WTL

Okay folks of #Books

Going to get serious about organizing my ebooks and audiobooks. Which filename convention do you think is best (for file-based management)? (suggestions?)

Author Last Name, First name, series name, book number, title
eg: Sawyer, Robert J, The Quintaglio Ascension, Book 1, Far-Seer

Series name, book number, title, author name
eg: The Quintaglio Ascension, Book 1, Far-Seer, by Robert J Sawyer

(boosts for reach appreciated)

Apr 1 at 11:56pmIvory for Mac
Show threadKevin Boyd (he/him) 🇨🇦1d ago

@WTL Hmm. Not terribly fond of either, but I haven't faced this challenge before so my approaches would probably not be fully thought out. For example, I would almost always prefer the title to be first.

That said, how about Dewey?

Show threadWTL1d ago
@kboyd Interesting idea, not sure how helpful this would be; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dewey_Decimal_classes
List of Dewey Decimal classes - Wikipedia

Show threadKevin Boyd (he/him) 🇨🇦1d ago

@WTL it might be slightly useful for organizing things into folders, but computers can be more powerful than that.

One of the things I miss about BeOS was that the filesystem (BeFS) allowed you to add custom metadata fields to files, kind of turning it into a queryable database.

Show threadgwendolenau1d ago
@WTL
I file by author name first, then title, so that books by the same author can be sorted together.
#bookstodon
Show threadChris Mackay 🇨🇦1d ago
@WTL Ok, big props for the RJS mention (it’s been decades since I read the Quintaglio books, but he’s probably my favourite author).
Show threadWTL20h ago
@tantramar I've read nearly everything he's written and agree; he's also one of my favourite authors. Calculating God is so fantastic.
Show threadLaura "Tegan" Gjovaag ⛈ 🐸1d ago

@WTL
I sort by author (last, first) then series if there is one, then title.

Multiple authors give me headaches, but I pick one and go with it.

Show threadacffh morst1d ago
@WTL
My first inclination was to start with author's lastname but in case of multiple authors that's vague.
Bearing that in mind, I'll say go with book title first, but omit THE.
Show threadMike  🇨🇦 🇳🇱1d ago
@WTL for series, I use a sub folder, for the rest I just start with title, as that is the main thing I mentally consider when looking for it.
Show threadMichael Sumner23h ago
@WTL random string, put the full details in a table 🙏
Show threadAaron O22h ago
@WTL nothing to add but I love me some meta data
Show threadJen Kuntz 🇨🇦19h ago
@WTL I’m doing something like this in Obsidian. Filenames (titles) are just Book Title - Author(s), using first and last names. I have separate fields (properties) for title, authors, series, series order etc. one markdown file per book because I can use features in obsidian to produce lists of what is in my library or what I’ve read as I see fit.
Show threadNomdeb18h ago
@WTL I have loved using Calibre for organizing my ebooks. It sorts in all ways, and can rename files as you wish. I also use (separate program) Better File Rename for changing things around if I change my mind. :)
Show threadWTL18h ago

@nomdeb We've demo'd BFR in our user group ( @ByMUG) a few times over the years. Very handy.

I want to organize ebooks and audiobooks, so Calibre is handy for part of it.

Show threadNomdeb18h ago
@WTL @ByMUG YES!!! Better File Rename (I've used it for probably 20+ years now?) is one of the first programs I dump back on my machine whenever I rebuild it. It's a MUST HAVE program for me. :)