Books read (some owned, some not)

[teacher24_70]

I would like to create a collection that shows the books that I have read. Some of these books would be books that I own and some would be books checked out from the library (thus I would NOT want them in my regular library collection).

I don't currently have the "date read" information input, but since I've kept a handwritten log of books that I've read and the dates that I read them, this could be easily input after the fact.

I guess my first question is a possible feature request. Instead of having the date read being a "one-day" only input--i.e, September 9, 2006, I'd like to be able to input a span of dates--i.e., September 6, 2006-September 9, 2006. This allows me to see how long I spent reading a particular book. I'd also like to be able (not sure how) to later add a new set of dates if I read the book again in the future.

My 2nd question is whether or not it would be possible to create such a collection--one that has some books that are in the main library and some books (those borrowed and read) that are NOT in the main library. I would add these in separately, but I would NOT want them integrated and mixed with those owned.

Hope this is clear.

[marksealey]

teacher24_70,

nstead of having the date read being a "one-day" only input--i.e, September 9, 2006, I'd like to be able to input a span of dates--i.e., September 6, 2006-September 9, 2006.

Once you've input the dates - into the 'Last Read' field, you could create a Smart Collection where the two criteria were 'Last read is after...09/06/2006' AND 'Last Read is before... 09/09/2006' - or similar.

Good luck!

[teacher24_70]

I'm not really wanting the smart collection to limit to just that book. It's not the smart collection that I want to show the span of dates.

I want each book to have the date information in it's file info. Some books take me one day to read, some books take me multiple days to read. I want this information reflected within it's file info. So, when I enter the information for when I read it, I don't want to just say that I read Book A on September 9th. I want to say/show that I was reading it from September 6th-September 9th.

This isn't an enormously critical piece of information, simply a personal tracking system that I've used in my Reading Log in the past. I could continue to keep that information in written form, but I'd like to be able to integrate it into a field in Bookpedia.

Even if this can't be accomplished, my most important issue is my Question #2.

teacher24_70,

nstead of having the date read being a "one-day" only input--i.e, September 9, 2006, I'd like to be able to input a span of dates--i.e., September 6, 2006-September 9, 2006.

Once you've input the dates - into the 'Last Read' field, you could create a Smart Collection where the two criteria were 'Last read is after...09/06/2006' AND 'Last Read is before... 09/09/2006' - or similar.

Good luck!

[Nora]

Unfortunately there is no way to mix library-included and library-excluded entries.

If you want to keep a reading log to know when you started and ended a book, I'd recommend using one of the custom fields as a 'Started reading' field and then use the 'Last read' field for the date when you finished reading the book. That way you can keep track of the time span.

[teacher24_70]

Will a "smart" collection span both the library and an independent collection or is it limited to the main library only?

Unfortunately there is no way to mix library-included and library-excluded entries.

If you want to keep a reading log to know when you started and ended a book, I'd recommend using one of the custom fields as a 'Started reading' field and then use the 'Last read' field for the date when you finished reading the book. That way you can keep track of the time span.

[Nora]

Smart collections assemble themselves out of the entries in the Library that match the particular criteria you have set for the collection so they can never be library-independent.

[live4ever]

If you take out lots of library books here's a cool app I use - don't know if you know about it yet.

Library Books

[Conor]

I would go with Nora's solution and have a second excluded collection of books read from the library. When you want to look at the smart collection mixed you can select the excluded collection and tell it to include it in the library, do all the browsing/editing/export in the smart collection of books read and then select the library read collection again and excluded once more.

[teacher24_70]

Are there any plans on the radar to be able to make customizable fields into specifically date fields? So that the little calendar pops up?

I also believe that I remember seeing something about the eventual possibility of more than the current 4 customized fields. Is that correct?

Unfortunately there is no way to mix library-included and library-excluded entries.

If you want to keep a reading log to know when you started and ended a book, I'd recommend using one of the custom fields as a 'Started reading' field and then use the 'Last read' field for the date when you finished reading the book. That way you can keep track of the time span.

[Conor]

Thank you for mentioning it. We have more customisable fields on the radar but not the specific nature of the field; However having a customisable date field is a good idea.

[teacher24_70]

Thanks! Having that feature would be great! I'd love to be able to decide if a customizable field were to be a date field, drop-down menu, autofill, etc.

You guys are great to listen to the suggestions of the users! I have yet to deal with a more personable software developer(s) than you and Nora! Thanks for such great products!

Thank you for mentioning it. We have more customisable fields on the radar but not the specific nature of the field; However having a customisable date field is a good idea.