Quick Catalog

1. Determine what books or media you are going to catalog.
2. Determine which of the following three methods you are going to use in Readerware to enter your bar codes.
   1. Auto-Catalog - This is the simplest way and the place to start when cataloging your existing collection. Readerware Auto-Catalog works by using the item ID, an ISBN or LCCN for a book, a UPC for a CD or video. It looks up the item using this key at different web sites. When it finds a match it adds the item to your database, automatically. Readerware can merge data from different web sites to build the most complete database possible. You can also use a barcode reader to enter the item ID for you. Readerware even supports the CueCat®.
   2. Browser Drag and Drop - This can be used for older items that may not have a product ID and for adding one or two new items to your database. Find the item on the web, drag and drop from your browser to Readerware, the item is added to your database, automatically. Readerware provides convenient search pages as your starting point for your web searches. Catalog as you shop, just drag and drop after ordering a book, it's cataloged!
   3. Of course if you really want to, you can enter an item the old fashioned way, using your keyboard.
3. Our preferred methods:
   1. Open a Notepad file
   2. Scan or type the 10 or 13-digit bar codes from the items you want to catalog into Notepad, using only the Enter key to move from one line/item to the next.
4. Open the version of Readerware that matches what you want to enter.
   1. Books - Readware
   2. Music - ReaderwareAW
   3. Video - ReaderwareVW
5. Start by selecting the Readerware Web menu and then select the Auto-Catalog item.

   The auto-catalog wizard will be displayed. The first task is to select the site(s) you want to search. Readerware supports many different sites, commercial vendors like Amazon, national libraries like the Library of Congress and smaller specialized sites. The site list will vary by product.

   Non US sites are displayed with their country code.

   Readerware will look up an item at each site you specify, when it finds a match it extracts the information and updates your database. If the merge data option is checked, Readerware searches for the item at all selected sites and merges the data. If this option is not set, Readerware will stop at the first site with a match.

   Click on the down arrow to display the full list of sites. You can select more than one site. Hold down the Ctrl key to select another site, hold down the shift key to select a range of sites.

6. So which sites should you choose?
   
   You could simply select all sites. Readerware will work down the list looking for a match. But selecting all sites will take longer, Readerware has more sites to search and some of the smaller sites may not be available or slow.

   Each site provides different information. Some sites will provide an image, others will not. Some sites will format data like titles differently. Readerware gets each field from the first site that has the information. So the sites you select and the order they are searched will effect the data stored in your database.

   In short, only you can decide which sites best meet your needs. So before starting to catalog your full collection, take a few minutes to catalog a few favorite items at different sites. Look at the information returned and decide which sites are best for you. When you have decided on your favorite sites, you can easily create a new database and delete your test one.

   Readerware lets you decide which sites to search and which order to search them in. You have the option to extract data from just one site or merge data from multiple sites. Select merge data option.

7. The next page of the auto-catalog wizard is where you enter the items you want to search for.

   You can key in the item ID and press enter. You can also scan the item barcode. Readerware supports most barcode readers, even the CueCat®. Readerware adds the items to the list.

   For books the item ID is the ISBN or LCCN, you can enter either with or without hyphens. For CDs and videos it is the UPC barcode. You must enter all the barcode digits.

   You can prepare the list beforehand. Create a text file containing 1 item per line. If using a barcode reader, you can scan into a text editor like Windows notepad. Click on the Load button, Readerware will load the file and place the items in the list. Select allow duplicates, etc.

   The reload button will reload your last auto-catalog list. More about this later.

   You are ready to go, you have selected the sites and entered a list of items. Readerware will do the rest.

8. Select two verifiying Next buttons and sit back and relax. Although your computer looks dead, it is busy in the background searching the Web and merging your data. As auto-catalog runs, Readerware highlights each item in the list with an icon next to it. This icon indicates the current item status and changes as each item is processed.

   The top half of this page shows the icon key so you can easily understand the results list.

   As Readerware finds each item, it adds the item title to the list.

   Once auto-catalog completes, the titles will be on your screen with an icon before them, when Readerware has found an image. Select Next.

9. The final panel of the auto-catalog wizard displays the session statistics
   
   
   
   

   

   Readerware displays the count of items input, the number found, the number of images found and the number of items not found etc.

   If all items were found, your'e done. Click on the Finish button to display your database with all the new items.

   But what if some items were not found?

