HOW TO: Keep track of your books

[gsvec]

Ari, are there fields for price, i.e., paid/value? Also date purchased and/or sold?

[Ari_Racing]

Can be included, sure

[king fan]

okay, so i'm very new to this site and to the world of book collecting. However, i do collect limited edition art prints (silkscreen, giclee, whatever). Their is a fantastic site that all of the print / poster junkies use out there called www.expressobeans.com That site literally keeps track of all sales and is basically ran by all the users. The users can add ebay auctions they find, personal sales or whatever. But it keeps track of everything people input in to it. I was thinking it would be very cool to have something similar for books, more specific just Stephen King (or related) books. Take a look and see what you all think? It would be very helpful to new collectors and old collectors.

This is in no way SPAM or solicitation for expressobeans. If i am doing something wrong in these forums feel free to remove my thread or tell me

Thoughts?

[jhanic]

This is an interesting concept. I haven't yet visited the site you mentioned, but with the King "universe" there is such a large quantity of separate items that it would be very difficult to keep such information current. Also, the prices themselves can be very volatile. It may be worth a try, however.

John

[king fan]

John,

If you visit the site, you will get more of an understanding. The site i mentioned literally has hundreds of thousands of different prints / posters. Many prints / posters have different variations. Printed on different paper, different edition size, much like SK books. I think it would be a big undertaking but would be very useful for all if it ever got up and running.

[Randall Flagg]

http://www.expressobeans.com/public/...n+king&class=0
A few things-none actual books all prints.
It would be a MASSIVE undertaking to do, but a fascinating concept.

[Ari_Racing]

Alright.

First beta of the project is up and running:

http://www.shelfproud.com/

I invite all of you to test it, use it, stress, it, whatever. Suggestions, critics, questions, ANYTHING is very welcomed. You don't have to load your real books if you don't want to. Just try it and let me know your feedback.

Please send 'em to my email at arielracing at gmail dot com.

Much appreciated!

[Patrick]

Hi Ari,

I just joined your site and added my first book. There are a couple spelling errors (e.g. "adquisitions" should be "acquisitions") , but aside from that:

1. "My Profile" shows my full real name and then my nickname in parentheses. Because it does not state otherwise, must I assume that every stranger who views my collection will also know my full real name? If others only see the nickname, the site should make that clear.

2. There should be a box to mark for "Limited Edition." This would be in addition to the other questions.

3. I would like to see a choice for "Inscribed to me" as those are special enough to differentiate from other flatsigned or inscribed to others.

4. I should not have to hunt to figure out how to be able "Add Another Book." Ideally I could do so from pretty much any screen. Right now I cannot do so while looking at a book nor while viewing my profile.

5. It appears that there is no way out of some of the pages except to use the browser's back button. I would prefer to see directional options on the screen.

6. Wishlist: I would like to add additional photo(s) - to show the limitation page or the inscription page, for example.

Overall it looks like a nice site. I'll add a couple more books and see how it goes, but I won't go full steam until I understand how to either block or delete my full real name from random strangers.

Good job so far!

[jhanic]

I've joined your site and entered two books--the signed trade of Full Dark and the Scribner proof copy also. I'd like to see the following:

1. I'd like to see a different category for Gift editions.

2. I'd like to see a separate category for slipcase and traycase editions. For example, two editions of Lonely Road's Riding the Bullet, the gift and the limited, have a slipcase, while the lettered edition has a traycase. Right now, separate entries for each of these editions would essentially be identical.

3. I'd like to see a block in which we could make notes regarding the volume. As a proof enthusiast, I'd like to be able to, for example, differentiate among the three different UK proofs of Bag of Bones (the one with the holographic cover, the light green one and the gray one.) This block could also be used to specify the number of a numbered edition (I like to keep track of that, too!)

4. Perhaps an additional choice for the binding could be one for a mass-market paperback. And maybe one for an audio edition.

I didn't put in how much I paid for each book. I feel uncomfortable putting that information out on the web. I keep it in my Excel spreadsheet, along with who I bought the book from.

