I have several hundred, probably around 1500, magic books. I'm struggling with organizing them so I can quickly locate a specific book. I got serious about organizing them several years ago after reading Leo Behnke's book "The Conservation of Magic". (http://www.nnmagic.com/books/conservation.htm) I came up with a system similar to what he uses and describes in the book. Leo was even kind enough to respond to a few emails to clarify some questions I had about his system. What I realized in the end is that whatever system you use it has to make sense to you. I'm still struggling with finding something that makes sense for all cases and am hoping to learn from how some of you that have organized your books.

Here are some of the things that cause me problems. Do you organize by topic, or by author? For example, do you have a group card books, another for coin books, and another for rope books? But then what about books that contain tricks on more than one category? If you organize by author, what about those books that are written about someone by somebody else. For example, if you're looking for the book on Annemann are you going to think of Max Abrams?

There's also the option of organizing them by publisher, which is actually what you see a lot in stores. I know I'll tend to think about that book being published by Kaufman or by L&L, but then this has the problem of splitting authors or topics. For example, John Bannon had a book published by Kaufman and another L&L and now publishes himself. It would be nice to keep all of the Bannon books together. There are others that have the same issue.

Another option is to organize by who it's about as first priority and then the author as second priority. If a book is about a specific Magician, for example the Annemann book, "The Classic Magic of Larry Jennings", or the "Magic of Michael Ammar" it would be organized by their names. But books containing a collection of tricks from multiple magicians would be listed by author. For example, "The Collected Almanac" by Richard Kaufman, or the Apocalypse series by Harry Lorayne .

Has anyone had any experience with these or other systems that they would recommend or provide some advice on? Thanks.

-Brian

My collection is only about 120 books but I always sort by topic first and then in alphabetical order. That is because I always go by title and if I need boops for a coin rourine I don't want to have to search. don't know if that helps but it's what I do

My current method is also based on topic but it's not always logical where I need to look for a book when you have books that cover a lot of topics such as: "The Magic of Michael Ammar", "Carneycopia", "Collected Almanac", etc.

In my case right now, I just need to organize what I have and be able to quickly find something because I want to downsize my library. So it's not so much of getting it into a state that it would better facilitate browsing research as it is to just locate a specific book.

-Brian

Ahhh got ya. I have a section that is dedicated to multiple forms of magic, such as the Ammar book, and do it in alphabetical order. It works for me because I always think title when going for a book

I mainly organize them by publisher, simply because they look good this way (especially the Hermetic ones). I do have a problem sorting the small booklets and lecture notes though.

I keep my small booklets, pamphlets and notes separate

You guys are making me ashamed of myself. I worked for a number of years in academic libraries and one would think I should be OCD about organizing books. I just put 'em on the shelves and then berate myself later when I need to find something.

Hello Ekins,
All the questions you arise in your post has been in my mind since a great number of years. I have the same amount of books as you, 1500. And obviously it is a working library, because I'm not sure at all I will have the time and energy to study everything.
I've tried several systems, because when I had one hundred it was easy to change the system. Not now...
I just give you here how it is now in my home. I have around 2100 books in all, other subjects included.
My library is organized by theme : litterature, architecture, magic, neurosciences...
In the magic section, I have separated magazines (including reedition) from books. In the book section, it is impossible to classify by category of magic (cards, mentalism...) because often a book has several things in it. So I have applied the usual library system, by author. In case of a compilation with several authors, I've put them under the compilator name. And yes, I have hesitated a long time to put a book by the content's author or by the writer. I've decided to arrange them by the writer name. I have an excell file in which I have listed all the books and on another column, if needed, there is the name under which it's arranged.
So it is a very simple system.
The hard work begin when you think about organizing what you have studied from all thoses books...
Hope this little insight helps.

Mathieu

Hi again,
I've forgotten to say something important which everybody with a rather extensive library will encounter. It is when the shelves are full. Really avoid to fill them completely because you will not be able to insert a new book.
I have no shelves available here, my house is too small (I prefer a small house with a lot of books than the reverse). So now, the last little shelf is not organized at all.

