ISBN #s for books in Library

I have been working on cataloging my print books by entering them in BookCat database. This database utilizes ISBN or Library of Congress numbers to download the info on each book. In an effort to have a complete list of resources available to me, both digital and print I would like to add my Logos library listing to BookCat. Is there a way to export from Logos a listing of ISBN for the books int he library? BookCat can read the list and automatically download the info into my database.

Thanks for the assistance.

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Comments

Mark Smith

Rich, as for ISBNs Logos does not currently store those in a resource's metadata. It has been asked for but so far nothing has been done.

Someone might know of a work-around to get the ISBNs from your titles (exporting a collection made up of all your resources and processing it somehow) but that isn't something I can help you with.

Greg

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/299907#Comment_299907

I've just had to go through and open each resource and get it that way. It's time consuming, but until Logos updates their metadata there isn't much else to do (that I know of).

Donald Patrick Harris

I want to chime in on this thread. I am a doctoral student using a bibliographic manager for my bibliography. The most efficient way to add resources to the bibliography is with ISBN numbers.

Now that Logos is touting get your D.Min. and M.A. at Knox, isn't it time to update the meta-data for all their resources? Otherwise, this IMHO is a serious oversight.

Don

Philana Crouch

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/408820#Comment_408820

I want to chime in on this thread. I am a doctoral student using a bibliographic manager for my bibliography. The most efficient way to add resources to the bibliography is with ISBN numbers.

Now that Logos is touting get your D.Min. and M.A. at Knox, isn't it time to update the meta-data for all their resources? Otherwise, this IMHO is a serious oversight.

Don

I think Logos is assuming that students who go through Knox will be using Logos (since the program is designed that way). Logos already does footnotes, and a collection can be made for that paper and a bibliography can be exported. I think it's a matter of adding books to the bibliographic manager. I'm not sure there is a way to create an import. Which program would they choose?

Donald Patrick Harris

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/408835#Comment_408835

Hello Philana,

Yes, Logos will generate a bibliography for Logos resources. But students and professors use other resources as well. Thus, the need for an academic reference manager (ARM).

Although Logos attaches a footnote to a citation it still has to be cut and pasted into the correct place in the document and edited (source with multiple authors, signed article in an edited work, multiple editors, etc., ad absurdum, ad nauseum). This is extra work. Compared to an ARM it is cumbersome and awkward. The same holds true for Logos when creating a collection in order to create a bibliography. Still, as noted above, it will not include non-Logos resources. So there is much more work. An ARM resolves this extra and tedious work.

My concern is not theoretical but practical. Last month I spent well over two full days making sure my footnotes and bibliography were in the proper form.

What Logos does it does well, for the most part. But it is not an ARM. An ISBN number can be entered into an ARM which searches internet databases for the resource. When the resource is selected and entered all the bibliographic information populates the record. When writing a paper, thesis or dissertation the word processor is linked with the ARM to insert a reference tag, generating footnotes and bibliography automatically.

As far as importing the Logos database is concerned, there are instructions in the forums for how to do this with SQLite (shareware). However, the Logos db does not include ISBN numbers. So, although you can create a database file in a format recognized by an ARM, it will not contain the ISBN.

This thread is pertinent for those living in the academic world. The average user of Logos may find this discussion irrelevant. But, those who must maintain the highest standard of academic citations in footnotes and bibliographies understand how important it is to have tools that reduce the "administrivia" required and allow scholars and writers to focus on content creation rather than formatting.

Don

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/409040#Comment_409040

Some of the most recent resources do have the ability to copy bibliographic information in standard formats e.g. BibTeX. I suspect that ARMs are on Logos' radar but so many of their resources precede ISBN's that the problem is more complex than it first appears. Note I've had little trouble importing BibTeX data into Zotero.

Last month I spent well over two full days making sure my footnotes and bibliography were in the proper form.

Unfortunately, on major papers I don't see this as excessive, only dull - one spends the time verifying ARM entries, style guides or the paper itself.

fgh

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/409040#Comment_409040

There may be some hope for you in Bob's post at http://community.logos.com/forums/p/46462/345316.aspx#345316 (as usual "some months" should be read as 'many months').