We, like many homeschoolers, have hundreds (thousands?) of books because we LOVE books. We recently bought two more bookcases to shelve them in. As I set up my new bookshelves, I really wanted to begin sorting our books, but I wasn’t sure how to get started and go about it. And then I received the Book Collector Pro software as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew in exchange for an honest review 🙂
You can enter each book by ISBN number OR by author and title. I wanted to sort my books according to the Dewey decimal system, especially as we are learning about it in our homeschool this year. After downloading the software, all I had to do was click on “add books automatically” and type in the ISBN # on the cover of each book. The Collectorz program does a search and up pops a picture of the book cover along with all its details. If you wish, you may purchase a scanner in order to scan in the barcode instead of typing in the ISBN, which could really speed up the process. Clicking “add checked” then adds the book to your collection. You can view your entire collection as a list or by thumbnail pictures of the book covers. You can even make up multiple collections, one for each family member, or perhaps each room in your house.
Among the details you can enter about each book is the purchase price. This makes the Book Collector a great tool in the case of any insurance claims on your book collection. And one of my favourite features of this program is the “Loan” tab. I’ve lost multiple books in the past because I forgot who borrowed them – now I can click on the Loan tab, choose the book, how long I want to loan it out and to whom – hooray!
Something I didn’t get to try out yet is the iPod/iPhone companion app for the Book Collector, called CLZ Books (available for Android and iPad soon). Imagine being in a bookstore and able to take a moment right there and check if you actually do already own the book in your hand that you’re considering, LOL. I’m planning on purchasing the app at the Apple app store for $9.99 US in future. Also available from Collectorz is Book Collector Connect. This can be used as an add-on for Book Collector to share your collection with friends and family, and on computers or mobile devices wherever or you go, OR it can be used as a stand-alone online book organizing tool. The cost is $24.95 at Collectorz.com.
Collectorz.com also offers database software for the Music, Movie, Comic, Game, MP3, and Photo Collector! Each Collector database is available for a free 30-day trial. The Collector Standard edition is $24.95 US and the Collector Pro, that I used, is $49.95. Scanners are available for as low as $19.95.
To find out what other TOS Homeschool Crew members thought about Collectorz, click HERE.
Love, Luck &
Laughter,
