Book Collector 3.3 Pro

By Dale Farris, Vice-President Golden Triangle PC Club July 2004 General Overview Book Collector catalogs your books in a database. Using Book Collector, you can: Catalog your book collection quickly and easily. Just scan the barcode or type the title and Book Collector will automatically add it to your book database. Download book info from multiple book database sites on the net. This includes combined information from Amazon, the Library of Congress, or Barnes & Noble results in detailed book information. This information includes:  title, author, year, publisher, plot, ISBN, cover image, and much more Instantly sort and search the book catalog on any field.  For example, sort alphabetically on author, title, genre, release date, or purchase date. Or find all books with the word "house" in the title. Print configurable lists of the entire book catalog or a selection - Ideal for insurance purposes, or to take with you to the store. If you have ever wondered how all that data about books you look up in your local public library electronic database gets into the database, then Book Collector gives you a pretty good idea. Most libraries have now succeeded in converting their old card catalog data into an electronic database, and in most of today's libraries you use computer card catalogs to access information about books. Now, you too can create a similar computer catalog of information about books in your own library, using this super database application that is a certainty for anyone with sizable personal libraries. While you could use any other existing relational database application to manually create the tables, queries, and reports to catalog and display information about your collection, the big difference between these other programs is that for each title you will need to manually enter all the data in all the fields you choose to design for all your records. What makes this nifty program so neat is that all you need to enter into the program is the book's ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or title data, and the program then automatically uses your existing Internet connection to find and enter all the other data in the other fields for your books. This means you will need your Internet connection to be open, in order to enable the software to do its marvelous work for you. This process closely resembles just what goes on inside libraries as they streamline the processing of their books and other items that are constantly added to their inventory. This smart company also develops other similarly functioning database programs to help customers better organize their music, movies, comics, games, and MP3 files. Each of these handy programs is specially designed to contain all the data fields relevant to all these possible different collections folks may have. Other Features Loan Manager helps tracking which books you loaned and to whom Generate HTML pages, place your book catalog on your website Skinnable screen, use the included templates or create your own View graphical charts, with bars per author, genre, publisher Book Collector runs on Windows 95, 98, NT4, ME, XP and 2000 Using Book Collector Book Collector is a program for making a database of your book library, including paperbacks, hardcovers, magazines, bundles, and other book formats. Adding books to the database is quick and easy, because all information is automatically downloaded from book database sites (e.g. Library of Congress) and online book stores on the internet. The resulting list can be sorted, searched, grouped, printed, or exported to HTML or ASCII. Adding books to the list is done by typing only the book author and title, or the ISBN number, and then letting the program download all information about the book from the internet, including the cover images. To do this, open the Add Book by Online Query screen. Enter the author and/or title of the book or, if you know it, its ISBN number. Then click the Search button to find all matching books on Amazon or other online book databases. Select the correct matches, hit Add, and all information about the book will be downloaded from the selected info sources, including the cover images, publisher, number of pages, release year, etc. If you want, you can add more information about the book manually in the Edit Book screen. Once you have entered a number of books you can view the list on the main screen as a simple list of all books. It is also possible to browse your collection of books viewing them grouped by author, or by genre, or by other fields, and even a combination of fields. The list section of the screen either shows a list with multiple columns (you can choose which columns), or small images of the book covers. All lists can be sorted instantly, on any field, e.g. alphabetically on author, title or publisher, or sorted on release date or purchase date. Using the "incremental search" functions, you can find items quickly. Just sort the list on the field you want to search on, then start typing the first letter of the value you are looking for. While you type the selection will jump to the first item that matches. Using the Filter feature you can search for any value in any field, e.g. find all books with the word "house" in the title. You can even make combinations of search criteria, e.g. find all recent SF books from the UK. Functionality