Cheersdelicious library and booxster
delicious library and booxster
I was just wondering if there are plans for Bookends to have an interface like that of delicious library and Booxster in the future. I love the barcode scan feature from these apps, and I especially like the image file for book covers. Just wondering Cheers
Cheers~I swore to myself that if I ever got to walk around the room as manager people would laugh as they saw me coming and applaud as I walked away~
Hi Danzac,
Bookends is a reference management/bib generation/document creation application. The others you mentioned are for maintaining personal libraries (books, DVDs, CDs, etc.). The Bookends interface is certainly going to evolve, but not in the direction of those apps.
Jon
Sonny Software
P.S. You can of course see downloaded cover art from Amazon by clicking on the Attachment button, but it does open in a separate window.
Bookends is a reference management/bib generation/document creation application. The others you mentioned are for maintaining personal libraries (books, DVDs, CDs, etc.). The Bookends interface is certainly going to evolve, but not in the direction of those apps.
Jon
Sonny Software
P.S. You can of course see downloaded cover art from Amazon by clicking on the Attachment button, but it does open in a separate window.
library managers & reference managers
I bought Delicious Library when it came out. Cool though it is, it strikes me as unfortunate that it can download so much information after reading a barcode but can't export the citation data as BibTeX for import into Bookends or UniWakkaWiki, or whatever. After all, whether I'm keeping track of a book because I own it or because I want to cite it, it's still the same book.
It hadn't occurred to me to think in the opposite direction. I don't see any reason for changing the Bookends interface to resemble Delicious Library, etc., but how about barcode scanning as a possible future enhancement? I'm not sure exactly how much faster that would be than doing an internet search, but it might be an interesting extra option.
It hadn't occurred to me to think in the opposite direction. I don't see any reason for changing the Bookends interface to resemble Delicious Library, etc., but how about barcode scanning as a possible future enhancement? I'm not sure exactly how much faster that would be than doing an internet search, but it might be an interesting extra option.
Hi ricki,
Bookends and DL/Booxster/Books/etc. are really different animals. Bookends if for reference management, bibliography generation, data organization, etc. The others are for keeping track of books/CDs/DVDs/etc. in your personal library. Although superficially similar, these are really different purposes. I'll never say never, but I don't foresee adding bar code scanning to Bookends.
Jon
Sonny Software
Bookends and DL/Booxster/Books/etc. are really different animals. Bookends if for reference management, bibliography generation, data organization, etc. The others are for keeping track of books/CDs/DVDs/etc. in your personal library. Although superficially similar, these are really different purposes. I'll never say never, but I don't foresee adding bar code scanning to Bookends.
Jon
Sonny Software
Reference managers & Library managers
Well, the purpose is different, but as things stand now I buy a book and enter it into Delicious Library with my video camera. Then I want to cite the book and, although I have all the data I need to do so, I have to do another search in Bookends to get hold of it. It's another aspect of the general problem that we keep turning data into text and then someone has to turn it back into data again. I'm thinking for example of formatted bibliographies on the web, where someone has presumably generated output from a database and readers then have to key it all in to their own databases. It looks like with version 8 you've solved this particular problem, but sharing data between applications on the same computer seems still to present a big problem.
I know you can't comment on other developers' work, but in general terms is it a major job for software that already has all the necessary data to export it, in BibTeX for example?
Rick
I know you can't comment on other developers' work, but in general terms is it a major job for software that already has all the necessary data to export it, in BibTeX for example?
Rick
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Tribulatio
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- Location: Switzerland
As I am testing BookEnds and checking if there are ways to grab bibliographical data using barcodes, I come across this discussion, and I should say that I second the wish for being able to scan barcodes. I am fully aware that Booxter and Bookends are different animals, but this does not mean scanning would not be of use for Bookends.
Since I recently bought Booxter (but have not yet undertaken to enter part of my library into it), I have made an attempt to export a few titles and import them into Bookends. Both Text files and BibTex files can easily be exported from Booxter and imported into Bookends - EXCEPT if one has accented characters. In both cases, accented characters are not imported correctly. A pity, since I use many titles in French, Italian, and other accented languages.
