AppFlow

If you walk into a library and take out a book, chances are that the library will be using some high tech software for logging your loans, all of their books and their locations in the library.  It’s enough to make anyone envious!

Well now the power of the library has come to mac.  Delicious library is an app that not only allows you to index all of your books, games, DVDs, toys and gadgets, but also allows you to loan them to friends and even add them using their bar codes.

Bar-code Reader

Easily the coolest feature of Delicious library is the bar-code reader feature.  You can use your mac’s built in isight if it has one, and/or an external web cam.  (Personally, I’ve been using a Logitech quick-cam with a 1m USB extension cable so I don’t have to take each book to the mac.)

The first time you scan an item into your library, Delicious library will automatically contact the amazon database in several countries, gathering all the data about the book/game/DVD etc and loading it into your library.

If you’ve already scanned an item into your library, scanning the bar-code a second time will jump to that item in your library, no matter where you were before.  This is really useful for loaning an item without having to find it through search or scrolling.

Shelves

The interface of delicious library is not unlike that of iTunes, in that all media of the same type is automatically grouped together at the top of the left hand side panel.  This is really useful as you don’t have to look through your movies to find that book you were looking for.

Speaking of iTunes, Delicious library automatically imports all of your iTunes media into special libraries.  This allows you to view your iTunes media in ‘shelf format’, although it doesn’t give you the option to loan out media.

You can also set custom shelves of media to allow you to find it easily.  These work very well for easily locating that book, gadget etc quickly.

You can have as many custom shelves as you want.  You could use them for locations in your mass of storage, or for grouping particular media together.  Smart shelves work just like shelves, but gather their content from user-defined filters, right down to the colour of the cover!

Loaning

Another cool feature in Delicious library is the ability to manage where your books are when their not on your shelves. (virtual or otherwise!)  You do this by loaning.

Loaning books and the like to friends is made really simple in delicious library.  Simply locate the media on the virtual shelf (remember you can do this by scanning the bar-code to jump directly to that item) and drag it to your friend on the friends list.

Once you’ve loaned a book, it will be shown as a ghost image on your virtual shelf.  You can use the ‘loan’ tab on the info panel of a book on loan to enter an expected return date, or to check the book back in.  As an added feature, Delicious library adds a book’s return date to your iCal automatically.

All of these tools mean that you will always know where all of your books are, and will never forget to chase someone for that book you lent them last month!

Support

As well as books, DVDs and gadgets, Delicious library supports all of these items.

Simply scan the item in using the bar-code recognition, or, if you don’t have a camera, key in the ISBN and it will look up all the details.  You can even create a blank object and fill in all of the details yourself.

Conclusion

Delicious Library is not only a really useful app for cataloging all of your books etc onto a computer and allowing you to loan them out.  It does far more than that!  It will catalog a whole host of objects from tools to software!  As a general rule: If it’s got a bar-code!

In addition to this Delicious Library is a really fun app to use.  You can spend ages just playing with it, and later find that you’ve cataloged your  whole bookshelf.  It puts the fun back into data basing and is a must-have app for anyone who has a collection, large bookshelf, or just loves cool gadgets like bar-code scanners!

Delicious Library retails for $40 (£27 Aprox.) with a free demo available that allows you to scan 25 things.