Available In Both The Standard and Pro Version Extensive field set of over 60 fields, ranging from Title and Author, to Publisher, Dimension, Purchase Price, and Paper Type Online querying function to add books quickly Explorer-like interface allowing grouping on Author, Genre, Publisher and more XML/XSL based view of entries, fully user configurable Graphical charts, with bars per genre, author, publisher and more Printing of tabular reports Features Found Only In Pro Edition Printing of user-configurable detail reports Loan Manager helps tracking which books you loaned and to whom Export to HTML, text, or XML Export to PocketPC and Palm (requires ListPro software) What Do You Get When You Buy Book Collector? A license key to "unlock" the software, so that you can enter an unlimited number of books (the unlicensed software is limited to 100 books). This will also remove the "trial copy" screen on startup, the Buy Now button on the toolbar, and the Buy menu. A lifetime of FREE updates to ALL future Book Collector releases, even major upgrades Automatic email notifications of new releases 20% percent discount on every other www.collectorz.com product Product support by email The chance to participate in the alpha and beta testing of future versions of Book Collector and other www.collectorz.com products Note that you will not receive a different version of the software, either by email or on CD-ROM. Instead, you can always download the latest version of the software from this website and use your license key to unlock it. What is the Difference Between the Standard and Pro Editions? The Standard version does not have these features: Loan Management Using other Print Layouts Exporting to Text Exporting to HTML Exporting to XML There are no separate downloads for the Standard and Pro editions. Just download the trial edition from the Download page and then use your Standard/Pro license key to unlock the trial edition into a fully functional Standard or Pro edition. Adding New Books The basic way of adding a new book to the collection is to use the Add Book item from the Edit Menu (or the corresponding toolbar or context menu shortcuts). This will open the Book screen showing a new, empty book. Just enter the book info and click OK to add the new book to the database. Instead of typing all data about a book yourself, you can search online for information and let Book Collector retrieve it for you. Do this by using the "Add by Online Query" function from the Edit menu. You can search on title, author and ISBN number. There are multiple information sources, which you can select or unselect depending on whether you want to use that source. When a search has found results, you can select one or more of the results to be added to the database. However, you can only select one result per information source. The selected results will be merged into one new book in the collection. Note that the merging takes place sequentially: first all fields from the first result are added, then the second result is used to fill in any fields that are still empty, and so on. If you want to change the order in which the online sources are searched, use the 'Up' and 'Down' buttons. When you check the 'Add Another' option, the Online Query screen stays open after you press the 'Add' button instead of returning you to the main screen. This is useful when you want to add multiple books in one go. When you check the 'Edit Result' option, the Edit Book screen is opened after you press the 'Add' button, so that you can review the new book and make changes if you want. Using A CueCat Barcode Scanner If you have a CueCat barcode scanner, you can use it to fill in the ISBN field. When swiping a barcode while you're in the main screen of Book Collector, the collection is searched for the scanned ISBN code. If it's found, that entry will be opened for editing. If it's not found, the Add by Online Query screen is opened and the ISBN code filled in. Note: you do not need to install the CueCat drivers to use it with Book Collector. These CueCat barcode scanners have been around for a few years, after the original company began by freely distributing these little hand-held devices to nearly everyone in the U.S. At the time of this distribution, it was very common to see these scanners in most all electronic retail outlets everywhere, but today the original distributor has gone out of business. There are many folks who are now selling their CueCat scanner through www.eBay.com You could also consider adding to your PC one of the more expensive hand-held barcode scanners that are used in larger wholesaler and retailer outlets, as well as libraries, but you will want to be sure these will work the same as the far less expensive CueCat scanner. The CueCat and the more expensive scanners are today mostly connected via USB ports. The retrieval of information is done with Perl scripts. You can change these scripts to improve them, or retrieve more fields. If you want more information about writing scripts, please contact us at support@book.collectorz.com Adding Duplicates of Existing Books The Duplicate Book function (Edit menu) can be used to make a copy of the currently selected book and add it to the collection. This can speed up data entry if you have multiple editions of the same book. Editing Existing Books If you want to make changes to an existing