Using barcode scanner to catalog books, CDs, DVDs, etc.

My wife and I have quite substantial holdings of books, CDs, and DVDs. We’d like to catalog them, but the task is quite daunting, so we’ve been putting it off. A friend of mine recently suggested investing in a barcode scanner (he suggested the lamented CueCat) and software to speed things up. This sounds like a great idea, but I have no idea which software/ scanner combination works best.

Any thoughts people have would be appreciated.

I haven’t been involved in barcoding for years, but you might look into a “wedge” reader, which installs between a PC keyboard and the PC. It passes all signals thru from the keyboard, but when you wand something, the decoded digits are sent to the PC as if you typed them in.

Your plan sounds like a good idea, but to make it really practical, you need to be able to perform a lookup in a master database for each UPC you scan. Here is one site that might work. Put your cursor in the lookup box, wand the item, and you should get a description (but I haven’t tried it).

Now if you can find (or write) some software that transfers this data to a local database, you’ve got a system.

As for the software, I highly recommend Readerware. There are versions for book, audio, and video libraries. All you have to do is enter the ISBN by hand or using a barcode scanner and it pulls up quite a bit of information. You can also use the Library of Congress number but that seems a bit less reliable.

What a timely thread. I was just saying that I needed to start cataloging our ever-growing book and video collections because I think we may have some duplicate titles. Thanks!

I have a CueCat which I kept because it was so clear the things was doomed from birth, and because I’d really like to be able to use it to create a database of my many comics. Is there scanner software for comics?

Try googling “Cuecat hack” (w/o quotes) and similar phrases. There’s a wealth of material out there on how to use and abuse the little critters, including software suggestions.

Thank you, Dangermouse (He’s the 1956th quickest. He’s the 1956th strongest. He’s the 1956th best). But, I’m aware of the various software I can use to make the CueCat work as an ordinary barcode scanner. I want to know if there’s a software that includes a database of comicbook barcodes. Having a barcode reader won’t help me if it can’t translate the barcodes into Flaming Carrot #20, Star Brand #1 and such.

Ha! I just knew I was special one way or another.

(Penfold, shush…)