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Build a better Bookshelf

huytd.github.io

41–50 of 66 posts

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#41
post #3

Great idea. Someone please build a public database of tables of contents and indexes, keyed by ISBN, so we can skip the scanning and OCR steps. And dear publishers: when this database emerges please add to it as you publish new works. Thanks.

Great idea. Even if it's not fair use (as amelius suggests below), I can imagine a lot of publishers would get on board, especially for technical books. It would increase the value of books that you buy, and if you search books you didn't own, point you to books you might want to buy.

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#42
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author specifically noted: And the search result is limited to just my books, not the whole internet, that's the point of scanning instead of Googling.

And the above commenter specifically noted I’ve found books.google.com be alright for this as well. Google Books doesn't index the internet. It indexes books. Including using OCR.

There's a marginal difference between searching the contents of all the books on earth and the indexes/glossaries of the books you have on your shelf. The latter is a great productivity boost, while the prior is most likely infuriatingly pointless.

"Oh great, I found this exact algorithm I need in this obscure book which has been out of print since 1986."

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#43
Offtopic: huydotnet, would you consider adding RSS to your blog? I'd like to subscribe, but couldn't find a link anywhere, including the source code of the page.

It seems like you're generating pages from Org mode. I've recently discovered ox-hugo, maybe it'll be of interest to you too. I wrote about my setup here https://rakhim.org/2018/09/moved-from-jekyll-to-hugo-and-ox-...

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#44
post #16

Does anyone have any experience with book scanning in general? I've been eyeballing a unit from "CZUR" but am a bit skeptical of the product in general. I would prefer to buy something more generic/high end HW wise like a V-shaped scanner where you bring your own DSLRs but can't find out if there is a serious open source software platform for them.

What a shame that people have to use homebrew methods to duplicate the effort that someone (Google) has already done with vastly greater resources. Google Books, a.k.a., Google Book Search, has already scanned and OCR'ed about 20% of all books in existence -- i.e., 25 million of an estimated 130 million books. So, "somewhere at Google there is a database containing 25 million books and nobody is allowed to read them.…

Well, at least Google has all the books indexed, even if we can't see them, so that you know what to go to your local library and look for even though you can't see it there on the internet.

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#45
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha! I am making some shelves for myself and spent the weekend measuring the dimensions and weight of all of my books to later divide into different bins based on height, depth and weight (density).

I ended up with four different shelve heights based on my measurements (paperbacks, hardcovers, misc., and art-books), and used the classical technique of bird's beak shelving supports to make all shelves configurable. Finished bookcase: https://twitter.com/jdhoek/status/885499829052485632 The four common shelve-heights I chose are 4, 5, 6, or 7 bird's beak 'units' spaced apart vertically. You can see the configurabl…

Ok this is neat, would you mind sharing the actual measurements you ended up using for your different shelf sizes?

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#46
post #16

Does anyone have any experience with book scanning in general? I've been eyeballing a unit from "CZUR" but am a bit skeptical of the product in general. I would prefer to buy something more generic/high end HW wise like a V-shaped scanner where you bring your own DSLRs but can't find out if there is a serious open source software platform for them.

What a shame that people have to use homebrew methods to duplicate the effort that someone (Google) has already done with vastly greater resources. Google Books, a.k.a., Google Book Search, has already scanned and OCR'ed about 20% of all books in existence -- i.e., 25 million of an estimated 130 million books. So, "somewhere at Google there is a database containing 25 million books and nobody is allowed to read them.…

Nobody except their AIs.

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#47
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ended up with four different shelve heights based on my measurements (paperbacks, hardcovers, misc., and art-books), and used the classical technique of bird's beak shelving supports to make all shelves configurable. Finished bookcase: https://twitter.com/jdhoek/status/885499829052485632 The four common shelve-heights I chose are 4, 5, 6, or 7 bird's beak 'units' spaced apart vertically. You can see the configurabl…

Ok this is neat, would you mind sharing the actual measurements you ended up using for your different shelf sizes?

Not at all. The shelves are 18 mm thick multiplex, but they all have a thin 20 mm strip of MDF covering their front edge (overlapping the shelves by 2 mm downwards), so the effective shelve thickness is 20 mm.

The bird's beaks vertically divide each case in increments of 53½ mm. The four practical shelve heights this allows are:

    A: 53½ mm × 4 - 20 mm:    194 mm
    B: 53½ mm × 5 - 20 mm:    247½ mm
    C: 53½ mm × 6 - 20 mm:    301 mm
    D: 53½ mm × 7 - 20 mm:    354½ mm
Other configurations don't make much sense, although I do use (53½ mm × 2 - 20 mm = 87 mm) for the special atlas shelves at the bottom.

You may have to adjust these sizes depending on the books you own (particularly paperbacks; they can have regional variations in height). If you go for the bird's beak approach (looks really classy, but a lot more work) you could increase or decrease that basic unit size of 53½ mm.

Test it all in a mock-up before you build it. :)

I used a custom jig and a router to cut the bird's beaks from 18mm multiplex (went through three router bits; gruelling work that), but you can also buy them pre-made.

Feel free to contact me on Twitter if you need more details. I'm only an amateur woodworker though. I really should write up the process of building this beast some day.

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ended up with four different shelve heights based on my measurements (paperbacks, hardcovers, misc., and art-books), and used the classical technique of bird's beak shelving supports to make all shelves configurable. Finished bookcase: https://twitter.com/jdhoek/status/885499829052485632 The four common shelve-heights I chose are 4, 5, 6, or 7 bird's beak 'units' spaced apart vertically. You can see the configurabl…

love the color!

Thanks! We took a gamble with that, but it works as expected.

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#49
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha! I am making some shelves for myself and spent the weekend measuring the dimensions and weight of all of my books to later divide into different bins based on height, depth and weight (density).

I ended up with four different shelve heights based on my measurements (paperbacks, hardcovers, misc., and art-books), and used the classical technique of bird's beak shelving supports to make all shelves configurable. Finished bookcase: https://twitter.com/jdhoek/status/885499829052485632 The four common shelve-heights I chose are 4, 5, 6, or 7 bird's beak 'units' spaced apart vertically. You can see the configurabl…

Do you have a photo of the end of a shelf? I can't tell if you've got beaks at the back and front of the shelving, or if you're doing some kind of cantilevered setup.

Re: Build a better Bookshelf

#50
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eat Your Books [0] is amazing for this, but is limited to the cookery world. You tell it what books you own. It knows what’s in them but does not show you the contents . You search for whatever you have in the fridge. It tells you to go to book x, page y, and there’s the recipe. Oh, and it includes magazines. [0]: https://www.eatyourbooks.com/

Hmm and to add more than 5 cookbooks you have to pay.. :-(

Paying for a service! Wow!
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