Cataloging software for Windows XP home version

Dear Group:

I've checked the FAQ and the archived messages on Google, and I hope I
haven't missed anything relevant, but it seems that it's been a while since
anyone raised this question. I'm running Windows XP home version, and have
been using Hobby Collection Management Software version 2.44 from Corporate
Edge for my books for about a year. Initially this worked pretty well, and
when I had a question I got good customer support, but lately that has
evaporated. I liked the capability of putting an image of a book into a
record along with the bibliographic data, but now I'd also like more
flexibility in report generation and a way to export free-form fields as
well as fixed, in some kind of standard format. And with any new software,
I'll need to be able to import data in .csv format so I don't have to enter
records all over again. I'm pretty comfortable with computers but by no
means am I a techie. I'd appreciate some recommendations.

Thanks--Terry Strasser

I use readerware (www.readerware.com) to catalog my books. ABE books
also offers a software package that is free. It is possible that the
".cav" format you refer to is proprietary and may not be supported by
any other package. Look for a software package that allows you to scan
ISBN bar codes for quick entry.

Art Layton
Stamford CT

Art: Thanks for the reply and suggestions. I've decided to purchase
a shareware package called BookCAT, which seems to do what I need and
has a great deal of flexibility with regard to report writing, data
entry, and much else. It's based on MS Access. I've imported my
records to a trial version with no difficulty (a note he the format
is .csv, not .cav--that is, comma separated values, which is a
standard format.) There's a forum on their website, and customer
support seems good; TUCOWS gave the package a high rating, and it's
been through a number of versions, employing user feedback. The most recent
version came out this month. So far, so good!

Thanks again--Terry

"Art Layton" wrote in message
om...
I use readerware (www.readerware.com) to catalog my books. ABE books
also offers a software package that is free. It is possible that the
".cav" format you refer to is proprietary and may not be supported by
any other package. Look for a software package that allows you to scan
ISBN bar codes for quick entry.

Art Layton
Stamford CT