[tallis]

So I'm really enjoying my first full day with this program, and I figured I'd post a few further thoughts on what would be ideal in future editions; some of these things may not happen in the next decade, but they are where a program like this might ideally be headed.

1.) Full text search/read, obviously. At least by DL3 or 4 you could get an text searchable auto pdf low-rez download of the tables of contents; this would especially be great for those of us who have lots of edited collections. Maybe, when it comes, the full text search could even have a stylistic analysis tool, so that I can reshelve my books in order of average sentence length, or something.

2.) Physical tracking of books; consider a scan of the book that marks it with reference to the program, and which then can be pinged with a GPS with resolution to the second. DL, where's my copy of "Silence" by John Cage? "It's somewhere in the northeast corner of your bedroom." Okay, it's farfetched, but the future won't happen unless somebody thinks it might. This is especially good for tracking down jerks who don't return your stuff.

3.) More realistically, there could be some fun little tools, like one-click automated listing on Amazon/eBay to sell your books. Or a "just for fun" function of "how much is my library worth?" that simply totals up the selling prices of your books.

4.) Also, more realistically, user-expandable ID3 tags for books. You can choose to fill in whatever parameters you deem useful, and they become indexable data. If I want to know what books in my collection have blue covers, dammit, there should be a way to make a smart shelf for that. And the program could do what iTunes has refused (bafflingly) to do for years, which is to give smart lists a Boolean option.

5.) Easier tweakability of social networking functions. Find me friends based on my books! Tell me what book I am least likely to own.

6.) As mentioned in my other thread, consolidation of Amazon.com pages for separate editions of the same book. I'll even give you an interface hint for this: when you scan/type in the book, if there are other Amazon books that share at least one author and, say, three consecutive words in the title (this way it allows for some entries' having subtitles), then let the user click on however many of those s/he wants when prompted "These books may be similar editions and their Amazon entries might contain additional synopses and reviews. Would you like to consolidate this information into your library entry?".

[Galley99]

Great ideas!

[MDNZ]

Originally Posted by tallis 

3.) More realistically, there could be some fun little tools, like one-click automated listing on Amazon/eBay to sell your books. Or a "just for fun" function of "how much is my library worth?" that simply totals up the selling prices of your books.

Actually it is there as '3 click' selling on Amazon using Amazon's one click selling tool (which is two)

"Well, one click in Delicious Library takes you to Amazon’s selling site for the item, a second selects the item’s condition, and then you hit ok (click #3)."

[Protoplasm]

All good ideas! I'd like to add the following:

Scanning in items you've loaned from your friends and family (rather than items you're loaning to your friends). This way I could scan in the books/DVDs and, as a good deal of time often passes before I see various friends/relations, I can just check in DL under their name to see what I need to return the next time we meet up without having to worry about forgetting anything.

[MDNZ]

Originally Posted by Protoplasm 

Scanning in items you've loaned from your friends and family (rather than items you're loaning to your friends).

You can use the duplicate function to copy an item from a friends library to yours

[Protoplasm]

Originally Posted by MDNZ 

You can use the duplicate function to copy an item from a friends library to yours

Hmm, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by that. I'm not sure what you mean by a friend's library.

I just tried loaning an item to a friend by dropping it on his entry under "FRIENDS" in my source list. Apart from the fact that under the "Borrowers" tab it doesn't show a name or picture (just says "Borrower Name" and a blank face), I can't see how duplicating that on-loan item helps me know that I have something of theirs?

[MDNZ]

Oh, you mentioned loan FROM a friend (even bolded the word from)
(Scanning in items you've loaned from your friends and family (rather than items you're loaning to your friends).

If your friends have published a library via FTP, .Mac etc) then you can view their library by adding their library location in the Friend details. Then in the Friends Section you can see the contents of their library shelves.
If you select an item in their library and choose duplicate, a copy is made in your library.
I was not referring to your Borrowers list, as that would be loaning TO a friend.

Edit: You can also mark an item as borrowed from a friends library, by dragging it from their library onto your library. I do not think this makes any updates to their library though... just a reference for you.

[Protoplasm]

Originally Posted by MDNZ 

Oh, you mentioned loan FROM a friend (even bolded the word from)

Yes, I am talking about borrowing FROM in all cases.

Originally Posted by MDNZ 

I was not referring to your Borrowers list, as that would be loaning TO a friend.

I know, I just didn't understand what you meant by a "friend's library" which was why I tried that, but I think I see what you meant now...

Seems the long and the short of it is that my friends/family have to have libraries shareable on the internet, which none do, so this is all a bit of a red herring. So, thank you for the pointers but, as far as I can see, my original request is still valid.

[MDNZ]

No probs at all, I was a little vague in initial response, and was working from assumed knowledge.
I guess a couple of simple solutions could be
a) make a shelf called Borrowed from Friends,
b) edit the details and change the Owner and create a smart shelf to filter using that criteria

Sharing online is not difficult, I have visibility of a number of friends libraries and also other DL users from beta testing group. Contact me via PM if you want to test some features.

Also note if any other DL users are on the same bonjour network, with sharing set you can view libraries.