setting up a new check out system

I am the Director for a Resource Center for our Churches and Seminary Students. We are seeking to purchase the equipment and software that will allow borrowers to scan their book out at the center with bar codes (which none of our books or media have at this point.
I am seeking the most basic help - suggestions for scanners, software for adding barcodes (or can LibraryThing do this).
We are very happy with how our users can do searches on LibraryThing, but the next step is to catch up our technology.
Has anyone started from the beginning to set up a system? Any help will be appreciated.

I posted on your original post about barcodes and scanners, but you may also want to consider adding TinyCat, LibraryThing's real online catalog for small libraries, to your account.

TinyCat is a layer you can add to your LibraryThing account for professional (or personal!) use, and it will transform your library into a real online catalog that can be shared with visitors and patrons. Your visitors and patrons will have an easy-to-use interface for searching your collections, and you'll have sophisticated features for tracking your circulation and patron data, if you lend out your library.

You're welcome to a free 30-day trial of TinyCat so you can see how it looks for your library, if you're interested in giving it a go. To sign up for a free trial, just go to librarycat.org and click the "Start your trial" button in the top-right menu. Should you decide to subscribe to TinyCat, we offer affordable monthly and yearly subscriptions. (You can find our full pricing structure here: https://www.librarycat.org/#pricing.)

Please let me know if you have any questions about TinyCat, or if there's anything else—LibraryThing- or TinyCat-related—that I can assist with!

Kristi at LT

I am writing for a grant to make this a possibility. I understand there is a fee for the TinyCat for the barcode component $25.00 a month for us (can it be paid annually - the seminary would love that) and the cost for the barcode stickers (around $105). One of the needs we will have is to propose hiring a few students or others who want to help us make the transition. What I do not understand from the reading is how involved, or number of steps per book to do this. This will help me to guage the amount of hours/cost per for the project. I cannot tell from the video how it is done.
I really wish I understood more, but there is no one to speak with and only website that are selling with nothing but bullets:

For example this is one bullet point: Import your existing collection, from MARC or other formats.
How do I know my format? I thought Library Thing and Tiny Cat were the same - seems I am wrong and is a layer like an add-on?

The more time on the two websites, the more confusing it becomes. I have to have information to apply for the grant and I do not want a trial that we may not have the finances for without receiving the grant.

>3 CharlotteCRC: I replied to your other post here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/354864#8275190 which may also provide more detail, but let me clarify how LibraryThing and TinyCat work together!

• LibraryThing will always be where you'll catalog and edit the records within your library. From a library's standpoint, LT is like your ILS, or Integrated Library System.


• TinyCat is mainly built for real lending libraries, but personal members use it for fun with friends and family. TinyCat sits on top of your LibraryThing library and transforms it into a real, online catalog (aka an OPAC or online, public-access catalog) that you can share with visitors and patrons. TinyCat also has features for tracking your circulation and patron data.


• While you can use LibraryThing completely by itself without TinyCat—including just using your barcodes within LibraryThing without TinyCat—you do need an LT account in order to be able to use TinyCat. (In other words, TinyCat cannot be used as a standalone system, it relies on LT.)


• LibraryThing is free to use by itself, whereas TinyCat requires a modest prepaid subscription.

Let me know if you have further questions about this.

Since LT is where all of your cataloging is done, I can tell you more about our import options. LibraryThing supports both MARC and Universal Import (see https://www.librarything.com/more/importmarc and https://www.librarything.com/import), each of which you can read up on here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/LibraryThing_and_MARC#Importing_MARC and https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/HelpThing:Import. You may also want to review our Help page on all of the ways you can add/import books (or other media) to your LibraryThing account: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/HelpThing:Addbooks, I hope this helps.

I am the founder, CEO, & go-to person for a small nonprofit called the Shamanic Arts Center in Hotchkiss, Colorado. We have a small library of shamanic arts books we track & lend to our patrons.

We will also be cataloging portfolios created by the Sacred Witness project that will be produced by artists, shamans, & volunteers for each site visited by the project members. In addition, we will catalog sound recordings including music, guided shamanic journeys, sound baths, and recorded storytelling that has been produced by members of our media team.

I am interested in learning about scanners and other tools that might help with this project.

>5 Shamanic-Arts-Center: Welcome to the community! I can certainly give you some tips, although I'm curious what other members will want to contribute. You might also consider reading through or crossposting over in the "Librarians who LibraryThing" Group, to cast a wider net with library professionals: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/78/Librarians-who-LibraryThing

As far as scanners/library tools go, LibraryThing sells affordable CueCat scanners and pre-printed, auto-incrementing barcode labels. The scanner will help you scan items in as you're cataloging, but you can also scan items to search your catalog or to check items in/out quickly. Setting up your own barcode system is really useful for those non-ISBN records you might have, or if you have multiple copies of the same ISBN, so you can easily track which copy you're lending in/out.

Check out the LibraryThing Store for supplies: https://www.librarything.com/more/store, and check out our blog post reviewing our barcode support feature (if you're interested): https://blog.librarything.com/main/2015/06/new-feature-barcode-support/. (Further to the barcodes, you can investigate your Barcode Settings in LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/settings/barcodes, which allows you to automatically apply barcode numbers to items without barcodes, for whichever collection/s you've selected and saved in the settings. Just keep in mind: if you automatically apply barcode numbers to your records in LT from the Barcode Settings page, barcode numbers will be assigned in the order that you cataloged your library.)

I hope this helps!