Book Section User’s Guide

It’s always interesting to walk through a bookstore and see the latest book that is now available on the Great War. At the current price of books, we all have to be careful about what we invest in. This section allows registered users to enter in a description of a book, a review of it and a ranking. These help others decide if they want to pursue a purchase, or get it from their local library.

Selection criteria (authors, titles, categories) can be entered from the initial search window. Once selected, a list of books that match the criteria will be generated.

Selecting a title from the list will display the information about the book and any existing reviews. In addition, registered users (who are logged in) will be able to flag the book as one that they own, one they would like to own and/or one they own and are willing to do lookups for others. If this last option is selected, the name you logged in as will be displayed in a section called “Willing to do lookups”. Anyone that selects a name will be presented with an eMail form. The recipients eMail address is never disclosed.

Further on in this document you can find specific sections on how to enter an new book, enter a review and manage your personal list.

Book Entry User’s Guide

This section will allow entry of book titles and reviews/rankings of books. Before entering a new book, please verify that the book does not already exist.

Title : This is the title of the book.

Author : The author of the book. In the case of memoirs or diaries edited by someone else, please include both names. For example, both Bruce Cane and Deward Barnes were entered for “It made you think of home”.

Publisher : Publisher of the book.

Category : Please use one of the selected categories. If you find that these are not sufficient, please eMail me and I’ll add a new category for you.

Edition: In some cases, later editions have slightly different content than the previous printings. If that is the case, please indicate the edition that is referenced.

ISBN/Reference : Enter the ISBN number. The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a 10-digit system allowing publishers, libraries, and book dealers to identify books. Each ISBN is unique to a specific book. The ISBN is typically found over the bar code on the book's back cover and on the title or copyright page. Books printed prior to 1970 (1966 in the U.K.) may not have an ISBN number, but may have a publishers reference number.

Year Published : Year of publication. If the book is a reprint, please try to indicate the year of initial publication as well.

Description By: This will typically be filled in for you with your log-in name.

Book Description : A description of the book. Please use a generalized description without putting in personal views (these should go into the review section.

Book Review User’s Guide

Reviews are helpful in letting others decide if they should invest in a particular book or not. The review can be entered at the same time as a new book, or can be entered or edited after looking at a book entry.

Book Ranking : If you are creating a new book entry, you may not want to fill in a review immediately. In this case, leave the ranking as “Not Ranked”. Otherwise select a ranking from the list. In the case of books targeted at a specific audience or interest group, make a note of this in the review section and leave the ranking as appropriate for a general audience.

Book Review : Please tell us what you think of the book.

Managing your lists

As I get older and my collection of books increases, I find myself wandering through used book stores and looking at a book, wondering if I have it. That was the driving force behind creating this section. On an individual basis, it is possible to create a list of books that you own, or that you would like to own.

Selecting the “Manage List” option from the Books page, will go to a “Manage Books” select list. This can be used to generate a list in one, or many categories. Due to the volume of books in the database, it is easier if you select these category by category and add them to your list. Once a list is generated, mark the checkbox in the “Owned”, “Want” or lookup columns. Clicking the “Save” button will save the selection and generate and “Owned” and “Want” page.

The and “Owned” and “Want” page can also be selected from the main Book page. Tip: create you want list, copy the URL and send it to whomever buys you books for holidays or birthdays. Once they have the URL, they will always be able to return to the page and see if the list has changed. Another hint: Don’t give the list out and then go buy the books without telling everyone!