How to archive books

Do you have dozens and dozens of books and eBooks that you struggle to manage? I understand you, and I tell you that the solution to your problems is a program that allows you to organize, manage and archive everything in an easy and fast way.

What would you say, then, if I gave you some advice about it? Yup? Great! Then take a few minutes of free time just for you, position yourself comfortably in front of your trusty computer and immediately start concentrating on reading this guide of mine dedicated to how to archive books.

In fact, we are going to discover, together, which are the best solutions that allow you to manage books on Windows and macOS and even online. In addition, I will suggest you some apps for smartphones and tablets suitable for the purpose and I will tell you how to archive books on Kindle, the famous eBook reader from Amazon. But now just chat and let’s get to work. I wish you a good read … in every sense!

Index

• Program for archiving books
  • Caliber (Windows / macOS / Linux)
  • Booknizer (Windows)
  • Excel (Windows / macOS)
• How to archive books online
• App to archive books
• How to archive books on Kindle

Program for archiving books

First of all, I would like to show you which are, in my humble opinion, the best programs for storing books on your computer: there are some for all tastes, both for Windows and for macOS, both free and paid.

Caliber (Windows / macOS / Linux)

Have you ever heard of Caliber? No? No problem, let’s fix it right away: it is a free program for Windows, macOS and Linux that allows you to catalog eBooks and paper books, read books in digital format, buy eBooks from the Internet, convert electronic books into various formats and much more. yet. It is completely in Italian, open-source and supports all major eBook reader models (on which it allows you to synchronize your digital library).

To download it, connected to its official website, first click on the logo of the operating system in use on your computer and then on the Download Caliber item, present on the next page.

When the download is complete, if you are using Windows, open the .msi file you just downloaded and, in the window that is shown on your desktop, put the checkmark next to  I accept the terms in the License Agreement. Next, click on the Install button and the Yes and Finish buttons to complete the installation process and start Caliber.

If, on the other hand, you are using macOS, open the .dmg package obtained, drag the Caliber icon into the Mac Applications folder, right-click on it and select the Open item from the menu that appears, in order to start the program, however, going around the limitations imposed by Apple on applications from non-certified developers.

Now that, regardless of the operating system used, you see the program window on the screen, select the Italian item from the Choose the language drop-down menu, in order to set the use of the Italian language, and click on the Next button. Select, therefore, the eBook reader or tablet you use to read your books in digital format and click first on the Next button and then on Finish, in order to complete the initial configuration procedure of Caliber.

At this point, all you have to do is start archiving your books by clicking on the Add books button located at the top left: in this way, you can choose your eBooks that you have saved on your PC and Caliber will automatically organize them by downloading all the information concerning them from the Internet.

If, on the other hand, you want to archive books that you do not own in digital format or which, in any case, are not present on your computer, you can click on the arrow located next to the Add books button and select the Add empty book item from the menu that opens.

Alternatively, you can also add new books to the Caliber archive by entering their ISBN code: just click once again on the arrow located next to the Add books button, select the Add from ISBN item from the menu that opens and follow the wizard that is proposed to you.

Once added, all the books are visible in the central part of the program window: if you want, you can filter the view by authors, languages, series, etc. using the appropriate items that you find in the left sidebar. Alternatively, you can search by keyword using the search bar at the top.

To open a book, on the other hand, simply double-click on its title, while if you want to change its metadata, format, view its details, etc., right-click on it and select the option of your interest from the context menu.

In addition to storing books on the computer, Caliber can also be used to buy eBooks from all the main stores in the sector: to do this, just click on the Get Books button in the toolbar and select the sites in to search from the left sidebar.

Caliber also allows you to synchronize the eBooks contained in all major eBook readers with your computer library. Just connect the device to your PC while keeping the program open and click on the Save to disk button. If you feel you need further information about the use of this software, I suggest you read my guide on how Caliber works.

