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From: Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: [Meta] Wait, you sort your books how???
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2024 10:03:00 -0700
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On Fri, 19 Jul 2024 08:52:52 -0400, Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com>
wrote:

>On 7/18/2024 9:22 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:
>> On 7/18/2024 12:58 PM, Paul S Person wrote:
>>> On Wed, 17 Jul 2024 19:06:51 -0400, Ahasuerus <ahasuerus@email.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 7/17/2024 2:30 PM, Chris Buckley wrote:
>>>>> On 2024-07-17, BillGill <tonisdad215@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> On 7/16/2024 5:15 PM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>>>>>>> On 7/16/2024 9:19 AM, BillGill wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 7/15/2024 12:25 PM, Ahasuerus wrote:
>>>>>>>>> On 7/15/2024 9:48 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> In article <v738di$n4rq$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>>>>>>> Tony Nance=A0 <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> More signs of madness in this crazy world:
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> I just ran across the results of a poll that asked 29,000=20
>>>>>>>>>>> Americans
>>>>>>>>>>> about their book-owning habits, and friends, I am shocked =97=
=20
>>>>>>>>>>> shocked! =97
>>>>>>>>>>> to report that there are people who have absolutely no=20
>>>>>>>>>>> organizational
>>>>>>>>>>> system whatsoever. Worse =97 worse, I tell you =97 there are =
some=20
>>>>>>>>>>> who sort
>>>>>>>>>>> their books by color. Color!
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Here=92s a link to the main source (published in October):
>>>>>>>>>>> =
https://today.yougov.com/society/articles/47712-how-many-books-americans-=
own-and-how-they-organize-them
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> I could read the link, I suppose, but I wonder how many people=
=20
>>>>>>>>>> actually
>>>>>>>>>> have a sufficient number of books such that they need to be=20
>>>>>>>>>> organized.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> As a general observation, the viability of various =
organizational
>>>>>>>>> systems depends on the number of books to be organized. What =
works
>>>>>>>>> reasonably well for a few hundred books -- e.g. sorting by the
>>>>>>>>> author's last name -- may be problematic for a collection with =
a=20
>>>>>>>>> few
>>>>>>>>> thousand books and completely unworkable for a collection that
>>>>>>>>> contains tens of thousands of books.
>>>>>>>> Have you checked your local library lately?=A0 They do have
>>>>>>>> thousands of books.=A0 They use a system that separates the
>>>>>>>> books by class, first fiction and non-fiction.=A0 Then
>>>>>>>> they separate the non-fiction according to the Dewey Decimal
>>>>>>>> Code.=A0 The Fiction is separated into a number of sub
>>>>>>>> classifications, such as General Fiction, Mysteries,
>>>>>>>> Science Fiction, and of course Children's.=A0 Then within
>>>>>>>> those categories they are sorted by the author's last
>>>>>>>> name.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> [snip]
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It's a viable system for certain types of use cases.=20
>>>>>>> Unfortunately, any
>>>>>>> system that sorts books "by the author's last name" comes with=20
>>>>>>> inherent
>>>>>>> limitations. Suppose you have N bookcases dedicated to authors =
whose
>>>>>>> last name starts with an "H". Everything is fine as long as your=20
>>>>>>> library
>>>>>>> is static or close to it. Then you discover that you absolutely=20
>>>>>>> love D.
>>>>>>> K. Holmberg (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?200173) and/or=20
>>>>>>> Nathan
>>>>>>> Hystad (https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?249647) -- to pick =
two
>>>>>>> random prolific authors -- and suddenly you have a problem.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm don't understand what the problem is.=A0 Are you suggesting =
that
>>>>>> the books are packed in, so that there is no room to insert that
>>>>>> many more?=A0 If that is the case all you have to do is to move
>>>>>> books on down the shelves to make room.=A0 I have been known to do
>>>>>> that.=A0 Or, best case, build new shelves and spread the existing
>>>>>> books out to make room.=A0 I have been known to do that.
>>>>>
>>>>> "All you have to do"?? I have 88 shelves of alphabetical by author
>>>>> mass market sized sf paperbacks (probably another 7-8 shelves of sf
>>>>> paperbacks sorted by other criteria such as anthologies, Star Trek,
>>>>> and then my Favorite bookcase is mixed with hardcovers).=A0 When I
>>>>> "discover" a "new" author like Elizabeth Bear and have to fit in=20
>>>>> another
>>>>> 10-15 'B' books, it poses a problem!
>>>>
>>>> [snip]
>>>>
>>>> Indeed. I started using removable labels and word processor-based
>>>> catalogs some decades ago. As an added bonus, you can fit more books
>>>> into a bookcase if you separate hardcovers/trade paperbacks from =
mass
>>>> market paperbacks, then double-stack them. A balanced mix of =
bindings
>>>> can accommodate 700-800 books per bookcase.
>>>
>>> Provided, of course, that it (and each shelf) is able to bear the
>>> weight.
>>>
>>> When the shelves start curving into a "u", that is /not/ a good sign.
>>> IMHO. YMMV.
>>=20
>> I built my shelves from poplar, and have had no problems. Pine would =
be
>> a different matter.
>
>The "balanced mix of bindings" that I mentioned earlier helps.=20
>Hardcovers do better on bottom shelves while mass market paperbacks can=20
>be stacked all the way to the ceiling without causing any issues.

True, true but I find the bottom shelves perfectly suited to general
non-fiction, as opposed to books I am more likely to need to remove
from the shelves to check something on. I have long had a small
problem bending down. I can do it, but I need to have a /reason/ to do
so.

Then again, /Hope in Time of Abandonment/, /White Supremacy/, and
/Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence/ might be
worth a re-read. Not to mention all those non-fiction books by CS
Lewis.
--=20
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"