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  • 1.  Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 01-15-2025 06:50 PM
    Hi Everyone!

    First, I want to thank this community for your support in 2024 on some of the projects I was working on for my Master's in Public History. I graduated in May 2024. Yay!

    I am now a member of AMA as a newish professional. But I got my degree at 67! :-)

    Now, a new question:

    I am trying to figure out a good way to create a home Library system. Trying to sort and record our large book collections. But I would also like to use this kind of system to help some local historical organizations and home museums that have book collections. 

    I have seen examples of people using a hand-held device to scan the barcode on the back of the book and then it is recorded into a computer.

    Anyone have any experience with this, or favorite systems that you can recommend? 

    Thank you so much!

    Many blessings,
    Laurie Sue

    --

    Laurie Sue Brockway, D.Min, MAPH

    Books and exhibits: www.RevLaurieSue.com


  • 2.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 01-16-2025 09:22 AM

    Hello Laurie, 

    Congratulations on earning your degree! We at the Alliance have a fairly small library but keep track of everything in a free online catalog called Libib. You can scan the bar codes and everything shows up in the record - such as the ISBN, the description, the author, the number of pages, etc. You can also add in books that don't have a bar code so everything is in one place and searchable. I hope you find this information helpful!

    Cecelia



    ------------------------------
    Cecelia Walls
    Assistant Director, Content
    American Alliance of Museums
    Arlington VA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 01-16-2025 09:52 AM

    Hi Laurie,

    A volunteer and I are using LibraryThing.com to create a digital catalog of my museum's staff library. It's free and has been very easy to use; we scan barcodes using our phones or an iPad. It also gives you access to a large community to help troubleshoot if any issues arise. If the book collection is large enough, it can be a tedious task, but it's a great volunteer/intern project when you get the application set up.

    Good luck!



    ------------------------------
    Lauren Nye
    Associate Curator
    Hunter Museum of American Art
    Chattanooga TN
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 01-22-2025 09:32 AM
    You Are All So Awesome!

    Thank you all so much for your recommendations and for sharing your experience on this topic.

    Your wisdom and clarifications are so helpful. 

    I am putting everything to immediate use. 

    I am currently testing Libib and LibraryThing and will test out any other recommendations.

    I will report back! 

    Again, thank you so much!

    Blessings,
    Laurie Sue



    --

    Laurie Sue Brockway, D.Min, MAPH

    Books and exhibits: www.RevLaurieSue.com



    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 01-16-2025 10:28 AM

    I second Libib.  It is opensource and you can scan your books for data capture :-)

    Be well,

    Brett



    ------------------------------
    Brett Crawford PhD
    Associate Teaching Professor
    Heinz College - Carnegie Mellon University
    Pittsburgh PA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 01-16-2025 11:41 AM
    Hi, Laurie - you may be confusing or conflating two separate functions.  There are barcodes for books as "products" that bookstores (and retailers in general) use as their UPCs (universal product codes).  These relate more to inventory control and pricing, rather than collections management.

    Several CMSs also use barcodes and have library modules.  PastPerfect is an example.  Collective Access, which is a cloud-based CMS and is "shareable" is another and can be open source, but the set-up and actual data entry is not free.  In either case, the barcode function is also an add-on.

    Hope that helps.  Vivian



    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 01-17-2025 05:49 AM

    We're using LibraryThing, which like Libib allows for scanning UPCs and importing. But what I really appreciate is that you can copy catalog from multiple institutions, which is great for things like dissertations, and that you can also import from CSV. They sell inexpensive barcodes if you want to track inventory, and there is an add-on, TinyCat, which allows you to track multiples copies of a title. You can make your collection private if you don't wish to participate in the community.



    ------------------------------
    Arlene Yu
    Director, Knowledge and Legacy
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 01-17-2025 10:51 AM

    I'll echo those recommending Libib, but that's assuming, to Vivian's point, you're treating the book collections as a library collection and not a museum collection. My institution has used Libib for years for our reasonably small (~ 2,000 books) focused lending library. I found it infinitely easier to use than Library Thing. 

    We do have a few books accessed as part of our collection, but those remain separate from Libib and under our normal archival collecting process. I would not recommend Libib for that purpose. 

    You can see our library catalog here: http://libib.com/u/crhc

    Warmly,

    George 



    ------------------------------
    George Garner (he/him/his)
    Assistant Director & Curator
    Civil Rights Heritage Center - Indiana University, South Bend
    South Bend IN
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 02-07-2025 02:03 PM

    Hi Laurie Sue, I have been using LibraryThing as well. I am not a librarian and sometimes I move in for me uncharted territories, but together with another volunteer we now have over 1,000 titles entered in the system. Mind you, as you go above 500 there is a fee, and then over 1,000 a higher fee. But it is minimal compared to other systems. As someone else already commented there is a users group, on the platform itself, where discussions and questions are posted. It's a very lively and helpful community of users. So far it works for us. 

    https://www.librarycat.org/lib/HHDL-LLC



    ------------------------------
    Remko Jansonius
    Newfield NY
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Recommendations for a Home Library System or App

    Posted 02-07-2025 03:32 PM

    Thank you Remko and thank you everyone who shared your ideas on this topic! 

    I am so grateful to you all.

    Many blessings,
    Laurie Sue

    --

    Laurie Sue Brockway, D.Min, MAPH

    Books and exhibits: www.RevLaurieSue.com





    Original Message


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