The Nexus: A Multimedia Library
"Catalogue, tag, browse, analyse, and track your
books, CD, and DVD collections from your desktop."
Whoever said databases can't be eye candy?
Having a thousand books and a couple hundred DVDs doesn't mean you need
to catalogue them. Then again, a media library might
stop you from buying a 3rd copy of that classic you were sure you didn't
have. It might mean you can keep track of who you loaned that
impossible-to-find 1st edition to. Hell, it might even help when you want
to return that copy of Ulysses
that's been sitting on your shelf for a year and you can't remember who lent it
to you in the first place.
Personally, I use it to warn me of new and upcoming releases from my
favourite authors, to keep track of the books missing from my collection, and
to generally provide an outlet for my obsessive-compulsive behaviour.
Catalogue and Tag
What? You thought tagging was only for Web 2.0?
Maybe 'fiction' or 'non fiction' is enough for you. Perhaps you want to
include genres like 'science fiction' or the name of a series or universe the
book belongs to. Personally I'd tag Return of the King with
'fiction, fantasy, epic, classic, The Lord of the Rings, middle earth' --
equally, maybe you'd tag it as 'overrated, boring, contains unnecessary songs
and poetry'.
For the rest of the information there's online resources that contain
everything from titles to cover art. Enter the ISBN or barcode and The Nexus
will look it up and fill in the details. Plus, you can import your existing
catalog (if you've got one) and have The Nexus look up the missing
details.
Track and Browse
Keep track of when and who you loaned stuff to and add the books you're
borrowing to your collection so you can check who they're borrowed from.
Track upcoming releases and maintain a wishlist of books you know you
want. Or, The Nexus can do that for you, based on authors in your
'must have' list. It'll even let you purchase them directly through our
interface to Amazon.
Browse your collection or just look at the covers. When that's not
enough, you can filter, sort, and search based on almost any query. Filter
and browse by tag, review the books out on loan, hey we'll even
let you sort by spine colour (pretty!).
Analyze
Once everything's in a database, you can ask some questions. Where
do you buy your books from (and how much do you spend on them)?
What kind of books do I read? And whose author's kids am I putting through
college? See things like your top tags and your favourite authors.
Interesting stuff 'eh? Well, at least when asked
where all your money goes, you'll be able to give an informed answer.