Is there a limit to the number of books Calibre can handle?

[Quoth]

10,000 is large. That's about 3 years at one book a day, or 21 at 1 a week.

350,000 isn't large, it's insanely huge. That's well over 100 years at one book a day, or nearly a 1000 years for many readers.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Quoth

350,000 isn't large, it's insanely huge. That's well over 100 years at one book a day, or nearly a 1000 years for many readers.

Assuming all of them are books, not documents or web articles or the like.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Assuming all of them are books, not documents or web articles or the like.

Yes, and typical novels, not epic fantasy or War and Peace etc.

I've loads of documents I might never read. Maybe around 10,000 pdfs of service information, maybe much more, almost 2000 in one source. I'm unlikely to access even another 10, but who knows which 10. Then there are PDF datasheets. Gradually accumulated over 30 years and in some cases via DVD or CD purchase.

But none of that is in Calibre because it's organised by directories and lacks metadata. Adding it to Calibre in a sensible fashion would take years.

[Inquisitive_Ram]

What is the practical purpose of having 20,000 or 200,000 books? That's more than can ever be read?

I simply add a book to my library from gutenberg or standard ebooks when I want to read it. Think I have around 300

[ownedbycats]

I stuff software/game manuals into my library, mostly just to keep them in one place. I also know a few other users outside of MR who do this (at least one of them got the idea from me ).

[Quoth]

I do have any actual PDF manuals that are used and work on an ereader in my Calibre. Stuff with complicated controls/menus/functions you'd not remember details of. But that's not many, maybe a dozen gadgets.

[audeojude]

Originally Posted by Quoth

10,000 is large. That's about 3 years at one book a day, or 21 at 1 a week.

350,000 isn't large, it's insanely huge. That's well over 100 years at one book a day, or nearly a 1000 years for many readers.

lol... so.. no everything in there isn't all books, however the majority are.
I have spent anywhere from 100 to 400 dollars a month for 40 years on books. My version of drugs?

I actually read .. hmm... let me get a sense as it's not as easy as saying this many books a year. A lot of books are only 200 pages while some are 10,000+ pages.

Amazon says I read between 400 and 500 books a year... these are of the 200 to 500 pages a book size. I also read 20 or 30 books a year that are closer to 5000 to 10000 pages in size. So, lets say I average 2 books a day of average size. I have no idea why I can read as fast as I can but my reading speed on a bad day is about 600 words a minute and has been since I was 9 or 10. Somehow I also work and have a family around that it is a bit of an addiction though and to be honest not sure it is a good thing.

prior to ebooks I bought physical books. like I mentioned prior in this thread.. I have at least 10,000 physical books that I started collecting at age 7 when I started obsessively reading. Given I'm close to 60 now... It's been a few years I've been doing this.

[audeojude]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Yes, and typical novels, not epic fantasy or War and Peace etc.

I've loads of documents I might never read. Maybe around 10,000 pdfs of service information, maybe much more, almost 2000 in one source. I'm unlikely to access even another 10, but who knows which 10. Then there are PDF datasheets. Gradually accumulated over 30 years and in some cases via DVD or CD purchase.

But none of that is in Calibre because it's organized by directories and lacks metadata. Adding it to Calibre in a sensible fashion would take years.

So maybe 40 or 50 thousand in mine are fun reading. Most of the rest are reference like referenced above. I moved it all into calibre rather than in directories like you mention. A lot of it is roughly organized with tags and metadata into virtual libraries. The rest is the wild west.. however I make sure title and author are correct and have found that it's not hard with calibre's search abilities to find relevant stuff.

Part of my mentality is pack rat and information junkie. Hopefully I can pass this down to my children and theirs in turn. I don't consider the planet spanning access to data and knowledge we have today to be something we can depend on tomorrow. Being in IT... I have been noticing for the last 15 to 20 years that the internet is becoming more and more curated and shaped. I think between political goals and the power of new AI systems that within another 10 to 15 years our access to real data and information will be cut in half if not more, or at the least made difficult and monitored, not that it isn't now.

I used to be in awe of the public library.. all that information just waiting to be discovered. In a sense or maybe in reality I now have my own library that dwarfs the public one from my childhood.

Many books in it are ones that have been out of print that I have in my private physical library and have scanned into pdf form.

Though I don't buy as many physical books anymore and almost never new ones. I still buy many reference books on dozens of topics all the time for my children, wife and myself as we move from one interest to another. Cooking, Art of a dozen fields, howto, animals, farming, gardening, medicine, music across time and instruments, languages, and much much more.

One of my biggest disappointments in my self is my seeming inability to turn much of my accumulated knowledge into applied power in my life. Though I guess in some ways I have in that I very rarely ever pay anyone fix or do stuff for me as I can do just about anything needed to a jack of all trades master of none standard.