Booknizer (Windows)

Another excellent program to which, in my humble opinion, you would do well to contact to archive your books, both in digital and paper format, is  Booknizer, which has a simple and intuitive interface, translated into Italian, which allows you to create an ordered library, inserting various types of information. It also allows you to discover other works by the authors of your own interest and to keep track of books lent to friends. It is only for Windows and is free, but with some limitations, such as the ability to add a maximum of 50 books to the collection. To eliminate the limitations in question, you need to upgrade to the paid version of the program, with prices starting at $ 39.95.

That said, to download Booknizer on your computer, go to its official website and click on the Download Booknizer button, located on the right. Once the download is complete, open the .exe file obtained, click on the Yes button in the window you see appear on the screen and then on the OK button, to confirm the use of the Italian language. Subsequently, click on the Next button, select the item I accept the terms of the license agreement and click again on the Next button for six consecutive times, then on the Install one and, to conclude, press the Finish button.

Now that you see the Booknizer window on your screen, click on the Start Program button, then start adding your books to the software database by clicking on the Add Book button, located at the top left.

In the window that is subsequently shown to you, check the From title option and enter the title of your book in the text field Enter the titles of the books, then choose whether to allow the program to automatically download the information about the book by leaving or removing the tick. from the box next to Download book information from the Internet and click the Next button.

Alternatively, you can add a book by entering its ISBN code or by selecting the relative file: to do this, click on the down arrow next to the Add book button (top left) and choose the option of your interest from the menu that appears.

All books added to the collection are listed in the left part of the program window. If you prefer, you can also view your collection by authors, by selecting the relevant tab at the top left, or you can search directly by genre or for other information, by selecting the Search tab (always located at the top left) and by filling in the appropriate fields displayed.

By then clicking on a particular book, you can view its details on the right and, in the specific case of eBooks, you can also read them by clicking on the link to the relative file that you find next to the File Name item and selecting one of the programs suitable for the purpose installed on the PC ( for example the ones I recommended to you in my review on eBook programs ).

Also keep in mind that, always after selecting a book, by clicking on the eye icon on the right, you can set it as read; by clicking on the binoculars icon you can mark it as no longer in the library, while by clicking on the dollar icon you can mark the book as for sale. Furthermore, by right-clicking on the title of the book you can access the context menu through which to perform other operations, such as changing the format of the cover, changing the location, etc.

Excel (Windows / macOS)

Did you know that Microsoft Excel, the famous spreadsheet program included in the Office package, can also be used to store books in a special database? No? Well, now you are aware of it and, if you are interested, I can explain how to exploit this possibility.

To begin with, if you haven’t already done so, download and install Excel on your computer, following the instructions I gave you in my guide dedicated to how to download Excel. Then, start the program by selecting the relative link in the Start menu (on Windows) or by clicking on its icon attached to the Launchpad (on macOS).

In the screen that is shown to you, choose to create a new blank spreadsheet by selecting the Blank Workbook option. Then select cell A1 of the sheet, type the term Title in it and press the Enter key on the computer keyboard, to confirm the changes made.

Then select, one at a time, all the other adjacent cells ( B1, C1 etc.) and type in the other information relating to your books that you want to catalog, for example, Genre, Year of printing, Language, etc.

Once this is done, fill in the cells below by entering the information of your interest, then the title of your books, the literary genre and so on. To confirm the changes made each time, always press the Enter key on your keyboard.

If you want, you can make changes to the characteristics of the cells used and the texts inside, by selecting them and using the special formatting tools that you find in the upper part of the window, corresponding to the Home tab.

After completing the worksheet with the necessary data, you can start treating it as if it were a table in a database: to sort by a simple criterion, click on cell A2 (since row 1 is “dedicated” to the names of the fields) and drag the selection to the last cell at the bottom right, then right-click on the column by which you want to sort (e.g. column A ), position the mouse on the Sort item in the proposed menu and choose the criterion you prefer.

