Library Cataloger is an application to help you keep track of your personal library, and to help you create bibliographies for books, papers, reports, and other documents which include references.
It's an application I originally created to fill a need of my own. I consistently find myself forgetting which papers I have photocopies of, and I often will make a duplicate copy of a paper which is already in my filing cabinet. Also, just like most people who make bibliographies for papers, I hate having to go through my papers to get all the information required to complete the bibliographic entries. This application will help you keep track of the books and papers you have, and it will help you make bibliographies when you need them by exporting bibliographic data in plain text, Rich Text Format (RTF), or LaTeX format.
This users guide accompanies version 1.1.1.
Library Cataloger is a relatively lean application. It requires a Macintosh computer running system 7 or higher. The recommended free memory required to run Library cataloger is 1.5 MB although it will run with as little as 750 KB. It requires only about 1 MB of hard disk storage for the application.
Native applications for both Power PC processors and Motorola 68XXX processors are available. Use the application named Library CatalogerPPC if you have a Macintosh with a Power PC processor. Otherwise use the application named Library Cataloger68K
Library Cataloger is Shareware. Try it out, and if you like it Please Register. Library Cataloger and all accompanying documentation are Copyright Todd Barrett, 1998.
This Software is being distributed as is. I make no claims as to its reliability and usability. I've done what I can to clean out all bugs, but I'm quite willing to believe that it could be made easier to use and that bugs may remain. Please let me know if you experience any bugs, or have any suggestions about how to make this application work better for you. I'll do my best to fix any bugs and add features when enough people are interested in them.
If enough people like this product and choose to register it I will continue to develop it. I've tried to price the program at a point where it will be worth my time to continue to improve it, but will be inexpensive enough that everyone who wants to use it (even students) should be able to afford it.
Try Library Cataloger: if you like it please register! You must register if you wish to save catalog files with more than 25 entries.
The current charge to register Library Cataloger for a single computer is $15 US.
A site license can be obtained for $500 US which will allow you to use Library Cataloger on all computers in a single location. A world-wide license, which can be obtained for $2000 US, will allow you to use Library Cataloger on all computers affiliated with your organization. All registered users of versions earlier than 1.1.1 may upgrade at no cost.
I use a service provided by Kagi SharewareTM to process registration. You may use check, money order, cash, or credit card to register. Register by opening the Register program included with Library Cataloger. Fill out the form and either save it or print it. If you wish to use a credit card, and you don't mind using e-mail to send your credit card data, you should fill in the information required and click on the save button. You may then e-mail the resulting text file to sales@kagi.com. If you wish to send a check, cash, or you wish to use a credit card but not use e-mail, you should print the registration form and send it to the address at the top of the printed document. Just for reference, the payment address is --
As soon as Kagi receives your registration they notify me and then I'll send you a registration key via e-mail which will allow you to save catalog files with more than 25 entries. Expect to receive the registration key approximately 4-5 days after Kagi processes your registration. If you cannot or do not wish to use e-mail, please include your mailing address in your registration and I'll send you the key via normal mail. Please make sure to include the name under which you would like to register the product, and be sure the address includes the country in which you reside. Please do not fax or e-mail payment forms that indicate Cash, Check, or Invoice as the payment method. Payments sent via postal mail take time to reach Kagi and then up to 10 days for processing. Payment sent via e-mail take 3-4 days to process.
You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries, but if you pay via check it must be a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi cannot accept checks in other currencies. If you are purchasing Library Cataloger for a business with a purchasing department, you may enter all the data into the Register application and then select Invoice as your payment method. Print three copies of the form and send it to your accounts payable department. You might want to highlight the line that mentions that they must include a copy of the form with payment. At the time of this release Kagi is not capable of generating an invoice, other than the one printed by the Register application.
To enter the registration key once you have one, start Library Cataloger, and when you see the information window which appears as the application starts up, use the mouse to click on the Enter Key button at the bottom of the window -- as seen in the figure. You may also register any time Library Cataloger is running by selecting About Library Cataloger from the apple menu. The same information window will appear and you may then proceed as described below.
In either event, after you click on the Enter Key button, a registration window like the one to the right appears. Enter the name you used to register the software (the name that you used when you used the Register application) in the Registered User Name: field, and the key I've sent you in the Registration Key: field then click on the Register button.
Save your registration key. If you get a new computer, or if you have to reinstall your system you will need to reenter your key. So save the e-mail that included the key, or write the key down somewhere you'll be able to find it.
Installing Library Cataloger is quite simple. No installer is required. Just downloading and decompressing the binhexed Stuffit Archive puts everything required on your disk. The only remaining task is to select the application which is appropriate for your CPU.