I'm sure I'll be adding to this list, but overall, it's pretty good. Better than a lot of the other ones I've looked at.

John

[Patrick]

Good points, John.

Ari, I would like to be able to identify Country - to distinguish between US vs. UK editions of Firsts, Limiteds, Proofs, for example.

[Randall Flagg]

Is there (I haven't joined yet), a place for the ISBN?

[jhanic]

Not that I've been able to find.

John

[Patrick]

There is a comment area when viewing your own or other people's items. I would like a comment/notes box on the same page when entering all the other data for a new book.

Hey John, I'm now "following" you on the site.


EDIT: More feedback below.

Ari, there is a drop down menu that has two choices:
Hard cover
Softcover

I would like to see three more choices on that drop down list:
Chapbook
Magazine
Comic Book


One other thing that I would like to see in order to truly embrace a database program for my collection: The ability to enter more than one author (at least two or three) separately and have the database recognize/cross-reference properly. For example: Postscripts 10 has a story written by both SK and Joe Hill. I would like to enter both names separately so that if I look up either my SK or my Joe Hill collection, the book would show up. I don't want to have to look up a "third" combined author name.

Same goes for anthologies like "Stories" which has different stories by different authors that I collect.

[pmtarantino]

Hi everybody! I am Patricio. I have developed and designed ShelfProud all alone in the technical part. Ari is helping me with the collectors issues, anyway. But it's really hard when you have to code everything alone!

I have read all your suggestions. Thank you for all that.

The changes I have done for what you request:

- When you are seeing a profile, and if you are logged, you have a quick nav to my dashboard, add book, etc. So you dont have to go back with the browser button as someone said.
- Now there is a new section called explore, when you can see all the books and find friends and collectors, etc. In a near future there will be a search and an advanced search, too.
- There was some errors uploading pictures, they have been fixed
- Someone asked for privacy. In account settings, now you can select if your full name appears in your public profile
- Added "magazine" and "comic book" to the binding drop down
- Added checkbox "Limited Edition" for each book!

More:
- Added checkbox 'Gift Edition' for each book too.

I forgot to say I'll be working on some of the fields you were asking, as the textbox to write comments.

[Patrick]

Bienvenidos Patricio!

Thanks for all your effort in building the database website. I know nothing about coding, so I am impressed by anyone who does it. Keep up the good work!

[jhanic]

Thanks, Patricio! Works lots better!

John

[Patrick]

I toyed with a little since the upgrades and I agree with John. That was a fast turnaround!


Any chance of adding a Chapbook option to the binding drop down?

Also a Country of Origin box would be useful when you get around to it, although I suppose the publishing company info could be used to distinguish.

Thanks again, Patricio.
- Patrick

[pmtarantino]

Thanks for your welcome And your kind words.

I have added chapbook in the binding dropdown. The country (language) option will be available in next days, as the ISBN field.

Another thing I've added: the multiple authors. Separated by comma, and the system will recognize them as differents persons (for stats, for example).

[Patrick]

Sweet! Looking forward to checking it out later, especially the multiple author functionality.

[Randall Flagg]

Can you add (member view only, unless they wish to share), acquisition date, price, and sell date and price?

[pmtarantino]

Thanks Patrick.

Randall, the adquisition date and price is already there. Is private and it's only for private stats.

The sell date and price won't be soon because the idea is to upload only the books you have and not the ones you had. At least that's the idea now, I dont know if in the future will be the same or I am going to change that (:

[Patrick]

Patricio,

Not a high priority, but "Adquisitions" should be spelled, "acquisitions."

[pmtarantino]

Oh sorry, fixed that.

And I added a new feature Enter the ISBN number and the system will recognise the title book (of course, it can be modified if you are not satisfied with the title suggested!)

[Randall Flagg]

Would some kind person provide me with an excel spreadsheet that they use to keep track of books, promo items, art, etc.? Rather than reinvent the wheel, I was hoping for help.

[mattgreenbean]

Just discovered ShelfProud, sweet! Past few years I've been using google docs to access my collection catalog away from home.