If there is any trick in order to allow for an accurate import of accented characters, a short tutorial would be appreciated (maybe it can be found somewhere, since the issue has certainly alreaedy been raised). I am still hesitant about buying Bookends, but I am seriously considering it.
Since I recently bought Booxter (but have not yet undertaken to enter part of my library into it), I have made an attempt to export a few titles and import them into Bookends. Both Text files and BibTex files can easily be exported from Booxter and imported into Bookends - EXCEPT if one has accented characters. In both cases, accented characters are not imported correctly. A pity, since I use many titles in French, Italian, and other accented languages.
If there is any trick in order to allow for an accurate import of accented characters, a short tutorial would be appreciated (maybe it can be found somewhere, since the issue has certainly alreaedy been raised). I am still hesitant about buying Bookends, but I am seriously considering it.
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Tribulatio
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 4:04 pm
- Location: Switzerland
Thank you for your very prompt reply.
Yes, in the meantime, I made a new attempt after checking "Convert from Tex" in the Preferences, but I got garbled characters (or empty space for the French "é") - while the first attempt had inserted the typical Tex codes.
In the Preferences, do I need also to check "Enable BibTex"? And what should be checked in "Import Text Encoding" in the menu? I am sure there is a way to solve that!
Yes, in the meantime, I made a new attempt after checking "Convert from Tex" in the Preferences, but I got garbled characters (or empty space for the French "é") - while the first attempt had inserted the typical Tex codes.
In the Preferences, do I need also to check "Enable BibTex"? And what should be checked in "Import Text Encoding" in the menu? I am sure there is a way to solve that!
You shouldn't need to enable BibTeX for importing. At this point let's leave the forum. Please email me the file you are trying to import:
support@sonnysoftware.com
Jon
Sonny Software
support@sonnysoftware.com
Jon
Sonny Software
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Tribulatio
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2006 4:04 pm
- Location: Switzerland
Books! (an open source, personal library management program)
Just as a follow-up, for anyone interested:
After reading this post, I realized that it was best to stop using up precious user-defined fields in Bookends to use for "Borrower", "Borrowed Date", "Location of Book", etc ... i.e. for library management purposes.
I have a particular need, which is that the program be unicode friendly, and be able to import and export such references/books easily, so that what I already have typed into my bibliographic program of choice, Bookends, can then be easily transferred with no fuss into the library management program, and vice versa.
For now, it seems I have found such a piece of software. The, err, aptly-titled open-source and free program "Books", found at http://books.aetherial.net/ , seems to be just that. At the moment, it doesn't do bar-code isight scanning that some people tend to like, but it does have access to quite a few internet libraries and bookstores (Amazon, Library of Congress, etc.) and has a feature which downloads the info (similar to BE).
Yes, the version 3 is still in beta, and some features are not fully implemented or very quick yet, but it's definitely a good possibility, especially for academics or others who have multi-lingual libraries. I tried Booxter, Delicious Library, Collectorz, etc., ... and none of them can import* and export unicode books/references properly (through a bibtex file). Check it out if you currently have such needs.
*note: the proper unicode importing is about to be implemented in the next beta release in the next few days, according to the developer.
After reading this post, I realized that it was best to stop using up precious user-defined fields in Bookends to use for "Borrower", "Borrowed Date", "Location of Book", etc ... i.e. for library management purposes.
I have a particular need, which is that the program be unicode friendly, and be able to import and export such references/books easily, so that what I already have typed into my bibliographic program of choice, Bookends, can then be easily transferred with no fuss into the library management program, and vice versa.
For now, it seems I have found such a piece of software. The, err, aptly-titled open-source and free program "Books", found at http://books.aetherial.net/ , seems to be just that. At the moment, it doesn't do bar-code isight scanning that some people tend to like, but it does have access to quite a few internet libraries and bookstores (Amazon, Library of Congress, etc.) and has a feature which downloads the info (similar to BE).