Library Cataloger is distributed as two separate applications. Library CatalogerPPC is a Power PC (PPC) native application and Library Cataloger68K is a native Motorola 68XXX (68K) version. If you have a Macintosh with a Power PC processor throw away Library Cataloger68K. Similarly if you have a Macintosh with a 68XXX processor (any Macintosh other than one with a PowerPC) throw away Library CatalogerPCC. If you wish, after you've deleted the application file which is inappropriate for your computer, you may rename the remaining application simply Library Cataloger.
You're now ready to start using Library Cataloger. Probably the easiest way to get started is to open the sample document included with the application. The sample document illustrates most of Library Cataloger's important features. It has sample entries of technical journal articles, technical and literary books, poems, and some other non-fiction books. It also illustrates how you may customize Library Cataloger data files to include types and categories of entries not included in the default selections.
To open the sample document either double-click on the file named SampleDocument or drag the SampleDocument icon to the Library Cataloger icon and drop it there. You should see the window shown below. This is the Main-Library or Summary window for the sample document. Each entry in the catalog file is briefly summarized by displaying the primary or main author, the title, the publisher or the journal in which the article is published, and the subject of the entry.
The default way of sorting the entries in a library catalog file is alphabetically by the last name of the primary or first author -- as is illustrated in the window above. In order to see the detailed information for any entry in the catalog double-click on the summary for that entry in the Summary window. For instance if you double-click on the summary for the entry authored by Thomas Cahill the following Entry window appears.
This window shows the detailed information which may be entered for the catalog entry. You may edit all, or any portion, of the fields displayed in this window. In addition you may add other authors by clicking on the Other Authors button, extended comments may be entered by clicking on the Comments button, and an abstract of the entry may be entered by clicking on the Abstract button.
New entries may be added to a catalog file by choosing New Entry in the Library menu or by pressing the Command-E keys. A window like the Entry window above appears except that all the information fields are blank. You can enter the information you wish in the appropriate fields and then click on the Modify button. Your new entry will now appear in the Summary window.
Now I suggest you play around with Library Cataloger for a short while. Check out the entries in the sample document and try the other features like searching a catalog for occurrences of a text string, viewing the Summary window by Type or Category, and exporting bibliographic information. Most of the features of library cataloger are relatively straight forward. Detailed descriptions of how use all the features of Library Cataloger are found in the rest of this document.
Starting Library Cataloger is similar to starting most Macintosh applications. You may start it by double-clicking on the Library Cataloger application icon, by dragging a previously created library catalog file onto the application icon and dropping it there, or by double-clicking on a previously created library catalog file.
If you open Library cataloger by dropping a large catalog file onto the application icon it may take several seconds for the main-library or Summary window to appear. I have a catalog file with approximately 300 entries. It takes about 8 seconds for it to open on my 266 MHz G3. I've opened it on an old Macintosh IIx and it takes approximately 20 or 30 seconds to open. So if you do have a large catalog file to open, don't expect the main window to appear immediately.
Opening existing catalog files can be accomplished in one of three ways. As mentioned above, you may drag the icon from a previously created catalog file onto the Library Cataloger application icon. Alternatively, you may start Library Cataloger and then choose Open from the File menu or press the Command-O keys. Then use the standard Macintosh method of selecting the file you wish to open. You may also double-click on a previously created library catalog file and it will be automatically opened by Library Cataloger.
To create a new catalog file start Library Cataloger and then choose New from the File menu or press the Command-N keys. A new Summary window entitled Untitled will appear. You may now add library entries to this new window. The information in the new entries is saved to disk when you choose Save from the File menu or press the Command-S keys.
The Window menu may be used to switch between open Library Cataloger windows. Simply select the title of the window you wish to make active from the Window menu and it will automatically be brought to the forefront of your monitor and be made the active window. If the window you wish to make active is one of the first 9 windows you opened a key board shortcut may be used to automatically make it the active window. Simultaneously press the Command key and the respective digit key (1-9) which corresponds to the order in which you created the window.
Saving catalog files using Library Cataloger is similar to saving documents using most other Macintosh applications. If you wish to save a catalog file select Save from the File menu, or press the Command-S keys. If you are saving changes to a file which you have already created, the file is saved automatically with no further input required. If you are creating a new file, a standard Macintosh file dialog will open which will allow you to specify the name you wish the file to have and location you wish to save it.
If you have made changes to an existing catalog and wish to save the modified catalog, but you also wish to retain a copy of the original catalog file, select Save As from the File menu. This will save a copy of the catalog file, including your new changes, to a file with name and location that you specify using a standard Macintosh file dialog. The original catalog file will remain unchanged.
