How many of you have a decent portion of books in your catalog that you don't actually own?

Show of hands, please.

I'm just curious.

I'm using LT to keep track of what books are actually in my home

I have a simple .txt file to keep track of what I've read, and I've been doing that for two decades.

Depends on what you mean by "decent." In the almost year I've been on LT, I've put every book I've read in my catalog, whether or not I owned it. Unowned books are marked in tags.

I only use it to keep track of the books I own, not the books I've read. I also have a text file keeping track of what I've read, but I only started doing that at the beginning of last year.

I've been tempted to enter in books that I've borrowed from people or libraries, but I haven't done it yet. Generally, I'm pretty good at remembering what I've read and whether or not I want to buy it. I have kept in a few books that I've donated though.

I've been using LT to list books that I own as well as books I've read but borrowed (from people/library). The ones I've read (since I started keeping track) but don't own are tagged NIL (not in library).

I like the convenience of being able list books owned and books read in one place. I've also started to use year tags to indicate when I've read them, starting in 2006. And this solves the problem of not being able to review a book read but not owned (not that I've reviewed many books but I keep planning to.

For me LT has become as much a way to track my reading history/habits as to keep a record of owned books.

I have no books in my main catalog that I don't actually own.

(Well, that's not exactly true - when I moved, I got rid of half a dozen or so books, and returned a few to my sister and parents, and I may not have removed all of them. But I owned them all a month or so ago!)

However, not too long ago, I caved and started two other catalogs, one for read-but-not-owned books and one for tbr/to buy books. The first is so I can write reviews for books I don't own, and the second is because it's just so easy to hit 'add to your catalog'.

I like having them all separate, and tags are not currently functionally strong enough to tempt me to combine them. When the promised collections function is implemented, then I will likely combine the three into one and delete the other two.

Mine is my-owned only. To each their own, but the word "library" to me means "owned" - else we'd be talking at "whatihavereadthing.com"

Mine is my-owned only. To each their own, but the word "library" to me means "owned" - else we'd be talking at "whatihavereadthing.com"

JPB is skipping again. Someone smack his side (i.e. percussive maintenance.)

I consider "my library" to be just books I own -- but I've started adding wishlist and read-but-unowned books to LT, in anticipation of "collections". I tag them all "@unowned" & "@borrowed", or "@previously owned"; and adding "@read". ... This task will never be completed, I fear, since I didn't keep a reading journal when I was young and reading hundreds of books a year.

Even though it's frustrating because it muddles up my inventory-tracking features, it has been very helpful for me to keep track of books that I couldn't remember the titles of and don't own, but would like to remember. For instance, A Candle in Her Room, a book I read multiple times as a kid but for some reason whose title just never sticks in my mind. Now, I have added it to LT with a lot of subject tags (including all-important "@childhood favorite") and voilá! Much easier to find.

Ahh... but the skip helps post-count. ;)

I am trying to list everything I've read, not just what I own. This has been a challenge because I didn't keep track when I was younger either.

I'm tagging everything that I do have with "own" -- after a couple of recent moves, that number is much smaller than it used to be, but frequent visits to Amazon and the local library sale are fixing that :o)

I own everything in my library, and I've read all of it except some of the reference works. (Even there, I've read portions of them, but I haven't completed the book). I don't list books in here until I've finished them and decided to keep them. I do have a secondary account for my TBR list, though, and it occasionally contains library books.

Ditto. Library = owned. It seems now like Tim picked a misnomer considering his change of heart.

My account is also own-only. I have another free account for my wishlist. I hope I can combine it in the future when the collection feature is finished.

If I've read a book, I "own" those thoughts, sentiments and stories in my brain. I am capable of discussing them and remembering them. Anyway, obviously, I'm not a purist. I'm here for the fun and discovery. When I started, I entered all of my physically owned books on Shelfari, because it was free, and I was addicted. I decided to use this site as a supplement to my book reading journal, just to check it out. I had no idea of the fun that was in store for me. If I had it to do over, I would have paid the very reasonable fee and entered my owned books here, because the individual library search tools and features are far superior thus far to Shelfari. I may still do that one day, but for now, the thought of going through my over 1600 books and entering them all again is too daunting.

So to answer the question in the first post, about one fifth of my library here, is not on my shelf at home.

For my first year or so on LT, I was stickler: listing a book in my catalog meant a book that I owned.

1:1 .

But with "collections" once again promised for Real Soon Now, I've started doing exactly as lquilter noted in #9:

I consider "my library" to be just books I own -- but I've started adding wishlist and read-but-unowned books to LT, in anticipation of "collections". I tag them all "@unowned" & "@borrowed", or "@previously owned...