Yes, the version 3 is still in beta, and some features are not fully implemented or very quick yet, but it's definitely a good possibility, especially for academics or others who have multi-lingual libraries. I tried Booxter, Delicious Library, Collectorz, etc., ... and none of them can import* and export unicode books/references properly (through a bibtex file). Check it out if you currently have such needs.
*note: the proper unicode importing is about to be implemented in the next beta release in the next few days, according to the developer.
Re: Books! (an open source, personal library management prog
Interesting - so you separate your 'citation management' and 'library management'. If you have the chance, could you post 1 or 2 cases where this is a helpful combination, explaining both the need and the solution - and what doesn't work the way you'd like?
The main differences between library management and reference management:
1. References may or may not be in your personal library. Your reference program may include books/etc. that you own, and others that you do not. However, you will need ot have all of them in one database when scanning your document for references (if you use this feature). Thus, separating references, from owned books/etc., keeps pthis distinction clear. Of course, you could theoretically do this by having separate databases, one of your own library, and one to really be used as references. However:
2. A library management program only tracks your books, magazines, journals, or other printed materials. On the other hand, not all referenes are books, journals, or magazines. A reference might be book chapter, and internet website, an article from a journal or magazine, a PDF, etc. These would not have a physical presence in your personal library, because of their being part of a book or journal you own, or because they only exist digitally.
3. Some books have more than one "book" i.e. title in them. For example, in some cultures, it is common to publish several completely different titles, having in common the same author, or the same theme, in one physical book. In a reference manager program, each "title" should have its own entry. In a library manager, it's all one "book" that you are keeping tabs of. Two different usages.
4. Reference software does not work to track your loaned out books: the book, who borrowed it, date of loan, etc. This is the work of a library management program.
5. If you are using reference software to format references in word processors, you often need all the different fields available. Jon has been kind enough to provide us with many, many user-customizable fields. Many humanities works, especially multi-lingual, translations, and edited works, need almost all of them in some cases. I had been using up at least 2 of these for library purposes (borrower, borrow date), but would rather free them up for various referencing scenarios.
That's what I've noticed. Hope this makes sense.
1. References may or may not be in your personal library. Your reference program may include books/etc. that you own, and others that you do not. However, you will need ot have all of them in one database when scanning your document for references (if you use this feature). Thus, separating references, from owned books/etc., keeps pthis distinction clear. Of course, you could theoretically do this by having separate databases, one of your own library, and one to really be used as references. However:
2. A library management program only tracks your books, magazines, journals, or other printed materials. On the other hand, not all referenes are books, journals, or magazines. A reference might be book chapter, and internet website, an article from a journal or magazine, a PDF, etc. These would not have a physical presence in your personal library, because of their being part of a book or journal you own, or because they only exist digitally.
3. Some books have more than one "book" i.e. title in them. For example, in some cultures, it is common to publish several completely different titles, having in common the same author, or the same theme, in one physical book. In a reference manager program, each "title" should have its own entry. In a library manager, it's all one "book" that you are keeping tabs of. Two different usages.
4. Reference software does not work to track your loaned out books: the book, who borrowed it, date of loan, etc. This is the work of a library management program.
5. If you are using reference software to format references in word processors, you often need all the different fields available. Jon has been kind enough to provide us with many, many user-customizable fields. Many humanities works, especially multi-lingual, translations, and edited works, need almost all of them in some cases. I had been using up at least 2 of these for library purposes (borrower, borrow date), but would rather free them up for various referencing scenarios.
That's what I've noticed. Hope this makes sense.
Thanks for this clear summary, talazem, the first one I've come across that doesn't simply say that reference management and library management are different, and just leave it at that.
Incidentally, when I tried out all the library management software I could find a little less than a year ago, I came to the conclusion that Bookpedia was overall the best of the bunch, its one weakness being that its scanning was nowhere near as good as Delicious Library's (for which the excellent scanning engine is the only genuine claim to fame, in my opinion).
Incidentally, when I tried out all the library management software I could find a little less than a year ago, I came to the conclusion that Bookpedia was overall the best of the bunch, its one weakness being that its scanning was nowhere near as good as Delicious Library's (for which the excellent scanning engine is the only genuine claim to fame, in my opinion).