You may copy or paste single or multiple entries from one library catalog file to another. To do this open both the document that contains the entries you want to copy, and the document into which you wish to paste the entries. Then click on the entry you wish to copy. Multiple entries may be chosen by holding down the shift key while clicking on the entries. Then choose Copy from the Edit menu or press the Command-C keys. Next click on the Summary window of the file into which you wish to copy the entries. Then choose Paste from the Edit menu. The entries you selected from the original document should now appear in the Summary window of the new document.
You may select all the entries in a catalog by opening the catalog file and choosing Select All from the Edit menu or by pressing the Command-A keys. You may then copy, delete, or open Entry windows for all the entries in the file by taking the appropriate action
To add an entry to a catalog go to the Library menu and select Entry, or hit the Command-E keys. An Entry window will appear like the one below.
Fill in all the information you have about the item in the spaces provided. If you don't have all the information indicated for each field don't worry, just leave that area blank. Library Cataloger doesn't require that you have all the information for each library entry.
You may move between the various fields by clicking on the field you wish to edit, or you may hit the tab key to move between the fields. The data to be entered is explained by the labels next to each field. Most of what is to be entered is relatively self explanatory. Below you will find a few notes about the less clear items.
The month is entered by selecting the month from the popup menu. I suggest that you use full calendar years in the year field. Library Cataloger will allow you to enter any integer in this field but it assumes that the years increase from 0 to the current year. Thus, if you enter 98 for 1998 it will assume that you mean 98 AD. At this time there is no support for dates before 0 BC.
The Category and the Type of the entry are specified using popup menus. Library Cataloger comes with several predefined or default categories and types. You may stick to these values or you may add to them by customizing a library catalog document. Customizing is described here.
The Mnem. field is for entering a Mnemonic for the entry. Mnemonics are used as labels in LaTeX documents to identify bibliographic entries so that you may reference them in the text of a document you are creating. If you're not using TeX or LaTeX you can ignore this field.
Adding the names of secondary authors (authors other than the first or primary author) is accomplished as follows. Use the mouse to click on the Other Authors button found on the lower right-hand side of the Entry window shown above. The Other Authors window will appear. The Other Authors window for the catalog entry describing the paper authored by Adler, taken from the enclosed sample document, is shown to the right.
In order to add a secondary author click on the Add button.
A window similar to the window to the right will appear. You may then enter the name of the new secondary author into this window. After you have entered the information for the new secondary author click on the Add button. You've added a new author, and the author's name will now appear in the Other Authors window.
You may edit or delete the name of a secondary author after you have added it by double-clicking on the author's name in the Other Author window. For example double-clicking on the name of Jonathan M. Rubin, in the Other Author window above, will call up the window to the right. If you want to change the name, edit the fields as you wish then click on the Modify button. If you wish to delete the author altogether click on the Delete button.
Library Cataloger allows you to enter comments and an abstract for an entry. The length of the comments and abstract is unlimited, although in practicality very large abstracts or comments will use up your available memory quickly. In general, comments or abstracts of up to about 1,500 words per entry are acceptable.
In order to enter comments and/or an abstract click on the Comments or Abstract button in the Entry window of the appropriate entry. A new window will appear into which you may type or paste the comments or abstract. For example, if you click on the Abstract button of the entry authored by J. R. P. Angel contained in the sample document included with Library Cataloger, the window to the right appears.
It contains the abstract of the article as it appears in the journal in which the article was published.
You may print the information for a single entry by double-clicking on the summary for the entry in the Summary window. When the Entry window appears select Print from the File menu or press the Command-P keys. The information is printed to your selected printer. The information for the selected entry is formatted on the printed page as text. It looks different than it appears on your screen where the window and edit-boxes are visible. This is a small break with the "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" philosophy of most current Macintosh software, but it allows you to quickly print all the information you've entered for a Library Cataloger entry without using a lot of extra time and memory printing graphics.
Back to Table of Contents:By default the library entries in a Summary window are sorted alphabetically by the last name of the primary author. If you wish to see the entries sorted by another criteria go to the View menu and select any one of the options you see there. The main library window will automatically update to display the data sorted by the criteria you've chosen. For example selecting Location in the view menu sorts the entries by the string entered in the location area of each entry. It changes the Main Library window of the sample document to look like the figure below.
Library Cataloger allows you to export library data for use in other applications such as word processors or typesetting software. This enables you to create bibliographies for papers that you are writing with Library Cataloger and then import them into the document you are writing with a minimum amount of work.
To export data for a bibliography select Export from the File menu. The dialog window shown to the right opens.
Select the check-boxes for the information you wish to have included in the export file, and then use the radio buttons to select the style text you wish each field to have. Then select the type of export file you wish to use from the popup menu at the bottom left of the window. Finally to export the file click on the OK button or press the return key. If you decide you don't want to export the file at this time click on the Cancel button. Library Cataloger will then let you save the bibliographic information from the library catalog to a file. A standard Macintosh file selection dialog will allow you to specify the folder and filename of the export file.