To perform search query operations, however, you need to take advantage of filters. To do this, select the entire worksheet using the key combination Ctrl + A (on Windows) or the cmd + a (on macOS), right-click on a point of the selection, move the mouse over the Filter item from the context menu and choose the option that you think maybe more congenial for you.

When you see fit, you can save the spreadsheet for your book collection by clicking on the File menu  (top left) and selecting the appropriate option from the menu that appears. For more details on using Excel, I suggest you check out my article dedicated specifically to how to use Excel.

How to archive books online

As I told you at the beginning of the article, to archive your books, you don’t necessarily have to download and install new programs on your computer: you can also rely on special online solutions, such as  Libib.

Libib is a free Web service (for personal use) thanks to which it is possible to manage, in special virtual collections, not only books, but also films, music and video games. It works with any browser but, to use it, you need to create an account.

To use Libib, go to its home page and click on the Get started button, located at the top right; then provide the data requested and click on the Start my library button. Once this is done, press the Login here button, enter the login data you just created and click the Sign in button, to access your account.

In the new page that at this point is shown to you, you can start creating your library: to do this, type the name you want to assign to your collection in the Title field, make sure that the Books option is selected under the heading Select a library type and choose whether to make the library public or not, using the Publish library button. Finally, click on the Add Library button.

Later, you can add the books to the collection by selecting the Add items item in the left sidebar and choosing one of the available options: by clicking on Search you can search the Internet for the book to add and automatically import all the information; by clicking on CSV Import you can upload your books via a CSV file while clicking on Manual entry you can add the books and related information manually.

Once you have added all your books to the collection, you can view the complete list by selecting Libraries from the left sidebar. In the new screen that appears, you will be shown the list of books in alphabetical order. If you deem it necessary, you can decide to filter them by initial letter, title, author or publication date. By clicking on a particular book, however, you can view all the information relating to it.

App to archive books

And what about the mobile side? Are there any apps to store books on smartphones and tablets? The answer is yes, and here are some good examples.

• CLZ Books – Book Database( Android / iOS ) – app thanks to which you can organize the books in your collection quickly and easily, synchronizing the library created with multiple devices, after creating a specific account. It’s free, but it allows you to add up to 100 books. To get around this limitation and unlock other extra functions, you need to buy the full version of the application, through in-app purchases (at a cost of 14.99 euros/year).
• My Library( Android ) – no cost application that allows you to create a library to always have at hand. Books can be added by framing the barcode with the smartphone camera or manually and can then be sorted by title, author, category, books read, etc. Optionally, the created library can be exported as an Excel file.
• BookBuddy( iOS ) – great free tool to store books on iPhone and iPad. It allows you to add new books, create a list of favorites and keep track of volumes on loan. The only thing you need to take into account is that it allows you to keep track of up to 50 books at a time. To get around this limitation, you have to buy the paid version of the app, through in-app purchases (at a cost of 5.49 euros).

How to archive books on Kindle

Do you own a Kindle and do you usually read your eBooks from the popular Amazon home device? In this case, know that the storage of digital books you buy or transfer to your device, as I explained to you in my guide on how to download books on Kindle, takes place automatically. The eBooks, in fact, are saved in the Your library section of the device, which you can access by tapping on the relevant item on the Home screen.

Once logged in to the library, you can filter and sort the books according to your needs, by tapping on the Filter and Sort items located at the top right, and you can choose to view only the books downloaded locally or even those not physically present on the device (but linked to the Amazon account in use), by selecting the items All and Downloaded at the top left. You can also search by keyword by typing the keyword of your interest in the Search field at the top.

By tapping on the button with the three vertical dots that you find on the cover of each eBook, you can also choose to add the book in question to the Kindle home screen, to a collection (existing or to be created at the moment), to mark it as read, remove the book from the device etc. For more details about the use of the Kindle and the management of eBooks, I refer you to reading my specific post on how the Kindle works.

 

 

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