So, as of about a month ago, I too have started using an "@unowned" tag for stuff I've read. (So far, this has meant library books). And though I've been keeping my "wantlists" elsewhere, the moment this feature is implemented, I am SO there.

I think my "@unowned" books are now up to five or six. (So I'm now approaching a 'catalog' to 'actual books' ratio of 1000:999 or so...)

The thought of adding a retrospective "this is a book I once read but don't actually own" tag strikes me as too daunting, though I guess I might change my mind on that, too.

(Left for another thread is the discussion of the ever-present temptation to add magazines, LPs, CDs, VHS tapes, and DVDs to my LT catalog....)

Only actually owned, and only now. Esta1923

Only currently owned for me, though I'm certainly open to listed unowned books when Collections arrive.

The purpose of the catalog is to be useful to the owner, no?

If the purist stance is intended to preserve the sanctity of LT stats, that's a lost cause. People have already listed thousands of books that they've never seen and probably never will. On the other side of the coin, sets of books (from LOTR to much larger sets) are often entered as 1 item. My encyclopedia sets are down as 2 "books," but have 41 volumes between them.

If my neighbor lends me a book, and I read it, I enter it and tag it borrowed. If I give away a book I don't delete it, I tag it no longer owned. I stopped feeling guilty about that as soon as I'd realized how far from reality the book stats are and will remain.

Thanks, all of you. I was very curious.

And, you're right about the stats. I knew a while back that people had their 'wishlists' in their catalogs, so they didn't reflect actual piles and stacks.

I think my biggest fear is forgetting to tag something 'read but not owned,' and then wasting three days looking for it. ;o) So, for now, I'll stick to actual books.

Edit: Just woke up, so there were tons of missing words in this. LOL

In late, I've been busy with real life lately ;-)

Anyway, only "currently owned" for me. I'm not a statistics purist, and everyone to their own.

To me this is a no-brainer, because I do not lend books at any library and have not done so since the 80's.
I like libraries. But I also enjoy owning books and have had the means to afford (most) of the books that I want to read or own for quite a while now.

This "must own" thing comes from reading hundreds on hundreds of library books when I was younger and I so want to own them now. And generally I try to behave in a way that makes regret an extremely rare feeling.
Because regret is the one thing I can't live with.

Almost all my library is checked out from the library.

#21 - Well, one of the book clubs I belong to takes place at the library, and they provide the books, on loan. Some of them I end up purchasing copies of, eventually, but not all. I am happy to read them, but they aren't all books I would chose to read on my own, and so I have no desire to possess them. It keeps me from getting stuck in a reading rut, though.

All my books on LT are owned, on my shelves, that's just my anal, ocd self. I only started a book journal this year and deeply wish I'd started one years ago, but better late than never.

I've have 93 books tagged as unowned (out of 1069). I've read 90 of those, I'm reading one. The other two are in there for oddball reasons. (I've kept a reading list since December 1990. I only averaged ~15 books a year most of that time, so it wasn't a huge task.)

I've have no issue with owned or unowned in my library. And, certainly, I have no real care what other people put in their libraries. I think creative and variable use of LT is important for LT. It's designed to be flexible and used in many different ways.

But, as for the stats, despite all the mess, they still have some value. Don't disregard them, just evaluate them in a realistic context.

Deleted double-post.

#23 - I work full-time and don't have time to read books "because". I only read what comes my way - if it's good enough to want to buy, then it's good enough to read. If it's not good enough to buy, then I won't waste my time by reading it...
Everyone to his or her own!

Mind you, I came by a library two days ago and felt an instant urge to explore!
Mostly non-fiction in that one, though. Interesting books on culture and behaviour and religion and belief and learning... (the library belongs to the gvnmt branch managing/overseeing the private schools; a client of mine).

I use my catalog to track what I've read, whether mine or someone else's. Most of what I've been reading lately come from the public library, not from my collection. If I only put in what's in my catalog, the recommendations and stats get skewed by missing 2/3 of what I read.

If I get around to entering my whole collection, I'll tag books by whether I own them or not. But that's going to be a lot of work, and I've got other things that are higher priority.

#27 - Hmm, even when I worked full time I occasionally visited the library. I was much younger then, though. No kids then, either.
;o)
I have no regrets about spending time reading the book club choices. Again, if I'm really not enjoying something, I will skip that month's book. I don't TORTURE myself.

>29 clamairy: She leaves the torture to JPB and me.

Heh. Nope, not going there. 8^}

I didn't try to imply that!
It's just that... oh well... maybe that "not owning all those books that I read when younger, now I have to own everything" is my case of ocd? ;-)

Currently I list just the books I own, and I'll probably stick to that, But I do have two small journals that I try to take with me whenever I go to the book store. One has the authors and their books that I have heard of/own/read/want to read. I highlight those I own/have owned in the past, and check those that I have read, but do not own.

