Yes, yes, yes!

Okay, awhile back, when I first got my phone, I downloaded the Barcode Scanner application from the Android Market with the hopes of maybe getting my books into LibraryThing once and for all. I had trouble getting it to work on my low-end Comet (the phone's camera is a little clunky), but discovered it would do QR codes on a monitor with no trouble.

Enter LibraryThingScanner, which uses the Barcode Scanner to enter an ISBN into LibraryThing, bringing it up in the browser, so you can add the book, without typing in all those numbers. After playing with the scanner a bit, I realised that it's just a bit dim in my apartment for it, but if I put the book under bright light, it worked perfectly. So light was the issue; that's why it worked fine on a bright monitor.

So, yay, I can really start cataloguing those books. Since I'm a 'lifetime member' of LibraryThing, it's good to be able to start really putting them in, even if I do have to take them into the hallway or set up a light somewhere more convenient. :)

I just finished watching 'The Lovely Bones'

and rather liked it, although I know it got mixed reviews. Saoirse Ronan was very good. Actually, I thought most of the acting was very good. Now I can return it to the library. Somewhere I have the book. I know there's some differences (the mother's affair, for example), and I'd like to see how different the film is from the book and see how it's written. So, I should probably find it. When you have as many books as I do, especially since their not in order at the moment (and some are still in boxes), it can be hard to locate one easily. Must finish putting my library into LibraryThing. I've only got 233 books in, and I have quite a bit more than that. :)

PS Well, that took two minutes. It was actually in my mystery section, but there are two stacks lined up on the shelf, one behind the other, and it was in the back one. I'll go ahead and put it into the catalogue as well. :D

Okay, I've gotten quite a bit done

Laundry took forever, it seemed, but I got six loads in the washers, five in the dryers. I ordered pizza because I had enough points to get one free. I've eaten, it's sunny again, and I'm feeling like taking a small nap, about 45 minutes. Then it's back to work. I also added a new LibraryThing widget to the blog. It took me a bit to get the width right. What do you think? I'm go to try to add some books every day. Since all I need to do for the most part is type in the ISBNs, it wasn't hard to add 60 today. It took maybe 30 minutes. I think that's doable. I'm a lifetime member now, meaning I can put in more than 200 books. I have, I don't know, maybe 2 or 3 thousand (and my library pales compared to YKWIA, who has to keep building bookshelves for his). :)

Okay, first a nap, then the bathroom and kitchen.

A beautiful foggy morning to be up early

So, the trash is out and the laundry (well, a load) is in the dryer. The granny cart was useful for both. I did dishes last night, so the only ones left are the few that aren't dishwasher safe. I've had a banana, packed up my library books to take back (the library is right next to the bus stop). Oh, and I made the bed for the first time in months. Go, me. I need to make sure I take my work shirt and shoes, along with the braces, etc., since I have to be at the gas station by 3 pm and I get off at the hospital about 2:30.

I wonder what they're having for lunch in the cafeteria today. Maybe I should take a lunch just in case. Most of my portable food is in the form of snacks, though, like chips or popcorn. Everything else has to be cooked. I have some Indian food in a package, but it doesn't come with rice, but maybe I can make some tonight and take it tomorrow. It comes with a mini-CD of Indian music, which is a little weird but appreciated. :)

I am looking forward to getting to the hospital and tackling some projects now that I feel somewhat revitalised by the weekend. Among other things I have to order some books for our family resource centre and catalogue more for the library proper. I'm actually cataloguing the collection on LibraryThing. We only need basic entries and it's only $15 a year for a non-profit. The only problem is that since we use National Library of Medicine classification, I have to put that in the comments field, since Dewey and Library of Congress are already listed.

Okay, time to get ready for work. Hope you have a great day.

I don't know why

but the gadget on the sidebar for LibraryThing isn't displaying my books, but rather random books from somewhere else. Still, many of them sound interesting. I haven't figured out how to fix it yet--the settings are correct. But I just wanted to include that caveat.

I'm thinking about getting a lifetime membership

to LibraryThing. You get to put in 200 books for free but I have substantially more than that. It's $10 per year or $25 for a lifetime membership for individuals.

I'm also considering putting my library catalogue there, for $15/year. I was using LibraryWorld but with everyone these days worrying about stretching budgets, the $365/year fee is just too much.

I've got more books personally than the library has books. Most of our collection centres around our journals. Between the medical library and the family resource centre, I think we have about 1,600 books. I've probably got about 3,000. A friend has far more, but I think he'd rather have an old-fashioned card catalogue rather than a database.

Speaking of cataloguing software for personal collections, Libra is an interesting program that displays your books, CDs, DVDs, etc. on shelves graphically. It's free for non-commercial use and easy to use, and it automatically looks up the item based on identifiers just like LibraryThing and most programs do today.