Books occupy an important place in our life, but also in our homes. It may happen that our eagerness to read leads us to create collections of a certain size that make it impossible for us to find that book that we would like to pick up again or that book that we would like to leave with a friend. That is why the organization of our personal library of books becomes useful really necessary.
Cataloging the books, we have at home will help to put some order in our personal library. I’m not talking about doing exhaustive cataloging, but about keeping track of titles, authors, publishers, and subject matter. This would be more than enough, and the most logical thing for the use we give to books and the low circulation they may have. Said cataloging will also allow us to know what books we have and even find them easily by being arranged in certain locations in the house and classified as we please (in alphabetical order, by theme, authors, colors, sizes, and importance).
Personally, I would love to have all the books cataloged in a catalog file. Those 7.5 by 12.5 cm cardboard tokens stored in their corresponding drawer have a special charm for me. But it is true that this can be a daunting task when the collection exceeds 100 titles. That is why there are certain programs that make it easier for us to manage and catalog our personal library, whether it is printed books or electronic books.
Leaving aside these computer programs for the administration of our personal library, I would like to go one step further. And it is that there are mobile applications, both for Android and for iOS, that allow us to quickly and easily catalog our books. Do we benefit from confinement to organize the library? Applications that can make us organize, classify and keep track of our books in an agile and enjoyable way. By the way, did you know that most apps allow the cataloging of books by scanning their barcode or by simply entering their ISBN? Let’s see them!
Top 10 Mobile Applications to Catalog and Organize the Books
Here you can find the Top 10 Mobile Applications to Catalog and Organize Books.
1. My Library
My Library allows you to store your personal library and perform a quick search within it. This free and ad-free application available for Android has been downloaded over a million times. It allows you to add a book to your library by scanning its barcode, through its ISBN number, or by keyword (title, author, cover, abstract, publication date, publisher), search, sort, export and import your library, manage wish lists, control statistics.
2. Book Catalogue
Book Catalog is a free application for Android that allows you to manage your personal library, is easy to use, and has a Public Use License (GPL). Books can be added manually, by ISBN, or by scanning their barcode. Its functionalities include ordering by author (surname), title, series, etc., user-defined list styles, data search on Amazon, Google Books, Goodreads, and LibraryThing, cover thumbnails (download, gallery, or camera), the loan of books, the export, and backup copy…
3. Libib
Libib is a small application for organizing and cataloging your personal library that allows you to scan your books, movies, music, and video games. It is available for Android and iOS. In addition, this application allows you to work in coordination with its web version, from where you can label, review, import, take notes, and publish your library. Its main features include its barcode scanner, the ability to add multiple types of libraries, easy search across all libraries, and synchronization directly with libib.com.
4. CLZ Comics – Comic Database
CLZ Comics – Comic Database is a paid application available on Android and iOS that allows you to easily catalog your comic collection. You just have to scan the barcodes with your camera and you will automatically get all the details of the comics and covers. Among its outstanding functionalities is the grouping of comics in folders and the ordering by series, edition number, or date of purchase.
5. Handy Library (Library Organizer)
Handy Library (Library Organizer) is an application that helps you organize your book collection (or small library) in a convenient way. It is available on Android and has been downloaded more than 50,000 times. With them, you can scan the ISBN the first time to get the details of a book online and add it to your library and scan it a second time to view the book, write a note or lend someone. Among its most outstanding features are barcode and ISBN scanning, loan control, organization by shelves or categories, and export or import of the library with Excel files.
6. CLZ Books – Book Database
CLZ Books – Book Database is a paid application available on Android and iOS that allows you to easily catalog your book collection. You just have to scan the barcodes with your camera and you will automatically get all the details of the books and their covers. Among its outstanding functionalities are the registration of the collection and wish list, the edition of the books to add more details, the obtaining of statistics, and the ordering by lists.
7. My Library app
My Library is an application for Android devices that allows you to organize your personal library from your mobile phone and therefore it will always be with you. You can add them via QR code to obtain all their information or manually. With this application, you will be able to classify and add descriptions about your books. Highlight reminders for borrowed books, log export, and backups.
8. LibraryThing
The LibraryThing app allows its members to catalog and browse their collections. This app focuses on books, but you can also add most media, including DVDs and CDs. It is based on data from Amazon and more than 65 million library records. You can add books by searching for them or by scanning their ISBN barcode with your camera. In addition, it allows you to add high-resolution cover photos of your books with the cover editor and browse your books by cover type to find copies that need better ones. It is available for both Android and iOS.
9. Bookshelf – Your virtual library
Bookshelf – Your virtual library is a free service with an elegant, functional, and easy-to-use interface that allows you to catalog and organize your library or book collection on multiple virtual shelves. With this app, you can also track your reading progress and keep a wish list of the books you want to read. It also allows you to discover new readings and share book recommendations. Among its outstanding features are, in addition to those mentioned and many more, the possibility of importing books from a CSV file or the filters to show the books that you have already read or the books that you never had the opportunity to finish. This app is available for both Android and iOS.
10. Readerware (Books)
Readerware (Books) is an application that allows you to catalog your personal library quickly and easily. Self-cataloging allows you to feed your book list from the ISBN or the barcode scan. Its versions for Android and iOS mobile devices allow you to easily synchronize your database and always take it with you.
