Any way to back up Library Thing?

I've been searching for ways to backing up Library Thing and so far haven't found anything that would keep the additional data we've added to our records (covers, notes, call numbers) - especially when many do not have ISBNs. Has anyone figured out how to do this?

I've exported spreadsheets and reimported, but that loses much of the data I want to keep. Does anyone know of other solutions?

Betty

There is no way to reimport all the LT data.

There are 4 export options at https://www.librarything.com/more/import to have as backup, but as said, it isn't possible to reimport that exactly as it is back to LT Closing the export-import loop is a long standing RSI. Right now, import is limited to either searching the sources by ISBN or importing just the fields in the sample csv. Export itself will have all the data in your catalogue like tags, comments and such, but not covers or CK entries.

I've collected some information here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/User:Bnielsen/LTExport
You'll need more than one of the export formats to get as much as possible. If LT vanished tomorrow you would have most of your data, but no nice way to input data or easily share it with others. And your cover images would be gone too, unless you've saved a copy of each cover before uploading it to LT. >2 MarthaJeanne: sums it up nicely.

In case anyone finds it useful: The copies I keep of the covers I've uploaded are named with the book ID number (copied from the book's URL), so that when I export the data to a spreadsheet, the images can be matched exactly to the correct record. It wouldn't help with an LT import (as it stands), but for purposes of having the data backed up in a reconstructable way, it could be useful.

I have a script, that compares the TSV export with a local directory with cover images. The covers are named after the title of the book, but with no spaces or punctuation characters in the names. If I have more than one of a book, the image name is appended with the book-id. I.e.

...
iskyggenafz.jpg
island.jpg
islandsinthesky-21446021.jpg
islandsinthesky-22394385.jpg
islandskeeventyroghistorier.jpg
isleofdogs.jpg
...

So it's basically the same as the solution in >5 armature:

>6 bnielsen: Nice. That's more human readable than my solution, and I wasn't sure if I cared before, but I'm going to consider it.

>7 armature: I also considered a situation where I no longer had connection to the old book-ids, i.e. something hit LT who had to restore everything with new book-id's.

Only problem is that long titles give long filenames :-)

tabdigogholdvægtenhjerteforeningensguidetilallederønskerattabesigogholdevægtennedetabdigogholdvægtenmasserafforskelligeforslagtilspændendedagsmenuerderallesikrervægttab.jpg

More details (than you want) here
https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/User:Bnielsen/CoverNames

Hi! I’m a newbie looking for a contemporary book about a young Black woman looking for a job. She goes to a casting call at a restaurant (don’t remember if she knew it was casting call) she gets the lead. The show is a reality show set in the 1950s or 1960s and the story ends up changing from original plan because the cast reacts to her being Black. They never break character and she is a housewife who calls her family for cooking help so they become characters. It’s kinda like Truman Show meets the civil rights inequalities in 2000 IRL, but the show remains in the past. I hope this description is making sense; please help me find this book. Thank you!

>9 blkbutterfli: , you will have better success in your book ID request by posting to the Name That Book group.

Posting here is a complete non sequitur. It has no reasonable connection to the topic of this thread or even the group.

James