Home Library Cataloging

We own a lot of books. Keeping track of all the books we own is a huge chore! I can't tell you how many times I have re-purchased the same book because I thought we did not own it yet. Plus, I have several different types of lists that I want to know what books are on which lists.

For example, I want to know which books are included in my Great Books of the Western World set, which books are for homeschooling by subject, which books are on the Thomas Jefferson Education for Teens list and which age group they pertain to, etc. etc. I have copies of all these lists, but it is not incredibly easy to keep this lists in my purse when I run across books at a yard sale, Goodwill, and Bookman's.

I tried a program for my home computer, but again, I would have to print the lists and carry them around in my purse, hoping the one in my purse was the most up-to-date version. Hmmmm....still not meeting my ultimate need to KNOW exactly what I have at home and what I still need.

I recently acquired a smart phone, which I love, and discovered an app called Book Catalogue. Gee...the name was so vague I had to read more...just kidding, I'm really not that dumb. The coolest thing about this app is that it can scan the barcode of the book and enter it into the bookshelves, entered manually, or synced with Goodreads. All very useful in my book.

Another great feature is that when I catalog the Great Books of the Western World set, it allows me to enter anthologies, or the list of books/stories in each individual volume with the authors names. Sometimes one volume will have several authors and numerous books or stories. This has made it super easy for me to keep track of all the items included in this set.

My Complaint
The only complaint I have about this app is that it added all of my Goodreads bookshelves even when I do not own the books. So, keep that in mind if you want to sync that website or not. I have a separate bookshelf for our "Home Library" of books that we own rather than just the list of what we have read or what is on a specific list, like the 5 Pillar list.

I also wish it would keep track of multiple people so that I can track what each child has read. I suppose I could just make a bookshelf for each child, but then there is not an additional section for their comments and ratings of books. It might be a useful item to ask for from the creator of the app.

Other Cool Features
There is also a section for adding notes and keeping a rating system for the books you have read, which it will sync from Goodreads if you have that already, and puts a big green checkmark next to the ones you have read.

I love that it has a "Loan Book" feature so that I can record who I loaned the book too! Sometimes I have loaned out books and can't remember who has them.

The app also pulls in cover art for the books if you connect it to Library Thing, which is free. Sometimes the covers are not the actual covers of the books I own, but usually the covers are correct.