Book Collector entry, select it in the main screen and use the Edit Book command (Edit menu) to open it in the Book screen. Another simple way of changing the value of lookup fields is the use of Drag and Drop in the main screen. If you drag an book from one folder to another the corresponding lookup field will automatically be changed. For example, if you drag an book from the genre folder "Horror" to the genre folder "Mystery", the genre field of the book will be automatically changed accordingly. Removing Existing Books Use the Remove Book function (Edit menu) to remove the currently selected book(s) from the database. By default, Book Collector asks for your confirmation before really removing the book(s). You can turn off these confirmations on the first tab-page of the Preferences screen (choose Settings | Preferences). Printing Information In Your Collection To print the information in your collection about one or more books, or a list of your entire collection, use the Print function (select File\Print on the menu, or the Print button on the toolbar). In the Print screen, select 'All Books' to print all books in the collection, or use 'Selected Books' to print only those items that have been selected in the list on the main screen. The layout of the printed report is defined by a "print template." You can print a simple list of items using the Custom List Template setting, or use other print layouts by Selecting a Template from the list. The Custom List Template feature lets you print a simple list of your items, with a configurable field set. Use the Edit button to change the template settings. You can choose the fields that appear as columns in the list, you can set the Report Title, choose the Font, include a date and enable/disable Row Shading. When you use the Custom List Template feature, the program automatically generates a "print template" and uses it directly. If you want to keep this layout for later use, check the "Save in Template List" checkbox and the generated template will appear in the Select Template list with the Description you entered. Book Collector comes with a number of ready to use print templates. More user defined templates can be found in our online Template Gallery. You can select one of the included templates by choosing the "Select Template" setting and then selecting a template from the dropdown list. (Hint: you can preview a template by clicking the Preview button). Use the Print Preview button to open the Print Preview window. This shows the first couple of pages of the document as they will be printed. In the Print Preview screen, use the toolbar at the top to navigate through the pages, zoom in or out, print the document or return to the Print Collection dialog with the Close button. The Sort Order button allows you to set the sort order in which the records should be printed. The Printer Setup button allows you to change the properties of the printer like paper size, landscape/portrait printing and margins. You can also change the selected printer with the Printer button. Loaning Your Books The built-in Loan Management system allows you to keep section of books you loan to friends or family. Use the commands in the Loans menu or the Loans toolbar to register books begin loaned, returned books or to open the Loan Manager screen. Choose Loan Book to registered a book as being loaned. The Loan Item screen appears, where you can enter who borrows the book. You can also change the Loan Date and the Due Date (both filled in automatically). Use the Loan Setting screen (in the Loans menu) to change the default loan period. The Return Book command is for registering that a loaned book has been returned to you. The Return Loaned Item screen appears. You may change the Return Data here (but it is filled automatically). Click OK and you're done. 8.3 Manage Loans The Manage Loans screen gives you an overview of loaned books. You can choose to see only Outstanding Loans, only Overdue Loans, or All Loans (a complete history of loans). You can also change the properties of the loans from here (double click the books in the list). Importing and Exporting Data You can "merge" two different Book Collector database by opening one of them and importing the other one into the first one. This is done using the Import Other Book Collector database command in the File Menu. The Lookup Lists of the two databases are merged by comparing the Sort Names of the lookup items: two lookup items with the same Sort Names are merged to one item. The books themselves are not checked for duplicates; all items are imported. You might want to use data from Book Collector in other applications, like MS Excel or MS Access. This can be done by exporting data from Book Collector to a format readable by other applications. The Export to Text function writes Book Collector data to an ASCII (standard text) file, one item per line, enclosing all fields with a text qualifier character and separating the fields with a delimiter character. This format can be easily imported by most applications. The Export to ASCII screen is opened from the File, Export To, Text menu. The name of the destination file can be typed in the Destination File textbox or selected in a standard file dialog by clicking the Browse button. You can set whether to export the entire collection by selecting All Books, or you can export only the