I prefer a bookshelf.

I (intend to) use Excel.  I did previously use Goodreads, but I tired of logging in to find that Ingram had overwritten my book data with incorrect information.  I finally deleted the account.

started with Excel, finally organized them with All My Books. Now waiting for iPad app, developer promised to release it soon

thanks guys,

i know we need a physical bookshelf, but when we have too many books we just need to be pro and start organizing our database ^^

Thanks maxic9, I will look into All My Books

Anyone tried anobii or shelfari?

I really wish I had these problems.

you mean all your 'free downloaded' books?  why would anyone organize hardcopy books unless they owned a public library :/

yes hard copy books

why wouldnt you organized ur books when you got 200+ books

i know many architects do that

200+ isn't a lot for me to come up with a system to organize my books to make it easier to search.  I'd know off the back of my mind what books I have in my collection also because I'd have read it :)

what i meant is its continue growing, and it dont wanna wait til when i have 10,000 books.

of course I know which book to look for when i only got 200, the point is organization

I will be opening my own firm in the office so its also a firm library in the future

not fighting whether to have a system to organizing it or not

the question here is how to do, not why do it

I use Exlibris. I believe it was 99 cents on the Mac App Store, and you just input the ISBN number and it gets all the information for you. You can also track what you've read, lent out, do different lists, things like that.

Biographically.

We organize our books by topic (monographs, technology, drawing, history, theory, etc.)

My filing system seems to consist of putting all my arch books in bankers' boxes and putting those in a portable storage unit. Did that about seven years ago when I moved, and haven't really looked at them since. :(

mine are in boxes in my room at my parents house.

it's a bit of a shame, but i'm more interested in reading other things at the moment so it helps avoid the distraction.........

I organize by topic, then by author. The 5 years of work study I spent managing my school's Visual Media Archive (aka slide library) has ingrained it as the only way.

by color

I have about 1500 book. I organize books by content: who, where, why, when, what and how

who = monographs

where = regional nation, city, place

why = theory, criticism

when = historical period, movement, century

what = building type, things

how = technical, how to,

17thC Spanish churches I would would place under regional

NERDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FRaC: "by color"

There's a designer talking. Represent, brother.

by color too.

the chicks dig it.

not even kidding.

i'm lucky to get the spines facing out. 

i don't really have the time to afford the luxury of paying attention to organization, but i'm very lucky: since my bookstore days, i have an uncanny visual memory of book jackets/spines, so i pretty much know where a book is once i decide to go get it. 

there is an overall schema, however: for the most part, my library is divided into three categories: intend to read, read already, and reference. some crossover as, for example, arch books i've read shift into reference category.