No accounting for obsession

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Inquisitive_Ram

What is the practical purpose of having 20,000 or 200,000 books? That's more than can ever be read?

Of course, for most people (there are a few amazing speed readers here). There is no practical purpose other than satisfying one's hoarding urge. I have over 30,000 ebooks in my library, far more than I can ever read. Many of those are purchases, not public domain or free books (I don't like to read paper books). I'm a hoarder and I like to have a large selection from which to choose my next read. There's no rational explanation that a non-hoarder would understand.

[theducks]

900+ entries in Main, are Empty Books, just documenting what (paperbacks) is in my storeroom. Add User manuals for household and office stuff. The numbers crawl up. The there are the dratted 99c boxed sets on offer when I hit Amazon

Another Library documents 30Y of Analogtm, also in storage.
Me Hoard ?

[AnnieQuinn]

Does anyone have a hobby of collecting books of all genres like me? I know I won't be able to read them all, but I just like to collect and store them. To be able to share with others when someone needs it.
And feeling "full" makes me happy too. Every time I look at the book cover system, I feel healed after tiring working hours.
I take a little longer to read specialized books. But I read medium-length books quite quickly. Read about 3 books a day.

[Sirtel]

I only collect books in the genres I read. While I'm aware I'm never going to read everything in my library, or even half of it, I don't collect books I have no interest in reading - what would be the point? There are too many books I do have an interest in and am probably never going to read, so why collect those I know I don't want to read?

[AnnieQuinn]

Yes, the books I absolutely know I won't read because I won't keep them. For example, things with topics that are completely different from the interest group. For example, I will not read books about programming, painting, or design.
But in other genres, like history and folklore, I keep and collect them. Although the reading ability is only about 50%, because the amount of books is too much. Fortunately, my family and friends and I can read together from the same book store. And those who have read and found any books interesting can suggest and recommend them back to me.

[audeojude]

Originally Posted by theducks

900+ entries in Main, are Empty Books, just documenting what (paperbacks) is in my storeroom. Add User manuals for household and office stuff. The numbers crawl up. The there are the dratted 99c boxed sets on offer when I hit Amazon

Another Library documents 30Y of Analogtm, also in storage.
Me Hoard ?

I have thought about using Calibre to index physical books but it just seems complicated to me. Maybe if I dedicated a second library to them in calibre. I actually use a brilliant software called reader-ware. Unfortunately it is not open source and I live in dread of it being purchased or no longer being developed. I have a multi user license and it is a client/server program fully suitable for even a public library running on mac/windows/linux as needed. It allows me to scan the isbn bar codes on a book and have it automatically add that book to the library or to check that book out to someone so I know ive loaned it. On the positive side as far as paying for it. its a one time license fee and then a lower upgrade fee between major versions. I only upgrade it every several major versions. I know I have donated more money to kovid over the years than I have paid for license fees for it. I also use calibre a lot more than reader-ware. Both offer features the other doesn't and calibre is more inclined to the digital where reader-ware is more aimed at being a physical library book management system.

https://www.readerware.com/index.php

I would probably move over to calibre for physical books if some of the library management features were added such, bar code scanning and checking books out and back in as well as a clear distinction of physical vs digital and location of physical books. I know I could twist calibre to do some of it with the ability to customize fields and such but I'm more happy just using something that already works and I don't have to do extra brainwork to modify it myself.

[audeojude]

Originally Posted by AnnieQuinn

Does anyone have a hobby of collecting books of all genres like me? I know I won't be able to read them all, but I just like to collect and store them. To be able to share with others when someone needs it.
And feeling "full" makes me happy too. Every time I look at the book cover system, I feel healed after tiring working hours.
I take a little longer to read specialized books. But I read medium-length books quite quickly. Read about 3 books a day.

Yeah it's a problem I have really wide interests and then the things that I think.. one day I want to do that and I will pickup books I have no intention of reading now but want just in case. More often that stuff is library sale fodder anymore over new. I have a massive reference library both physical and digital. Just the cookbook section in my physical library is close to two floor to ceiling bookshelves 4 ft wide by 8 ft tall. I have sections on pets, animals, nature, survival, camping, photography, woodworking, boat building and repair, construction in all areas of it, art of almost every branch from drawing, painting, glass blowing, pottery, weaving, cooking, gardening, farming, animal husbandry, medicine, herbs and pharmacy, geography, math, science of many fields, metal working/forging, welding, plus a thousand more. I have lots of old 1st editions from the late 1800's to current times. most of those are fiction and science fiction. There are a fair scattering of really old how to books for construction and living in a simpler non industrialize world. I might have read 1 in 20 of most of those. but every year I dig a few out as need or interest dictates and get good stuff out of them.