It didn’t really happen the way I thought it would, but that’s not to say it went poorly. I was home after work yesterday, and did some searching on converting bar codes to ISBN. There was plenty on converting ISBN to bar codes but not much on going the other way (and zilch if the ISBN didn’t fall into the 13 digit format).

Anyway, I don’t remember how, but I came across this post which was a big *A-HA!* moment (with a little *headsmack* in there as well). I don’t need fancy software, or java libraries, or even a big black bubbly cauldron to convert my books from bar code to ISBN. I’ve got the scanner. I’ve got the books. I’ve got Google Books. I’m set!

So I dove right in. I wasn’t planning on doing this last night, but the opportunity presented itself (Jami was at having dinner with friends of hers, and I just found this fancy new importy thing with Google Books – seemed to have a sort of symmetry to me). I created a new shelf and called it “Imported” as a place to put all my books while I decide what to do with them. Maybe I’ll organize them here. Maybe I’ll export them and/or import them directly into GoodReads.com or something. Who knows?! It’s a wild and crafty world out there, and nothing is certain!

As for the actual scanning, the first few tests on books within reach proved unequivocally successful. Clicking on the "Options" button next to my new library, I chose “Add by ISBN or ISSN”, and up popped the fancy ISBN import dialog box box. When I scanned the bar codes, they showed up in that fancy ISBN import dialog box, and when I clicked “Add Books” they showed up in the fancy confirmation box, and then another click and into my library! I was, in a word, pleased.

So I started at the top of my book shelf wall, and moving left to right, top to bottom, proceeded over the course of the next three hours to scan all my books, to the last, into Google Books, thereby providing them with yet more information on me to use for marketing and whatever other nefarious (but never evil) purposes they may have.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. There were issues. That’s why it took three hours, instead of just one.

First, I should say that it’s always a good idea when using a cord attached computer peripheral that you have to move around a lot (say, if you’re scanning lots of books on shelves near your computer, for instance), that you move any spillable/breakable items away from the path of the cord. Seems elementary, I know, but it’s true! For instance, if you have a glass of wine in the path of the cord, it might fall to the floor and shatter, throwing a stainy but fruity, full bodied Cab Sauv/Merlot blend all over the floor, the carpet, under the desk, and even on the wall. There might be razor sharp glass fragments imbedded in the carpet as well, so watch for those.

Second, not all books have bar codes. For those, you’ll be stuck with manually entering them.

Third, many bar codes, either scanned or manually entered, simply don’t show up in Google Books (I had four such books, including a 1984 printing of “V” by A.C. Crispin). Searching for their ISBN over at GoodReads was fruitful, however, so some sort of combination between what I got over there and what I got over here is in order. In many cases, the ISBN doesn’t show up, but searching by book title does. I’m not 100% sure I got the *exact* book (cover art, printing date, etc.) as what’s on my shelf, but near enough for me.

Fourth, many paperbacks (I didn’t see this happen with hardback copies) don’t register in Google Books using the bar code on the back cover, but if you scan the bar code on the inside front cover they show right up (assuming it’s there to begin with – if not, you’re left with title/author/publisher searching).

Fifth, due to the uncertainty on whether a book would hit on Google Books, I scanned them in groups of about 10. That made it easier to identify those that were reported by scanned bar code as unidentified. Imagine the nightmare of scanning 406 books, and then having to go back through the entire collection cross-referencing what showed up on Google Books vs. what was in my library. The point is to save time, isn’t it? Not spend days verifying the scans. Still, scanning them in smaller chunks took longer.

I’d say, out of my 406 books (nowhere near as many as I thought I owned – though I did let go of more than a few a couple years back through donation), I got a good 80%-90% hit rate with the scanner and Google Books. I had to manually search for the rest and add them individually.

402 books.
3 hours to enter them.
~80% success rate means 326 books scanned and 80 books manually entered.

Thereabouts. Near enough.

Let’s now assume a minute and a half per manually entered book. Between entering the code and searching for either it, or the title if the code didn’t register, I think that’s a fair estimate. That, then, accounts for 120 out of 180 minutes (80 books at 1.5 minutes each. 326 books took me 60 minutes to scan. 80 books took me 120.

If my figurin’ is correct, that means that manually entering all those books would have cost me (carry the 2, drop the wine glass, forget about the remainder because they’re worthless anyway) somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 hours.

Ouch.

Thrice as long. Four or five evenings, instead of one. I would have gone from being the cute and endearingly geeky husband to a slacking hobgoblin with serious obsessive issues.

Thank you, little scanner, for keeping me in good graces with my wife.