Get organised with databases

Save time with the web
Entering a few books manually won’t take too long, but if you have a large collection it could become an arduous task. Fortunately, you can take a shortcut.

Libra can access book, CD and DVD information from the Amazon UK online store. You can find the book you want by typing in its unique ISBN (International Standard Book Number), which is usually found near to the barcode on its cover.

Click on the Search tab at the top of the screen, then type the number 0552142360 into the search box. Select Amazon UK from the dropdown menu and click on the small arrow at the right-hand side of the search box.

Libra will search the Amazon website for this ISBN, and produce all the details for the book: in this case Maskerade by Terry Pratchett. Click on the image of the book cover, and select Add to Library.

Scan-tastic
Typing in ISBN numbers is fairly quick, but if you copy a single number incorrectly you’ll find the wrong book. Libra can make the process of entering items even faster if you have a webcam, as it can then scan the barcode found on the back of each book.

If you have a webcam, make sure that it is connected to your computer and that all of its drivers are installed properly before you run Libra. Check the webcam manual if you are unsure.

After running Libra, click on the webcam button and then hold the back of the book up so that the barcode appears in the preview window. You may need to adjust the focus ring on the webcam so that the image is sharp. A line will appear briefly across the barcode, and your computer will make a beeping noise rather like a supermarket checkout as Libra recognises it and looks up the book details.

If your book is not recognised properly, make sure that the webcam’s focus is as sharp as possible. If this does not work it may be that your webcam is not providing a good enough picture. We found that an older 320x240 pixel webcam didn’t work, but a more modern 1.3-megapixel webcam worked fine.

As you scan books, their covers appear in the main part of the Libra window. When you’ve finished scanning, click on the red cross box in the top right-hand corner of the webcam preview window. Left-click once on the picture of each book and then on the Add to Library button to add each one to your collection.

Once you’ve got the hang of scanning books you can click in the small box labelled Add Results Automatically to make the process faster.

Get your books back
Libra really starts to get useful if you want to add extra information about the items you own. If you often loan books or DVDs to friends, for example, Libra can help keep track of who has borrowed what.

The first step is to add some friends to Libra. Left-click on the Friends icon at the top of the window and then on the Add Friend button. Enter a name and email address and press Enter. Repeat this until you’ve added all the friends who borrow items, then return to the Library by clicking on the Library icon at the top of the window.

To loan out a book, left-click on the picture of that book and then on the Loan tab on the right. Left-click on the ‘(none)’ text next to ‘Borrowed by’ and select a friend from the list. Select a Due Date when the book should be returned, and leave the Check Out date as Today.

Add any notes that might be relevant, such as contact details, and then click on the Check Out button. An orange banner appears over the cover of the loaned book in your library, showing that it has been borrowed. When the book is returned, simply click on the Check In button.