10. There can be a number of reasons why an item was not found:
    
    
    

    

    • Older items may not be available at the commercial sites. You may be able to find them at other sites like the Library of Congress.
    • Maybe you are searching for a British book at a US site, try one of the UK sites.
    • If it is a specialized title, try one of the specialized sites.
    • The title could have been reissued with another item ID or changed for a special edition. You can still use browser drag and drop to catalog the item.
    If you want to try and catalog those stragglers by searching other sites, you can rerun your auto-catalog list.
11. To rerun auto-catalog, select the Auto-Catalog item from the Readerware Web menu again.

    On the site selection page, select the site(s) you want to search this time.

    

    When you get to the item input page, click on the Reload button. Readerware will display your last auto-catalog list.

    What about the items you have already cataloged? Readerware first checks the local database, if an item is already in the database, it is skipped. So when you rerun an auto-catalog list, Readerware will only try and catalog those items it couldn't find earlier.

    The results page will show you which new items were added in this auto-catalog run. You can rerun auto-catalog any number of times.

    What about older items that do not have product IDs? Readerware can still catalog these items for you. Browser drag and drop support lets you search for the item by title, author etc.

12. If you want to add a not found item using browser drag and drop, first you have to identify the title that was not found.

    

    That may seem a little daunting. You have a shelf of 50 items that you just processed using Readerware auto-catalog. One was not found, but which one?

    Readerware makes this easy by displaying the titles of all items it did find in the results list. So to locate a physical item that was not found, refer to the list. Look for the titles of the found items either side and you can easily locate the not found item on your shelf.

    After you click the finish button, Readerware displays all the items just added to your database in the main window. This makes it easy to review and edit your new items.

13. Readerware supports drag and drop from your browser, Netscape, IE etc. You simply drag a URL from your browser to Readerware and the item is added to your database, automatically.

    

    The image to the right shows you the drag icons for common browsers and platforms. Click on the icon and hold the mouse key down. Now drag the icon to the yellow bulls eye icon in the Readerware search bar.

    

    Readerware Drag Target

    Release the mouse button. Readerware will retrieve the URL from the web, extract the contents and add the item to your database.

14. Readerware also provides convenient starting points for your web searches.

    

    You can access these pages from within Readerware. Select one of the search items from the Web menu. Readerware will open your browser and load the search page.

    Select the site you want to search, enter your search terms and press the Submit button. A new browser window will open with your search results.

    If you want to perform the same search at a different site, return to the search window, change the site selection and press Submit again.

    When you have found the item you are looking for, drag and drop to add it to your database.

15. You can also bookmark any of the search pages in your browser.

    

    Start by going to the Readerware user home page at:

    http://www.readerware.com/userhome/

    Select the books, music or video search page. Netscape and IE users, hit Ctrl-D to bookmark the page.

    To create a shortcut to the page, drag the URL icon and drop it on your desktop.

    You can even make one of the Readerware search pages, your home page.

    Hopefully you will find the Readerware search pages useful and a great starting point for your web searches. But you don't have to use them. It doesn't matter how you get to a web site, but once you're there, you can drag and drop to add the item to your Readerware database.

16. You can use the Readerware drag and drop interface to easily catalog older items that may not have an ID.

    

    You can catalog items as you shop. Place your order at a vendor web site and then drag and drop to add your new purchase to your database.

    When adding new items to your collection, you can use either auto-catalog or drag and drop. Go crazy at your local used bookstore? Use Readerware auto-catalog to add the new items to your collection. Pick up a new release at the mall? Use drag and drop to easily add it to your database.

    Readerware makes it easy to catalog your books, music and videos. But most of us have living collections, we are constantly adding new items. Readerware makes it easy to maintain your collection too. Add new items as you buy them on the web, or as you bring them home.

17. There is a lot more in Readerware than can possibly be covered in this short tutorial.

    

    Hopefully it has given you a good introduction to the power and simplicity of Readerware. Use the online help to discover more:

    Readerware auto-update will update existing items from the web. Add more information, get up to date valuations etc.

    Create custom reports and web pages.

    Exchange data with other programs

    Shop for the lowest prices using the Readerware Shopping Cart.

    Use the built in backup and restore feature to protect your valuable data.

     

    Thank you for taking the Readerware tutorial. I hope you found it informative and useful.

    

    There is more information available in the Readerware Help. You can access this from within Readerware or online at

    http://www.readerware.com/rwhelpcontents.html

    If you are anxious to get started cataloging your collections, you can download a free 30 day trial copy of Readerware:

    http://www.readerware.com/rwDown.html

    If you have any questions, help is always available.

    http://www.readerware.com/rwSup.html

    Thank you.