At work, I have a small issue and no idea how to solve it easily or cheaply. We have a large stock of books that serve as a small library for students. I want to catalog and tag these books so that I can scan them as needed (for inventory after moves, to check out for students, etc.) but need to justify the barcodes and scanner a bit more. I also have many computer parts in storage, and our other department has a ton of construction tools. Larger tools, such as saws and power tools should be fully inventoried at some point, but right now we have just the paper sheets we have written down what we have. I have looked at some obvious options (staples, tiger direct, the top results for googling “barcode scanner” and “barcode printer”). I just want to be able to print a label/sticker with a code on it that could relate back to, say, a file that contains vital information (purchase date, program, condition, serial number, building…)
Does anyone have any suggestions on ways to do this? I figure a small business owner might have a thought on it, and this is the largest community I know of on the internet that I trust to ask.
You mentioned that you looked at Staples. Did you notice the label makers they sell? They’re not specifically for making barcode labels, but they certainly can do that. They have several from Dymo or Brother for about a hundred bucks. I’d suggest the type that connect to a PC, rather than the standalone type that have a keyboard on them. Also, I’d recommend getting some sort of book catalog database software to maintain this inventory. I use Readerware for my home library.
(BTW, I reported the thread because I think it belongs in IMHO and not GQ.)
Good point about IMHO. It never occurred to about where to put it, but it makes perfect sense.
I had put a Dymo label printer and a few rolls of labels in my cart but hadn’t decided for sure how well that would work. I thought about printing QR codes onto labels and using the phone to read them, but if I ever quit here I don’t know if anyone would have a reader on their phone (or the ability to get one, judging by the reluctance to get anything other than the free/cheapest phone possible by many employees). Before we moved the books into a space with larger shelves, I had created a database with some freeware book catalog software to know what we had, but I don’t have it anymore because I also have changed offices, computers, and about everything else…
Readerware may be a great way to go, I will check it out this afternoon. Thanks!
I forgot to add - one that connects to the PC would be better. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that this idea may be completely scrapped soon (Apparently, some people feel that just putting the things on the shelves with sticky notes in the general area where specific items are located works - of course, it doesn’t track tools at all…but I am no boss, so I do what I’m told). Also, if completed, it may justify a computer simply for this, which would be great because it could be located near the storage area.
Instead of buying a special printer and then being stuck with that format and special rolls, I’d just use a printing software plus a database software plus a software that encodes barcodes and print them on normal laser/ink printers onto self-adhesive labels.
As for reading, get one mobile phone with an app. instead of a special scanner, which costs several hundred dollars.
The hardware is simple: A barcode scanner and printer. The inventory software is less familiar and I’ll defer to the others suggestions.
I’m an engineer with a firm that sells quite a few simple barcode systems. Our most popular scanner is the Symbol LS2208. A quick search on Ebay shows lots that sold (completed auctions) for $30-50. Make sure you get one with the right cable. USB should work fine. It can be configured in one of a couple ways but it basically shows up as keystrokes where the cursor is blinking.
I don’t know if I can recommend getting a label printer since you don’t seem to have THAT much stuff to justify the cost. We do jobs for stockrooms and production facilities that may print hundreds or thousands of labels a day. For small jobs, I recommend the Zebra LP2844 or LP2842. These use thermal labels so you won’t have to worry about ink or ribbons.
I think if I had the OP’s project, I’d just print the barcodes on paper and tape them to stuff. Here’s a free barcode font:
Having developed several barcoding applications in the pharmaceutical industry over the years, I can also vouch for Symbol scanners and Zebra printers.
But you really don’t need a printer unless the labels need to have special stuff on them. One relatively cheap way to go is to buy labels preprinted with sequential numbers. Several companies do this. The added plus is that they always can afford better printers than you can, so the labels are far higher quality.
If you go this route, you will need a laptop to haul along with the tethered scanner, since you probably don’t want to bring everything into the office to be scanned.
They do sell wireless scanners and all kinds of other cool stuff, but those are not really “on the cheap” options.
For software, you can make a simple MS Access database that allows lookups by barcode. It’s common enough that there are probably free examples out there somewhere.
I considered just using my printer (a basic Brother multifunction/photo printer) and printing them onto address labels so that I could do it all without purchasing anything other than the paper. I like the idea of one smartphone, but honestly, out of the twelve workers, there is only one that doesn’t have a 3 year old free AT&T phone, and he has a 2 or 3 year old blackberry. There is no plan to buy us new phones, so if I used the QR scanner, it would be on my personal phone. If I leave, the new hire would basically be expected to either provide a smartphone to scan with or figure out new methods. I was thinking standalone scanner (even a cheap/generic one) would be better because I could set it up in the storage area. As far as books, we are looking at a few hundred. Equipment is enough to outfit about 40 employees for construction work, but most is stored for later use, so only about half would need tagged upfront, and we don’t have every tool for every worker (think 1 drill per three-four workers, etc.) so about 50-60 power tools and an extremely large number of hand tools…
Thanks a lot so far. Wonderful advice, and I think I will figure it all out next week for sure.
Also, backups of my machine and my laptop are done weekly. I know at least one other employee has been doing this. I don’t think anyone else in the organization has even considered backups (around 40-50 employees). We try to encourage it and set it up for them, but most of them think it is a hassle, and with no IT department, not too many people get involved - I have worked with a few IT issues, but honestly, I’m an instructor by job description, and it is were I am told to spend my time (my boss has said specifically that: “you can offer to fix this computer, but take no more than 2 hours of work time and if it will take longer tell them to hire someone”)