The other notebook has a list for my 7 (almost 8) year old daughter. When I buy her a book, I go through her journal and highlight what I have bought for her, that way I can keep track of what she has, even if she hasn't read it yet.

I just can't pass up a good deal on a book, and that seemed to be the only way I could keep track and know what I had while I was shopping.

Great idea, megkrahl. I tried 'something' like that last year, when I went to a large used books sale. I cut and pasted all the referenced authors from a thread in this group into a word file, and made the font small enough for them to fit. Then I printed it. Once I got to the sale I realized I could barely read it...
*blush*
A journal sounds much more reasonable!

I use LibraryThing to keep track of everything I own and everything I've borrowed either from the library or from other people. I do tag everything to designate whether the book is owned, borrowed from the library or borrowed from someone else. I've been enjoying reviewing everything that I'm reading and if I don't keep track of the books I borrow in my catalog, my reviews will disappear. Frankly, before discovering LT the idea of keeping a book journal or diary of all the books I read and/or own was completely foreign to me. I would never have thought of doing this on my own.

Only owned and read books in my catalogue.

No unread books, because I don't consider I really own a book until I've read it.

I've started to keep track of all the books I've read, including the unowned ones, in a thread in the "50 Book Challenge" group.

Oh. Clam wanted a show of hands. Unfortunately, I have only one:

Currently its is overwhelmingly what I own, but I see no reason why it should remain so. I'll certainly add wishlist books once the collections featuve eventually arrives, before if my patience runs out. I will also leave on books that I eventually purge when I need more space. I haven't added books that I've read once upon a time ago because I can't remember any more than a tiny fraction of them.

Most of the books that are in my library are books that I own or have owned at some point.

38 reading_fox

I haven't added books that I've read once upon a time ago because I can't remember any more than a tiny fraction of them.

Yeah, me either. My 'read but not owned' account only includes books I've read since I started keeping track, last year. There's no way I could remember all the books I read before then.

My library is "owned" - including, I am embarrassed to admit - 85 Star Trek novels. (I love the original series, but really...85?)

To each his own. Because I am a school librarian, I find the idea of listing "books I've read" to be entirely too scary.

I am embarrassed to admit - 85 Star Trek novels
The great thing with LT is to discover that there are people who are even geekier than me out there (normally I'm viewed as the geekiest non-systems developer person anyone know around here) ;-)

Ah, yes. The Sisterhood of Geekiness. United in our strange pursuits. Strange, yet Unafraid!

"Show of Hands please"

Always a worthy call here they are one of the better bands if you happen to like their style, and live in this part of the world.

#41 - Hee hee! Well, I have a bunch of memoirs written by the cast of the original series. But I haven't ventured into the novels... yet. ;o)

Strange, Yet Unafraid.

I love the way that sounds.

My LT library is exclusively my reading journal since 2004. {Why since then? Because, of course.}

The books I own are in a desktop bibliographic application I got while in grad school, and the entries are all tailored to the specific copies I own, and when I realized that LT's "global import" is actually an ISBN-driven "auto-add" rather than an import feature as usually understood, I gave up all thoughts of migrating my owned-catalogue to LT. I'd have to re-do too much work.

Edited to add: "read" and "owned" are not mutually exclusive, of course. (Silly of me.) As of now, 49% of my LT catalogue was borrowed.

Currently my catalog are only owned and ALL my owned books, and I am still eagerly awaiting the collections feature, to add borrowed and wishlist books...

Mine are all books my partner and I own. They are largely those in our flat but also include the better half's office ones which migrate back and forth. Eventually it will include those still sadly languishing in our respective parents' homes.
This is partly because neither of us have never been even close to organised enough to record all the books we've read whereas I made a list of all the books I owned when I was 8 and kept it (partially) updated {frequent moves make a gal like me nervous} until the delightful LT came along and made me feel less weird.

I will almost certainly add a wishlist when collections come along..

edited to add: >44 reading_fox: funny thats Exactly what I thought when I saw the comment..

I only catalog books I own and if I get rid of them I remove them.

Originally I just used my catalog for things I owned but the recommendations would keep popping up things I had already read so I started entering everything I read - owned or not. I think it makes for a better picture of the books I like especially in terms of comparing my library to other people's. I also started entering in books on my "To Be Read" list and "wishlist" which include owned and unowned books. It's a good way for me to keep track of what I'm planning to read and planning to buy.

Right now, 72 of my 1154 cataloged books are wishlist books. Then there are 9 titles that have been swapped but are still part of my mental library, so they stay in my catalog.

Oh. I have absolutely no Star Trek novels that I have not entered online. *cough*

I used to travel a ton for work (over 75k miles/year - thank goodness that died down). And I loved reading those books on the plane. The dim roar of the engines added a nice backdrop to being on the Enterprise. LOLOL. I am also prone headaches on a plane, and reading anything more substantial than popcorn simply isn't possible for me. I put the book down after 5 pages. I haven't purchased new novels in gosh - 6 or 7 years - but no, I have not gotten rid of the ones I have.

I keep thinking I am going to give the lot to Goodwill, but there they sit - tucked 3-deep on a double-high shelf in my office...

* the shame is out in the open now. I can breathe *

My library is:

- books we currently own, whether read or unread. Read ones get tagged either "read" (if I know I've read them but don't know which year) or "read xxxx" where I know the year (I've kept a reading log for about 3 years). And yes, it's books WE own, me and my other half (although the majority are mine). We have pretty similar tastes, and I can't think of any good reason to split the libraries.

- books I've borrowed, from friends or library, have read then returned. These are "unowned" and/or "library".

- books I've bought, read & passed on. "Unowned", "rehomed". I like "rehomed".

The only books I keep in a separate account are those on my wishlist. It's a lot easier to search either one or the other account on a mobile phone at a book fair, than it is to search for books with a "wishlist" tag. And I don't want to skew my recommendations with wishlist items, even though I will admit to my unread books may skew them, since I don't know that I will necessarily like my unread books.

Apart from three books I'd borrowed from my sister and wanted to write reviews to, I own all the books in my catalogue. They're all over the apartment and the basement...

Almost all of the books on my LT inventory are owned and on my shelves in my home. There are a small number of "wish list" books; no library books; no books that I've read in the past, no matter how loved. I was delighted to have a way to create an inventory and that's what my list is. I only later realized the treasury of possibilities with wish listed books, and review of books I've read and don't have, and the joy of having my LT library somehow parallel a portrait of "who I am" ( ta da ! )

I'll welcome the new feature when it arrives.

All of my catalog is owned. I wish I could say that I have read them all but, alas, I still have a ways to go. I have read a good number of them, though.

I started a second catalog for books I've read, but I am only adding books as I read or re-read them. It would be impossible to go back and add 50+ years of books I've read. I read a lot of library and borrowed books and wanted to keep track of them. My "owned" catalog is mostly an inventory for me and I felt having a separate account would be cleaner.

I haven't thought about a wishlist. I need one for books I want to own, books I want to own if I can find them cheap enough, books I want to own when they come out in paperback... :D

56 xorscape

That's what tags are for!

I use my library for owned, read, and wish list, using tags to keep track.
I really like being able to keep track of everything I read in one place, whether I own it or not.
Still, the majority of the books in my library are owned.

Only books I own.

My library is my library, I own everyone of the books listed, well except for the ones that are on order and will eventually arrive at my house.

57> blue: My primary purpose for this account is to have an easy, accurate inventory (I don't have the largest library, but I still have quite a few books, with probably another thousand waiting to be catalogued). I still like having the wanna's, library books and borrowed books elsewhere. Trying to remember to subtract all the relevant tags defeats my original purpose...maybe I'm just lazy? :D

edit to add stuff...

61 xorscape

No, no, you misunderstood. What I meant was, you could have all your different degrees of wanna's separated via tags (books I want to own, books I want to own if I can find them cheap enough, books I want to own when they come out in paperback).

I have three accounts, like I mentioned before - this is my main one, for all the books I physically own (at least, the ones here in my apartment). I have another, which is for read-but-not-owned (library books, borrowed from friends, etc). And I have a third, which is tbr and wishlist, and I mark my wishlist items as 'to buy'. There aren't all that many of those, since I can't afford to buy many books right now.

62> blue: Well, duh, if I'd looked back I would have seen that. That is a very smart way to do it! I've only read a hundred or so books since May so I could just put my wanna's in that account...or do a separate account...so many choices, so little time!! It would be convenient to have a buy list handy when there is a book sale...

Of course, I keep promising myself to FINISH CATALOGUING before I buy anything more. I don't seem to be able to resist though... :~}

I only record books I've read so, over half of what I've cataloged I don't own - it's either from the libary or borrowed from someone. Only 26 of the 61 are owned. I use three tags (library, other borrowed, or own) to differentiate them.

Even though I don't have anything cataloged right now, all of the books that I DO put in mine are ones I don't own, but have read.

I don't like to keep a library in my house. I'd much rather let other people read them as well. Go public libraries! :D

I've only entered books into LT that are actually on my shelves.

I've got my "to buy" list in an excel spreadsheet. Which isn't very helpful if I'm wanting to buy books when I'm out, but I buy most of my books online so it hasnt caused any probs yet...

I've got no idea what books I've read but dont own :S

#66 "I've got no idea what books I've read but dont own"

So how do you stop yourself from buying a book you've already read? *That's* why I record the books I've read but don't own. Saves me money. Although I still sometimes end up with duplicate books - I bought a book I wanted from a charity shop for £2, forgetting I'd put it on my wish list for my birthday... the 1st copy went back to the charity shop, so I suppose I can regard it as a simple donation of £2. And a book.

That's why I finally started a "read" list. I used to remember, but now I'm losing brain cells and reading A LOT and can't remember enough from just reading the jacket. I was buying duplicates and I was re-checking books out from the library.

(I have been on a romance kick and sometimes the jackets sound similar and sometimes the jackets are written by people who haven't read the book.)

#68 xorscape -- Me too. Especially fiction that *sounds* interesting but are ultimately rather forgettable. In my late 30s, and several times now I have had the experience of reading something I could have sworn I hadn't read before ... and then as I read it the feeling dawns that yes I have read it, and indeed further verification reveals that I have read it and forgotten it. ... And conversely, sometimes I've read something, I *know* I read it, and I can't remember a darn thing about it. (These I've taken to tagging "@need to read again" which applies both to forgotten and other reasons.)

69> lquilter, Exactly!!!!

My primary account is owned books - I'm just now beginning to tag the unread ones (and there are quite a few). I also have a 'spare' account that I'm using for a) library and other borrowed books and b) books I've decided to get rid of but still currently have. I hadn't really thought of putting my wishlist on - I may once collections comes up (near future, maybe, I'm told!). Or not. Hmmm, I wonder how that will affect exports?

For booksales and the like - I export my account and turn it into a PDA database (HanDBase), so I know what I own (I have _almost_ everything cataloged. Cookbooks in the kitchen and the books (mostly textbooks) that I have in storage aren't cataloged yet) so I don't buy duplicates. I have no objection to rereading a book - if I loved it or hated it I tend to be able to remember it, midlist I'm fine with rereading (also loved, but then I do it intentionally).

I just started putting library books into my second account - mostly because of my 50 Book Challenge (which is currently, at 5 weeks, up to 77 books!) - I wanted to have them as a reference. But it will be useful to know what library has books I've liked, too - I tag them 'library' and a 2-letter code for which library. I also am noting when I read them - only in my second account. Too many books in my first!

I hadn't realized the Suggester ignores books in your library. That's a good reason to put in books I've read but don't own - but not until collections come, I have way way _way_ too many!

Since I started, I have been using the @collectiontag convention and adding every book I read as I read it. Both as a simple curiosity - to see what and how much I read during each year, and because it has made me really take a look at my collection and see what I had forgotten about (but really needed to re-read) and identify a few things that are not as beloved as they once were, which have since been given better homes.

I tag like this:

@mine - books I own
@ - books I have borrowed from a specific person
@library - books taken from my local library
@mine-gone - books I owned, but have subsequently sold or given away.

It works rather well for me, ymmv, no warranty expressed or implied, etc.

I really like this tag convention. Since I'm at a relatively early phase of entry, I'm going to go back and add these tags to my library.

I've heard brief mention of "collections", but didn't find any information on them in my brief scan of the LT FAQs and other documentation. Where can I find out more?

"Where can I find out more?
"

When TIM et al get saround to introducing them. They got mentioned on a few posts a couple of weeks ago, I cant find the specific threads but they were in response to something in RSI I think. Since then silence. We're all holding our breath, but so far to no avail....

>73 drneutron: The collections features has been "coming out soon" for a very, very long time, but I think this time they actually are debuting within a few weeks.

It's my understanding that by-and-large they'll work like "sets" on Flickr - groupings of various books used for making booklists (that's somehow better than doing it by tags - I'm not clear on how). Books can be in multiple collections, etc.

There will also apparently be some special collection formats (like a "wishlist") that will be used differently from normal entries in calculating statistics, recommendations, etc.

Collections were put on hold to put out the LT Wiki and the fwiki (which is supposed to come out today!) and then collections should be back to 1st place for new improvements...

I would say that the majority of the books I have cataloged actually physically belong to me, but most of my recent reads have been from the library and I do catalog those here (tagged "library"). I've recently come to the realization that I don't need to own everything I read and have decided to reserve buying for only books that I want a specific edition of, cannot get through the public library, or have a deep desire to actually hold onto. Most books, even great ones, don't come into those categories. Despite these resolutions, I am still a pretty big purchaser of books.

ETA: Ok, so after reading this thread and the associated big debate thread about cataloging books you don't actually own but have read, I got curious about what proportion of the books I've cataloged I own. So after a quick power-editing session, I can say that out of the 750 books I have cataloged, I own 616 or about 82% of them. 134 or about 18% of them are tagged "unowned" because they either came from the library or were owned by me at one point, but have since been donated or lost/loaned with no hope of return.

Only my very own books (and not quite all of them, since, like other folks, some books are in storage AND since I was sloppy in entering when I joined, I blush to admit, some within arms-reach not-yet-listed!).

This is interesting to read. I originally started listing my books as only those that I own, but as I was cruising thru LT I kept finding references to all these books I had read sometime in the past (and usually forgotten about)

So I decided to list *all* the books I had ever read as well as the ones I own, and tag as follows:

I tag the ones I physically own as 'got'
if I have read them they get tagged 'read'
if I want and havent got yet they are tagged 'wishlist'
If I own but havent read they are tagged 'unread'

Im still in the middle of listing stuff and tagging it, but am hoping it will be filterable to be useful in the future

There are 2 ways to look at books.
One is to see them as an object that you own physically.This is great for coffee table books full of photos/ information that are a piece of art in themselves.

The greatest value of books is in how they affect the reader. A book can move you to tears, or to strive for something greater in your life, or it can have you in stitches.

You do not have to own a book for it to affect you and add to the sum total of who you are.

Even if you don't own any books they are still carried with you in your head.
I own 30% of my LT catalogue and use the public library heaps as I can't afford to buy everything I read.

Most of the books in my catalog are mine.

Because I recently started using LT to help me keep track of all the titles that have piqued my interest; titles that I plan to purchase. It's a short list, less than 20. =) The rest of the books in the catalog are mine.

I own all the books that I have listed on here so far and am intending to only list books that I own.

If I borrow a book from a library or somewhere and decide I want to keep it, I will buy it (or forget to return it) before I list it.

I am planning a cull of books to get more space on the bookshelves for new books but I will make a note that I have owned but given away any of the listed books that I don't keep. That won't be many though, the last time I had a good clear out I came up with three books to give away, then took two back.

For books I want but do not have yet, I have started a wish list on my profile, just to remind me (or give any present buyers some inspiration).

I think the best thing to do if you are listing books you don't own is to tag them to let people know why they are in your library listing. For example - wishlist, library book, bookclub, etc will explain to everyone how the book is relevant to a library.

I thought it was illegal to add books I didn't actually own! There's a fair few in my library that I own but have never read.

>83 joehutcheon: I thought it was illegal to add books I didn't actually own!

Because, y'know, Tim & co. will occasionally stop by your house to check. ;)

>80 cayman: You do not have to own a book for it to affect you and add to the sum total of who you are.

Amen! My library is an amalgamation of my physical and "mental" libraries - and personally, I think that a book that I borrowed and read is just as much "mine" - if not more so - as one that's been sitting on my shelf for ages but that I've never touched.

Everyone's welcome to do it how they like, of course, but I've never understood the vehemence of some "only what you own" catalog purists.

I think a lot of the 'purists' are concerned with knowing exactly what they own as opposed to what they've read. Particularly since I have books in several different places (boxes, rooms, cities), it becomes difficult to recall what I've truly enjoyed but still need to track down and the books that I own, so I've tried to keep my catalogue limited to those books that I own (although preparation for long-awaited collections has weakened my resolve).

A lot of people have a book journal for reviews and thoughts of what they've read elsewhere, and don't think that adding them to their catalogue under the circumstances does anything but muddle things up because they use the site as primarily a cataloguing site - what they own, where it is, what it's about.

But then again, I'm hardly a vehement purist. I don't care how anybody else structures their library/catalogue at all as it certainly doesn't affect me. And I just find it easier, when attempting to figure out whether I'm missing one of the books in a series NOT to have it in my catalogue, just tagged 'library' or something. Not having it gives me a simple visual cue as to what I'm missing.

>>83 joehutcheon: I thought it was illegal to add books I didn't actually own!

>84 fyrefly98: Because, y'know, Tim & co. will occasionally stop by your house to check. ;)

Ah, is that who's been mis-filing my books? And there was me thinking it was them pesky kids!

"I thought it was illegal "

On LT I think just about the only things that are illegal, are those which will get TIM et al into trouble, normally involving copyright violations, or being under 13
The only other I can think of offhand is adding more than 200 books and not paying the fee.

The precise details are here

Anything else is legal. But some things that I won't detail, won't make you very popular.

I don't really have a formula for adding. I own most but I have added books I've borrowed from the library. Some I used to own but swapped or sold. Some I own and haven't read yet. Some are from my grandmother's collection that I want to read but haven't yet.

I have been using tags excessively from day one, about 5-6 tags per book. I started off with entering only the books I owned, but pretty soon began to include the books I got from the library. I am using the "@" convention, as well (see Agade's post #72).
@mine (currently 700 of 800 books)
@library
@bookcrossing (books I bookcrossed or read via bookcrossing)
#wish list
#library wish list
#to buy

The @ groups are pretty static, the # groups are constantly being tweaked and changed. They account for about 100 entries at the moment (working on paring that down).

