Librarian

Classification and Subject

• Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC): Numeric classification system (e.g., 813.54 for American fiction). Enables subject-based organisation.
• Subject Headings: Controlled vocabulary terms describing the book's topics.
• Genre: Broad categorisation (fiction, non-fiction, biography, etc.).

Additional Metadata

• Description: Summary or abstract of the book's content.
• Thumbnail URL: Link to cover image for visual identification.
• Page Count: Number of pages (useful for reading time estimation).
• Language: Primary language of the text.
• Edition: Edition number or description (1st, 2nd, revised, etc.).

System Fields

• Created At: Timestamp when the book record was added to the system.

Reading History and Tracking

Reading Record Fields

Reading records track an individual's interaction with books:

Status Tracking

• Status: Current reading state:
  • to_read: Bookmarked for future reading
  • reading: Currently being read
  • completed: Finished reading
  • abandoned: Started but did not finish
  • on_hold: Temporarily paused

Temporal Data

• Start Date: When reading began (ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DD).
• End Date: When reading was completed or abandoned.
• Created At: Timestamp when the reading record was created.

Evaluation

• Rating: Numeric rating (typically 1-5 stars or 1-10 scale) representing the reader's assessment.
• Review: Textual review or notes about the reading experience.

Reading History Best Practices

1. Chronological Accuracy: Maintain accurate dates for reading patterns and statistics.
2. Status Transitions: Track status changes over time (e.g., reading → completed).
3. Multiple Readings: Support multiple reading records for the same book (re-reads).
4. Partial Progress: For digital books, track reading progress (percentage or page number).

Book Classification Systems

Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)

The DDC organises books by subject using a decimal numbering system:

• 000-099: Computer science, information, general works
• 100-199: Philosophy and psychology
• 200-299: Religion
• 300-399: Social sciences
• 400-499: Language
• 500-599: Science
• 600-699: Technology
• 700-799: Arts and recreation
• 800-899: Literature
• 900-999: History and geography

Format: Three-digit base with decimal subdivisions (e.g., 813.54 for American fiction, 500.2 for general science).

Library of Congress Classification (LCC)

Alternative classification system using alphanumeric codes:

• A: General works
• B: Philosophy, psychology, religion
• C: Auxiliary sciences of history
• D: World history
• E-F: American history
• G: Geography, anthropology, recreation
• H: Social sciences
• J: Political science
• K: Law
• L: Education
• M: Music
• N: Fine arts
• P: Language and literature
• Q: Science
• R: Medicine
• S: Agriculture
• T: Technology
• U: Military science
• V: Naval science
• Z: Bibliography, library science

Genre Classification

Broad categorisation for user-friendly browsing:

• Fiction: Novels, short stories, poetry, drama
• Non-Fiction: Biography, history, science, self-help, reference
• Academic: Textbooks, scholarly works, research
• Children's: Picture books, young adult, children's literature

Book Citation Formats

Modern Language Association (MLA) Style

Book Format:

Author Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Publication Year.

Example:

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. Penguin Classics, 2003.

With Edition:

Author Last, First. Title of Book. Xth ed., Publisher, Publication Year.

American Psychological Association (APA) Style

Book Format:

Author Last, F. M. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Example:

Austen, J. (2003). Pride and prejudice. Penguin Classics.

Chicago Manual of Style

Book Format:

Author Last, First. Title of Book. Place: Publisher, Year.

Example:

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin Classics, 2003.

Citation Components

Essential elements for any citation:

1. Author: Full name(s) as they appear on the title page
2. Title: Complete title including subtitle
3. Publisher: Name of publishing house
4. Publication Year: Year of publication
5. Edition: If not the first edition
6. ISBN: For digital or modern references

Sorting and Organisation

Primary Sort Methods

Alphabetical by Author

• Sort by author's last name, then first name
• Handle multiple authors: use first author for primary sort
• Ignore articles ("The", "A", "An") at the beginning of titles when sorting by title

Alphabetical by Title

• Ignore leading articles ("The", "A", "An")
• Sort word-by-word (not letter-by-letter)
• Preserve original capitalisation in display

Chronological

• Sort by publication year (oldest to newest, or newest to oldest)
• Useful for tracking reading trends over time
• Combine with author sort for author's works in chronological order

By Classification

• Sort by Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress classification
• Groups books by subject matter
• Enables browsing by topic

By Date Added

• Sort by created_at timestamp
• Shows most recently added books first
• Useful for tracking collection growth

Secondary Sort Criteria

When primary sort values are equal:

1. Author → Title: Sort by title within the same author
2. Title → Author: Sort by author when titles are identical (different editions)
3. Year → Title: Sort by title when publication years match

Reading Status Organisation

Group books by reading status for personal library management:

• To Read: Future reading queue
• Currently Reading: Active reading list
• Completed: Finished books (may be sorted by completion date)
• Abandoned: Books not finished
• On Hold: Temporarily paused

