CalibreWhen Juli and I wrote last year about awesome ways to use the Calibre eBook program, one of the uses I described was using the custom field option to manage the Kobo’s bookshelf feature. Now that I am back in Camp Kindle again, I did a little library cleanup over the weekend and removed the Kobo shelves. But I am still using the custom fields for other purposes. Here are 5 fun things you can do with a custom shelf.

1) View a timeline of your literary reading

I have added a publication year custom field. I find that the publisher info default one isn’t always accurate, and since it requires a month, it is cumbersome to change. So I made a custom field for just the year. I find it neat sometimes to sort my finished books by year and see the timeline of my reading life. What is the earliest published book I have read? How many classics? How many recent releases? I can sort the whole thing, from Wuthering Heights to Gone Girl, and see the history of my reading life.

2) See how many purchased books you have yet to read

I get books both from free sources such as Project Gutenberg and Smashwords, and paid sources such as Amazon. They all get imported into Calibre, and I have a custom field to identify the source of each book. The freebies are great, but I want to get my value out of the paid-for books too. So sometimes, I’ll filter my library to display only Amazon or Kobo, and load up my reader with all the unread paid-for books, so I can focus on those for awhile and whittle down the TBRs.

3) Filter books into special collections

I know I could use tags for this. But I find it cumbersome to view and manipulate in list mode using tags because many books have more than one of them. If I want to just click at the top of a column to sort right away, I find custom fields easier. And one of my most-used custom fields is the special collection. I use it judiciously, but effectively, to separate out my French books from my English books, and sometimes to separate out books such as the Harvard Classics which are part of a large series.

4) Separate Books by User

This isn’t one I do, but I know people who have custom fields for every member of the family. That way, you can filter by family member’s name (easy to do via a saved search) and everyone can browse their own books without worrying about everyone else’s. Also, you’ll be able to browse each subset using the tags once you’ve applied your saved search filter. So if you want to view just your books, then browse by genre or publisher or what have you, go right ahead.

5) Tag books which need corrections

I know not everyone is as uptight about correcting errors and typos as I am, but if this is an issue for you, set up a field for it. In most of my books, I simply wait until I’m done and correct all the errors off of my reader’s bookmarks feature. But sometimes, a book will need a lot of work. I have one I am saving right now to work on because I bookmarked a lot of quotes in it to save to Evernote. So I will mark those in my ‘corrections needed’ field so I can find them later and get my collection all cleaned up.

Do you use any special Calibre fields? I’d love to hear your comments below!

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"I’m a journalist, a teacher and an e-book fiend. I work as a French teacher at a K-3 private school. I use drama, music, puppets, props and all manner of tech in my job, and I love it. I enjoy moving between all the classes and having a relationship with each child in the school. Kids are hilarious, and I enjoy watching them grow and learn. My current device of choice for reading is my Amazon Kindle Touch, but I have owned or used devices by Sony, Kobo, Aluratek and others. I also read on my tablet devices using the Kindle app, and I enjoy synching between them, so that I’m always up to date no matter where I am or what I have with me."

2 COMMENTS

  1. I have an almost embarrassing number of ebooks because of all the freebies and great sales, I’m a kid in a candy store really. So I have a custom checkbox for ‘read’ to keep track of what I’ve read and what I haven’t. There are only so many unique titles out there and I can’t always them just by title and author.

    I haven’t even downloaded them all from Amazon yet, it’s a never-ending task. I wish they offered a bulk download to speed up the process.

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