would require me to keep two location lists: one in Book Collectorz and one in Excel.
I guess I really DO have to take away all individual identifiers. :-(
This makes me so incredibly sad.
As some of you know, I hate people.
Unfortunately, this cold, cruel world is full of people. And occasionally these people come into my home.
They wander around with their dirty eyes and look at my books. Never satisfied, they then feel the need to put their hands on my books! They TOUCH them. O_O
Worse yet, they move my books around and sometimes they STEAL them.
So. After this last batch of people came into my home, I was left with a library in ruins. Someone smeared curry juice on a [public] library book. Thanks for that. Someone (else?) also decided I didn't need all the books I own so they assisted me by relieving me of at least one of them.
Yeah. ):<
Sadly, I have so many books that I can't eyeball a shelf and know WHICH book is missing (unless I'm searching) if it's not part of a series.
So, I've decided to really catalog my library. I'm talking real deal, card catalog type stuff here.
And that's my problem.
The original system I started was rather simple - but I'd forgotten it until recently:
It was:
That didn't work well. I needed to drill down further, so I came up with:
I LOVED this...
...until I realized that I did not take into account that my library is a living, growing organism that will change in the very near future.
I started putting in "saved" spots for books I already KNOW I'm going to get... but that's not going to work in the long run.
Help?
I really want to get a good system going where I can continue to expand and grow.
I'm using Book Collectorz to notate where each book is located, so I want to not be required to re-do an entire shelf every time I buy a new DTB. Which happens pretty often.
/geekness