Ekins, I'm living in France with my wife but she is from the west coast of the USA and has lived in "her" town, namely Portland. So she says hi to you !

Hi Rachmaninov,

Thanks for your input and tell your wife hello from Portland.

My current goal in organizing my books is to be able to quickly locate a specific book. I'm trying to downsize my library so finding is currently more important than an alternative system that might make study slightly easier. As I started this re-organization I had one method in mind and started putting the books in shelves based on it but then ran into some issues and have now chosen a different system.

I'm organizing them alphabetically based on whatever pops into my mind when I look at a book. For example, there are several books about Slydini by different authors and publishers but they're listed under "Slydini". There are many books that have been written by Richard Kaufman on many different topics. Many of these are listed under "Kaufman". However, there are some books he's written where the person he's writing about is the focus so it's listed under that. For example, "Berglas Effects" is listed under "Berglas" rather than "Kaufman".

I'm also using a very similar Excel sheet as you described where I have the Title, Author, and what it's listed by.

I also have the problem of too many books and not enough shelves. That's the first goal is to trim my library down enough to fit in the shelves I have.

-Brian

The late Jay Marshall's library rivaled the "Library of Congress"! (All old showmen tend to exaggerate!)
The late Bob (Marshall Michigan MUSEUM OF MAGIC) Lund's library either had one book more, or one book less than jay's. (I'm not SURE!!!) THAT, sets the stage for the following! >>>

I think it was in the early '70s, on a Saturday evening. Jay, Frances, John Shirley, and I had just finished one of Frances' delightful dinners, and were having another cup of coffee, when the Carmen Street doorbell rang. Jay said, "I'm not expecting anyone..." I said, I'm nearest the door, I'll go see who..."

Standing outside in the rain, was Johnny Thompson ((TOMSONI"). Inside, I said, "We're in the kitchen." I followed Johnny up the stairs, and everybody "hello'd" Johnny. Jay said, "You look upset."

Johnny explained that he was working the National Architects' Trade Show at the McCormick Center, opening on Monday. Two months previously, he had left town for a two month tour in Europe. He had called Recil Bordner, owner of Abbott's in Colon. He had explained that he needed a JUMBO CARD CASTLE made for the Architects' Trade Show. He had returned to Chicago, earlier that morning, and found (make that: did not find!) any package from Abbott's. PANIC! He had phoned Recil, and, Recil apologized. He had forgotten to make the castle.

John Shirley spoke up. "I've made castles before. Let's go down to the workshop." Jay said, "I'm sure that I have a book or two with card castle information." Jay headed for the library, John, Johnny, and I went downstairs. I headed for he stock room to get a deck of JUMBOS, some string, and some tape. John & Johnny headed to the workshop to locate a sheet of plywood, and clear off the work bench. Less than 10 minutes later, Jay came in with a half dozen books in his arms, all opened to a page with information and drawings of card castles! The TOPPER was the last book in the pile. It was TITLED, "CARD CASTLES, HOW TO BUILD THEM"!!! We all laughed, and then Jay explained that the last book was a children's book about how to build 'real' card castles on a rainy day! He got another LAUGH!

"WE" BUILT A BEAUTIFUL CASTLE. John said that we had better let the glue dry overnight. Tomsoni, with a BIG smile, said he would stop by Sunday afternoon to pick it up.

We went back to the kitchen for another cup of coffee! The trade show went off on schedule.

SEE! It helps to KNOW what's in your library. --And, WHICH BOOK "IT" IS IN"! (Jay had all his books on magic shelved alphabetically by author. He KNEW his library! --because, he had READ those books!

That's a great story Dick. Thanks for sharing. It also proves a couple of points. The information in any book is useless if you don't read it. And the organization of your library needs to make sense to you. I doubt anyone but Jay could have found those books.

-Brian

Yup!

A book on a shelf is just a "storage unit". It's only really useful when someone READS it! --and then, USES the knowledge acquired.

I had carte blanche to use both Jay's and Bob's library, and, I DID!