In this version of Library Cataloger three styles of export data are supported. Since I use TeX and LaTeX (a technical typesetting system which is available on just about any platform) I have included this style. The second style saves a plain text document which can be imported into any popular word processing application. If you choose plain text the formatting options such as bold and italics will not do anything. The final option is RTF which stands for Rich Text Format. This is a format defined my MicrosoftTM which can be read by most popular word processors -- Including Microsoft WordTM. You may use this option to save a file which may then be read by a word processing document and will retain the formatting such as bold and Italics.
Below are examples of the result of exporting the sample document using the LaTeX and RTF format. The format settings are as shown in the figure above. The LaTeX file has been typeset by TexturesTM a commercial implementation of TeX and LaTeX by Blue Sky Research. The RTF file is as it appears after opening it with Nisus WriterTM the document processor by Nisus Software.
To search your library catalog for a string of text select Search from the Library menu or press the Command-F keys. A search window similar to the one shown to the right will open.
Enter the text string you wish to search for in the box to the right of the word Find:. Then to search, click on the Search button or press the return key on the keyboard. Library Cataloger will search all entries which match the types and categories checked, and will search through all fields which are checked in the boxes in the lower portion of the search window. For the example to the right Library Cataloger will search through all entries since all types and categories are checked, but will only search the abstract information in each entry since only the Abstract check box has been checked.
If you do not specify a batch search, the first entry in the catalog file to match the search text and the criteria that you indicated using the check-boxes in the Search window will be displayed in an Entry window like that described above. In order to find the next entry that matches your search string text, make sure that the Summary window of the catalog file that you wish to search is the top-most window and then select Find Again from the Library menu or press the Command-G keys. The next entry that contains a match to your search criteria will be displayed in another new Entry window
You may choose to do a batch search by checking the Batch check box to the right of the Search popup menu. If you are doing a batch search a new untitled Summary window is created and all entries in the catalog file that have a match to your search text are copied and placed in the new catalog Summary window. You may then save or manipulate the new catalog as you would any other.
Back to Table of Contents:You may print the contents of a Summary window by opening the Summary window and then selecting Print from the File menu. The contents of the Summary window will then be printed just as it appears on your screen. Page-breaks are controlled so that they don't occur in the middle of an entry.
Back to Table of Contents:
You may add custom categories and types to a library catalog file by selecting Customize from the Library menu and selecting either Category or Type. A Customize window similar to the one to the right will open which lists all the categories or types currently available for this particular catalog file. The window to the right is the Category customization window for the sample document included with Library Cataloger.
If you wish to add a Category or Type click on the Add button at the bottom of the window. Another window like the one to the right will appear which contains an editable box into which you may type the new value.
After you have entered a name for the new Category or Type you wish to add, click on the Add button in this new window. The new name should appear in the Customize window. When you're finished adding new values
click on the Done button.
To delete or modify one of the custom categories or types that you've added double-click on the value you wish to change in the Customize window. The same window shown above will open except that the Delete and Modify buttons will be enabled and the Add button will be disabled. The text for the Category or Type which was double-clicked will appear in the editable box in the center of the window. Make the desired changes to the text and then use the mouse to click on the Modify button, or press the return key. If you wish to delete the Category or Type don't edit the text just click on the Delete button. If you delete a custom Category or Type, any entry which has the deleted Category or Type has it's Category or Type changed to the last standard value of its class. For example, if you were it delete the Mystery Category in the sample document any entry with the Category of Mystery would be modified to have the Category of Fiction, since Fiction is the last standard value for Category.
Customizations are specific to the catalog file that you make them to. If you add a Category or Type to one catalog file the new values are not automatically added to all catalog files. However, if you copy an entry which has a custom Type or Category from one catalog file and subsequently paste this entry into a new catalog file the custom value is automatically added to the catalog into which the entry is pasted.
Version 1.0.1-released spring 1997, basic functionality.
Version 1.0.2-released fall 1997, same functionality.
Version 1.1.0-released fall 1998, major upgrade.
Version 1.1.1-released winter 1998, Documentation Upgrade.
If you have any problems, suggestions, bug reports, requested features, etc. please e-mail them to me at tbarrett@kagi.com.
If you have any correspondence which you do not want to send via e-mail you may contact me via snail-mail at the following address.
Todd Barrett
This Software is being distributed as is. I make no claims as to its reliability and usability. I've done what I can to clean out all bugs, but I'm quite willing to believe that it could be made easier to use and that bugs may remain. Please let me know if you experience any bugs or have any suggestions about how to make this program work better for you. I'll consider all requests.
Back to Table of Contents: