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Ask Slashdot: An 'Ex Libris' For My Books In a Digital Age?

Posted by timothy on from the break-out-the-cue-cat dept.

New submitter smalgin writes: While I cannot boast an extensive library, it keeps growing every week. I share the books I like the most with my friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, some of them are sloppy and forget to return my books, so to speak. I would like to put some mark, sticker or a stamp (Ex Libris) on my books to make them recognizable later. However, living in a digital age (blah blah yada yada) I cannot help but wonder how I could improve the ex libris beyond an ink stamp on a title page or a glued-on postcard-sized monstrosity some libraries use. Has anyone tried using RFIDs to identify his books? Please share your experience.

4 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. Err, no. by Penguinisto · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No matter what you try to do (aside from a QR code), odds are perfect that some of your books will be completely unreadable by whoever is holding it (no equipment, wrong software, "why the frig do I have to buy an RFID reader just to borrow a book - WTF is wrong with you!?", etc.)

    Seriously - some problems do not require a tech/digital answer. Get those little "Ex Libris" stickers and call it good.

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    1. Re:Err, no. by Penguinisto · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I should add one more reason:

      I have a moderate collection of really old books (ranging from 100-220 years old). Many of these books have either a formal Ex Libris stamp or sticker glued in it, or in most cases handwriting which says who the owner was (at least at one point in time).

      Most of these original owners are obviously long dead, but their hand-written names or signatures live on, right there in the book. Sometimes they left addresses in there too. Best part is? 100+ years later, I don't need some archaic device to interpret what it says.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  2. Re:RFID by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I suspect that the whole "backlit screens cause eyestrain" meme comes from some magazine article written circa 1985 by a liberal arts major who, after reading one of the first etexts off a crappy VGA screen, decided to write off the technology for all time to come. One of the reasons I went to ebooks is because I'm vision-impaired and wanted to reduce eyestrain. For me it's much easier to read an illuminated screen in a font that I choose in a size that I control. Now I don't care about looking for the exact place where the light is at the right angle.

  3. Re:Don't loan to people you don't trust by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or don't loan books. Always consider them gifts.