Mitgliedbob37

This LibraryThing catalog holds books from many people. The majority have accumulated as a result of our interests. However, many books belonged to other family members, such as our parents and grandparents, or other relatives or friends.

All books are lumped together, but there is order in this process. Many books were personalized by their previous owners so that names are known.

In this catalog, the various owners are identified wherever possible by specific "tags". These tags do not identify owners by name. A key to ownership tags is available to anyone who can demonstrate a need to know; send us a message.

Many of the books are heirlooms which have been kept and handed down for generations. We are, simply by default, the current custodians of these collections. By searching this catalog using tags, it is possible to view the collections passed down to us by various individuals. These views often give a glimpse into the lives and times of our forebears.

For family members, the most useful part of this catalog is the Private Comments. Wherever possible I have included interesting material about the book and/or the former owner. Again, these remarks can be made available to anyone who can demonstrate a need to know.

We have chosen to give a physical description of most books in Comments. Many books are old and have been badly abused in usage or storage. The cover images of most older books are my scanned images of the actual book. These often show the condition. These remarks and images are intended to give only a rough idea of condition.

Early in the entry process, we found it difficult to know if a book had already been cataloged. We made special LibraryThing bookmarks, and placed one in each book. The "LTbkmk" tag shows that the book contains this bookmark, which alerts any reader to look in this online catalog.

Here is an interesting way to handle Reader's Digest condensed books, from 'flabuckeye.'
"Reader's Digest book collections are given a star for each entry I read. They do not indicate good or bad. It would not be fair to the author to rate the story. I view them as a long book review and an introduction to a new author.
Entries with a "z" tag are not actual books. They may be maps or titles included in a collection...."