records that are currently selected in the main screen by selecting Selected Books. The number in brackets indicates how many records will be exported. Use the Export Fields button to add or remove fields from the list with the Field Selection screen. Use the Sort Fields button to set or change the order in which the records are exported. Use the radio buttons to select the delimiter, text qualifier and line break replacement to be used for the export. The delimiter is the character that will be exported between the fields (sometime also called the field separator). The text qualifier is the character that encloses all fields in the export. The line break replacement is used for keeping records on one line; otherwise line breaks would cause the item to continue on the next line, which usually is not what you want in ASCII exporting. These are the choices available: Delimiter: TAB, Semicolon, Comma or Space Text Qualifier: Double Quote, Single Quote or None Line Break replacement: Space, Newline marker, or None Check the "Include Field Names on First Row" checkbox allows to make Book Collector include an extra first row in the export file that holds the field names. A number of applications (like MS Excel and MS Access) can use this information. The Export to HTML function creates HTML pages of your books, for use on your homepage or website. You can create one index page listing all books (with one row per book), and you can also create detail pages with one page per book. Image- and hyperlinks are automatically generated to function correctly. The Export to HTML screen is opened from the File, Export To, HTML menu. The name of the destination folder can be typed in the box or selected in a standard folder selection dialog by clicking the Browse button. All generated HTML files, style sheets, and images will be placed in this folder (or a subfolder). You can set whether to export the entire collection by selecting All Books, or you can export only the records that are currently selected in the main screen by selecting Selected Books. The number in brackets indicates how many records will be exported. Use the Sort Fields button to set or change the order in which the records are exported. XSL Templates for Book Collector XSL Templates are files defining a layout and look for showing, printing, or exporting items in your collection. They are used in 3 different situations in the Collectorz.com programs: Details View: This is the lower right part of the main screen, where it shows a nice graphical view of the information of the currently selected item. XSL templates are used to define the look of this part of the screen. Right click the Details View to select a different template. Printing: When printing lists of items, XSL templates are used to provide you with multiple different report layouts to choose from. Exporting to HTML: With the HTML exporting features you can quickly create nice looking webpages listing your items, each item linking to a separate "detail" page about that item. The look and feel of these webpages are defined by XSL templates. The Export to HTML screen lets you choose from different templates for both the list and the details pages. A nice selection of templates is included with the program, so that you can choose which look suits you the best. You can also create your templates, either from scratch or by modifying existing templates. This gives you even greater control over the way you want your items to look. Target Customers Every once in a while, we come across a new software solution that is so bright and so clever that we automatically recognize its uniqueness and its special features that make it stand out among the saturated market of software applications. Book Collector 3.3 Pro is one of these applications, and in fact, all the different collector programs are just as neat, easy to use, and essential for anyone with significant items in their collections. Book Collector is tailor-made for anyone with a significant collection of books in their personal library. Now, with this program you can assemble a computer collection of information about the collection, as well as help you better manage the loaning of your books to friends or family. With your book collection organized in Book Collector, you will also have a more accurate inventory of your books, something that may come in handy if you have to file an insurance claim about your book collection. Price $39.95 Book Collector Pro Edition $24.95 Book Collector Standard Edition These super bargain prices are for the electronic download access to the program. For a copy of the CD ROM disc, you add an additional $9.95 to the above price. All the other equally super Collector products are similarly priced. Please note that you have to enter the license name and key exactly as given in your license message, with the same spacing and case. For example, if your license name is "J. Doe", then typing "J.Doe" won't work, neither will "j. doe" or "John Doe". Each Collector program needs a different key. For example, a Music Collector license key only works on Music Collector, NOT on the other Collector programs. Installation and Setup Installation and setup presented no complications or problems. Contact Collectorz.com BV Emmalaan 21 1075 AT Amsterdam The Netherlands +31 - 20 5754270 FAX +31 - 20 5754271 info@collectorz.com www.collectorz.com