How to manage a home library

The Slashdot article below reminded me that I need to finish cataloging my home library:

Ask Slashdot: High-Tech Ways To Manage a Home Library?: First time accepted submitter DeptofDepartments writes "With Kindles and ebooks on everyone's lips (sc. hands) nowadays, this might come as a surprise to some, but besides being a techie, I have also amassed quite a collection of actual books (mostly hardcover and first editions) in my personal library. I have always been reluctant to lend them out and the collection has grown so large now that it has become difficult to keep track of all of them. This is why I am looking for a modern solution to implement some professional-yet-still-home-sized library management. Ideally, this should include some cool features like RFID tags or NFC for keeping track of the books, finding and checking them out quickly, if I decide to lend one." For more on what DeptofDepartments is looking for, read on below.


Read more of this story at Slashdot.

There were some interesting ideas presented, but what I have used is a program called BiblioteQ that has fit my needs fairly well. It runs on most all desktop platforms. If I have an ISBN number, I can enter it and BiblioteQ will pull in all the information on the book. I also intend to catalog my library using Library of Congress Control Numbers (LCCN). I tend to lightly pencil in the LCCN on the inside front cover so that the number is visible without doing too much damage to the book. I don't have any priceless texts (but quite a few old thrift store finds), so this works well for me.

I've commented on the superiority of dead-tree books in the past. While I'll never have anything like Thomas Jefferson's library, I do hope to build a collection that I can one day pass down to my kids. Handing a kid a Kindle just doesn't have the same nostalgic appeal that a dusty, aged old book does.