Data Quality and Validation

ISBN Validation

• ISBN-13 Format: Exactly 13 digits
• Checksum Validation: Must pass the ISBN-13 checksum algorithm
• Normalisation: Remove hyphens and spaces before validation
• Handling Missing ISBNs: Some older books or special editions may lack ISBNs

Date Validation

• Publication Year: Should be a 4-digit year (1000-9999)
• Reading Dates: ISO 8601 format (YYYY-MM-DD)
• Logical Consistency: End date should not precede start date
• Future Dates: Publication year should not be in the future (with exceptions for pre-orders)

Required vs. Optional Fields

Required for Basic Cataloguing:

• Title
• Author (or "Unknown" if anonymous)
• ISBN-13 (preferred) or ISBN-10

Highly Recommended:

• Publication Year
• Publisher
• Thumbnail URL (for visual identification)

Optional but Valuable:

• Description
• Series information
• Dewey Decimal Classification
• Page count
• Language
• Edition

Search and Discovery

Searchable Fields

Prioritise search relevance by field importance:

1. Title (highest weight): Primary identifier users remember
2. Author (high weight): Common search criterion
3. ISBN (high weight): Exact match for known books
4. Series (medium weight): Find books in a series
5. Publisher (medium weight): Find books from specific publishers
6. Description (low weight): Full-text search in summaries
7. Dewey Decimal (medium weight): Subject-based discovery

Search Strategies

• Fuzzy Matching: Handle typos and variations in spelling
• Partial Matching: Match substrings within titles and author names
• Case Insensitivity: Ignore case differences
• Normalisation: Handle accented characters, special punctuation
• Multi-field Search: Search across multiple fields simultaneously

Collection Management Principles

Deduplication

• Primary Key: ISBN-13 is the best unique identifier
• Fuzzy Matching: Detect near-duplicates (same book, different ISBN formats)
• Edition Handling: Different editions may have different ISBNs but represent the same work

Metadata Enrichment

• External APIs: Use services like Open Library, Google Books API for metadata
• Bulk Operations: Support batch updates for missing fields (covers, descriptions)
• Data Preservation: Never overwrite user-provided data with external data
• Incremental Updates: Only populate missing fields, preserve existing data

Collection Statistics

Track meaningful metrics:

• Total Books: Count of unique books in collection
• Reading Status Distribution: Count by status (to_read, reading, completed, etc.)
• Publication Year Range: Oldest and newest books
• Author Diversity: Number of unique authors
• Completion Rate: Percentage of books completed vs. total
• Average Rating: Mean rating across completed books

Integration with Book Lamp

When working with Book Lamp's data model:

Core Application Model — Reading Log, Not Ownership

This is the most important conceptual distinction in the entire application.

Book Lamp is a personal reading log, not a catalogue of books the reader owns.

• A book appearing in Book Lamp means the reader has read, is reading, plans to read, or has attempted to read it — not that they own a physical or digital copy.
• Never use words like "collection", "library", "owned", or "your books" when referring to a user's Book Lamp data. These imply possession.
• Always use words like "reading log", "reading history", "reading list", "read", or "tracked" instead.

Correct Vocabulary

Consequences for Feature Design

• The author page shows all books the reader has read by that author, then shows further books by that author that the reader has not yet read — both framed around reading, not ownership.
• A book entry in the Books sheet represents a book that appeared in the reading history at some point. It is not an asset record.
• The ReadingRecords sheet is the authoritative source of reading activity; the Books sheet is supporting metadata.

Book Schema

• Fields: id, isbn13, title, author, publication_year, thumbnail_url, created_at, publisher, description, series, dewey_decimal
• Primary Identifier: isbn13
• Display Fields: title, author, thumbnail_url
• Classification: dewey_decimal for subject organisation

Reading Record Schema

• Fields: id, book_id, status, start_date, end_date, rating, created_at
• Relationship: book_id links to book record
• Status Values: to_read, reading, completed, abandoned, on_hold
• Temporal Tracking: start_date, end_date for reading timeline

Best Practices for Book Lamp

• British English: Use British spelling in UI text (e.g., "Organise", "Colour", "Catalogue").
• Data Sanitisation: Always strip and normalise user input (ISBNs, titles).
• Field Length Limits: Respect system constraints (title: 300 chars, author: 200 chars).
• Date Handling: Use ISO 8601 format for dates, extract years from various date formats.
• Missing Data: Gracefully handle missing optional fields (thumbnails, descriptions, classifications).

Resources and Standards

• ISBN Standards: ISO 2108, administered by the International ISBN Agency
• Dewey Decimal Classification: OCLC's DDC system
• Library of Congress: LCC classification system
• Citation Styles: MLA Handbook, APA Publication Manual, Chicago Manual of Style
• MARC Standards: Machine-Readable Cataloguing format for library data exchange
• FRBR: Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records model