Content Synchronising metadata? Metadata in the Kindle?

[kangxi]

I'm busy using Calibre to edit the metadata for the books in my library, trying to set up some consistency with the tags, when a couple of thoughts struck me.
For each update, does Calibre update the matching metadata of the duplicated books sitting within the kindle? If not, is there any way to synchronise metadata files?
And second, does the Kindle (mine's a paperwhite) pay any attention to the tags anyway? If I do a search my Kindle appears not to return any book other than matching titles or authors and ignores common search terms within the tags.

[Sirtel]

No and no. The only way to update metadata on your Kindle is to resend the books; and no, Kindles don't use tags or series information with sideloaded books.

Both of those things are possible with Kobos and (as far as I know) with Pocketbooks. Calibre can automatically update metadata on your Kobo without resending the books, and also automatically create collections on the device based on tags or whatever other custom category you want. But not with Kindles.

[kangxi]

Thanks for that - I shan't bother with the tags then. Which is a pity but saves a lot of work. I'll just have to rely on searching within the Kindle for an author then looking up on the internet for which order to read the books in.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by kangxi

Thanks for that - I shan't bother with the tags then. Which is a pity but saves a lot of work. I'll just have to rely on searching within the Kindle for an author then looking up on the internet for which order to read the books in.

There are ways to get a series order to a Kindle - the first is to use the metadata plugboards in Calibre to affix the series name and number to the title of the book on your Kindle (like, Game of Thrones (The Song of Ice and Fire 1) or The Song of Ice and Fire 1 - The Game of Thrones or whatever other combination you want). Another way is to keep a text file listing your series in the correct order on your Kindle.

I used the metadata plugboard method back when I used Kindles.

[kangxi]

Ah, so you don't use the series attribute in the Calibre metadata editor, you add the series info the the title. Cunning. Cumbersome but cunning. Thanks.

I'm coming round to thinking that Calibre is a nice programme but doesn't add a great deal of value for the Kindle owner.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by kangxi

I'm coming round to thinking that Calibre is a nice programme but doesn't add a great deal of value for the Kindle owner.

That is true. It's a great program for managing your ebook library overall, though. When you have more than a thousand ebooks, managing them on your Amazon account or your Kindle device becomes really difficult. In Calibre you can sort, group, tag and search for your books in ways not possible on a Kindle.