Since I also use a PDA to access the internet, it actually makes sense:

I have the tag #wish list for books i am interested in. This tag gets worked through every few weeks, books get culled if the interest didn't keep. If I am still interested, I check the online catalogue of my library. If the book is available, tag #wish list gets exchanged for #library wish list. If it is not available, I check the nation-wide catalogue, and tag it #interlibrary loan, if it is available anywhere in Germany. If it is not available in Germany, I look at amazon and other sites to check the price. Then I think about it, and if I still want it desperately, it gets tagged #to buy. #to buy is also my "here are the books you can give me as a present" list.

When I am at the library, I fire up the PDA, access my catalogue live and call the tag #library wish list to borrow one or two off the list. I also fill out an interlibrary loan request once a month or so. No need to fiddle with printed lists or notebooks and it's always up to date.

Wish Tim et al. would implement collections (now where have I heard that before? 0:-)) Then I could have one for books from the library and one for items I may want to reference elsewhere (didn't I read in another group that you can download data from LT to Endnote?) and one for records/CDs/DVDs ...

Because my library is so strongly slanted towards books I own, I'm not explicitly tagging those - I'm tagging the ones I don't own. Or own and want to get rid of - I have 'discard' and 'swaplist' for books I own but want to get rid of, swaplist meaning I've put them on a trading site. If it doesn't have one of the assortment of 'not mine' tags, I own it. It would be nice if I could organize my tags so they were better grouped - but I have Library (which library), Borrow (from who), @wishlist...maybe I'll @ all the not-mine tags. Or not. The nice thing about LT (one of many!) is that you can experiment and try things out...

All in catalog are in the apartment or down in carport which has a bookcase (to the amusement of neighbors who spot it when door is open). If I could remember "all books read" I'd run out of space. . . .

#92, esta: *lol* at the thought of a bookcase in the garage. What kind of books do you keep there? Car manuals? Gardening books? "How to fix my bike"?

# 92

wishes SC weather were such that garage bookcases were an option. I'm really bummed by the lack of library applicability in my attic and outside workroom. So much wasted space!

FYI - its very very humid and HOT here. Humid constantly, HOT in summer. I've had lots of childhood bookspines melt under the onslaught of 105 degree heat for 5 days running.

.... I should send Tim&Co my check so I can actually start cataloging my books. Most of them are finally shelved, but I still have to reorganize. Moving is bad for my bookfiling system.

I have a feeling that my catalog will include lots of (@I want but am too broke to get now, @library, @need in hardback, @know I bought and can't find) and etc. I'm using Amazon wishlist now, but I really am looking forward to being able to set up collections. More organizing fun!

Do lots of people catalog their DVDs now? My fiance has a really impressive anime collection, and between the two of us, we do consider our videos a LIBRARY. Friends like to buy him sets for birthdays and suchlike.... Is it frowned on to add non-book library items?

I have a decent number of books I don't own in my catalog. However, I don't use it as a "wish-list" or a way to keep track of everything I read. All the books tagged "read but not owned" are books that I intend to add to my library when I can.

>94 RowanTribe: Is it frowned on to add non-book library items?

There are a lot of people that frown on it, but there are a lot of people that do it, too, because, basically, the frowners can't do much about it.

I cataloged my DVDs because it was a convenient way to list what I had in an already-established account. The system's not designed to do much with the DVDs in terms of social information, but using it as straight cataloging, it works well enough for what I want.

I own every book in my library, and I have some more to add... I've been lazy in that respect recently...

I own all the books in my library, and a lot more that aren't in it yet. I think if I were going to list all the books I'd read, it would take me years, and I'd want to list them separately. I read a lot of "book candy," like romances or bestsellers, that give me a quick reading fix, but I don't need to own them, or even remember some of them. I suppose it might be useful to have a list if I didn't want to accidentally read them again, LOL.

#94, re: DVDs in LT
Yes, many people frown on it. I am sitting on the fence... -I do have about 6 DVDs in my catalogue, all films-from-books-I-own. I wouldn't want to put all my DVDs in here, at least not until it is a working database that accomodates DVDs (special fields, etc.). I tagged them as DVDs and started the title with "DVD", so that it is clear that this is not a book. Also helpful: Don't enter Jane Austen as author for the films from her books, but the director.

I own every single one. Those weird "Box" tags I have? Those are the actual boxes the books are in (I'm moving). I do think a book journal would be a good idea. Perhaps I should start one now. One good thing about moving is finding all those blank journals I never seem to get around to filling.

Hmmm -- lots of food for thought. I don't own everything -- some authors I testdrive first, whether borrowed from the library or from friends. If I like them, I tend to purchase. If I don't, I want to remember why so in they've gone. Rather than add willy-nilly, my catalog has grown as I read or re-read books, and since I particularly enjoy reviews, both reading those others have written and/or writing my own, I'm trying to review as I go so that I can actually remember plots and main characters 6 months from now. So, I guess I'm using LT as a defacto book journal. It works for me -- but I think I'll be adding a "mine" tag.

I use LT to catalog the books I have. I don't even put my husband's books on my account.

Every book I have in my collection on LT is a book I own and still have in my house. I try to delete the books that I either pass to the library for the annual book sale or pass onto a friend.

#102

I have catalogued some of my wife's books, mainly because I can't remember which books are whose (when we got married we had loads of duplicates, long-since off loaded) . I haven't catalogued the childrens' books, which include huge numbers of Enid Blyton and Babysitter Club books.

My catalog has some of my husband's books, and many of my childrens' books (though they are really mine, MINE I tell you!) I tend to catalog the ones that I might be likely to read or (in the case of the kids books) would keep. Stuff like Putt like the Pros or Captain Underpants doesn't make the cut.

so far, everything that is listed in my catalog I do own :-)

94, 99 - Is there an LT equivalent for DVDs and/or CDs. I'd love one, because I'm losing control of my spreadsheet.

Urgh. I just found another reason why we shouldn't enter DVDs... Harper Lee and Robert Mulligan (director of "To kill a Mockingbird" film) have been combined by someone. I tried to "never" that combination, but the feature is wonky right now.

#107: Not in the excellent way LT offers for books. There is "squirl" http://squirl.info/ , that has a good selection of fields for film info, but it hasn't the "social features" of LT.

I catalogue only books we own, plus CDs and now DVDs, just like any normal library does. I didn't know it was looked down on. :(

I catalog books I've read from the library too because some books I am not interested in reading again and lt is a good way to keep track of it.

It's not looked down upon per se, but like you see in #108, it opens up many ways to screw up data. And in a "joint venture" like LT, it doesn't only hurt one person. I clicked on Robert Mulligans author name in my catalogue listing, to have a look at his author page, and came out on Harper Lee's author page. Which of course had all films by Mulligan listed as Lee's works.

I have DVDs in my catalogue, so I shouldn't be preaching the gospel here :-). But one should be aware of the pitfalls when entering other media than books into LT.

Most of the books in my library came from the public library--because that's where almost all the books I read come from. There wouldn't be much point to the website for me if I only listed the two or three books I might buy each year, out of the dozens I might read.

Re: posts 89 and 72: Do a lot of people use the @ convention? Is it explained somewhere on the website? I've just been using "own" and "borrowed," but I'd be interested to know if there's a standard others are using.

No, it isn't explained somewhere, except in Groups discussions maybe. Someone somewhere came up with location tags starting with @ to separate them from the thematic tags. My location tags all start with @, my wish list tags (on those "virtual" books) with #. Searching for @ should give me all books I own or have read, and # all books I wish for. And should we get collections I can just shoot the whole wish list pile over to a separate collection :-).

Edited to add: Found the explanation for the @: http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=25515#362941

#112 - I use the gangly tags, "not on my shelf" to describe books I've enjoyed, but don't own, and "not a keeper" for books I didn't like and wouldn't want to own.

So far, only my fiction has made it all onto LT. There's a fair chunk of non-fiction, but coffee table size books e.g. my collections from The Onion aren't there yet.

#107, Will, someone a while ago shared a site that was similar (though not near as wonderful) to LT but for other media. I'll see if I can dig up what it was called.

#107: Will: A friend of mine uses Listal to catalog dvds and cds. I haven't tried it myself though. But, you might want to check it out =)

http://www.listal.com/

I just tested Listal - I would really love a place to catalog my movies, music, etc. But that's not it. a) very slow item entry - search and click through pages; it does have ISBN/ASIN entry, but I can't see how to get to it quickly (first a search has to fail) and you can only enter one thing at a time (then go through the whole search-failed thing again). b) limited kinds of stuff in strict categories - a whole category of 'Movies' which is not the same as 'DVDs' and no place to put VHS tapes... Plus awkward forums and a heavy focus on social aspects (LT is primarily catalog, secondarily social. That's what I love!). lefty33, I'd be glad to hear what the other site is, too - thanks!

116,117,118 - Thanks for the advice on these. I'll have to be investigating these, plus the one from 108. Clunky search/entry doesn't inspire me, and with GD here, I don't need another social site *that* desperately. Hmm. Research beckons.

#118: That's too bad. I'll keep an eye out for other cataloging sites for film and music ;-) good luck!