Great story Dick !

Brian, your system of arranging your books in a flexible way, according to your feeling/impression it should be here or there is a good one. I've tried this too. And another system not discussed is the year of publication. But other problems occur : reedition, difference between date of invention and date of publication...
I've read a great part of my library. But I've thoroughly studied only a small part of it.
For now, I'm now studying again all the Giobbi Card College series. I've read it around 10 times. And I'm still improve from a new study. Same for Erdnase, Marlo, Vernon...

I would really enjoy hearing people discussing about the organization of what they have made of those books, whoch is of course the main goal. Even great encyclopedic memories like Marshall can't know exactly what is inside each of the thousands books they have. If you ask them something, yes they can remember "oh there is something in this book...and this one..." but they will miss things too. I think a serious methodology is necessary. And I am sure some brillant people here can help us in this regard.

Hello,

This is how I’ve organised my library of thousands of books and pdf’s.
Small books are kept in carton book boxes. I bought them from Ikea. These boxes are numbered and rest on shelves in several bookcases. Large books rest on the shelves themselves.
To easily retrieve a book I record the books in an Excel-sheet, which has the following columns: Title, Author, Magician, Topic, Book/PDF, Location, Language. I’ve made a distinction between author and magician for those cases where the magic being described from a particular magician has been authored by someone else. For example several books of Jon Racherbaumer and Stephen Minch. For books or magazines with contributions from several magicians, the name of the compiler or editor is filed in the column magician.
To quickly see what literature I’ve got on a particular subject I have the Excel-sheet sorted by topic.
To give you an idea of the entrances of the column Topic, see the first ones from my library at the end of this post.
To retrieve a book, the column location tells me where to find it, either which box or which shelf.
For all pdf’s there have been made files on an external hard drive for every magician. So they are always easy to find.
The system works fine for me. It may be an idea to add two more columns, f.i. sundry notations for noting to whom you’ve lent a book and at which date and a column “Priority” for publications that need your attention. In hindsight I regret not having made a column for the date of publication but now it simply will be too much work to do this.
Maybe it can be of use to you as well. With regards to taxonomy of the entrances in the column Topic you will always have to deal with inconsistencies. They are unavoidable. And once in a while you will have to correct mistakes you’ve.
Allied Arts
Allied Arts/Balloonsculpture
Allied Arts/Bubblelology
Allied Arts/Chalk Talk
Allied Arts/Costume change
Allied Arts/Fire-eating
Allied Arts/Hand Shadows
Allied Arts/Juggling
Allied Arts/Origami
Allied Arts/Origami/Napkin folding
Allied Arts/Shadowgraphy
Allied Arts/Tangrams
Allied Arts/Ventriloquism
Beginners
Bibliography
Bills
Bills - Switch
Bills - Switch - no TT
Bills/Eff/Impossible location
Bills/Eff/T&R
Bills/Eff/Transpo
Bills/Eff/Transpo to Tictacbox
Bills/Eff/Transpo/Bill in balloon
Bills/Eff/Transpo/Bill to Lemon
Black Art
Body Magic
Body Magic/Fakirism
Body Magic/Horror
Body Magic/Mutilation
Body Magic/Self-levitation
Body Magic/Stigma
Business
Business Cards/
Business Cards/Transpo
Business/Promotie
Business/Publicity
Cards
Cards & Children
Cards & Coins
Cards & Coins & Mentalism
Cards & CU
Cards & CU & Mentalism
Cards & CU & Mentalism
Cards & Mentalism
Cards & Mentalism/Prediction
Cards & Theory
Cards/Beginners
Cards/Comedy
Cards/Eff
Cards/Eff/4ofakind
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/2 packet transpo
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/assembly
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/assembly/gimmicked
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/assembly/McDonalds
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/assembly/progressive
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/B-Wave
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/changing backs & faces
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/Coincidence
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/cutting
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/locating
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/locating + Royal flush
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/magician vs gambler
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/misc
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/packettrick
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/Revelation of chosen card
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/routine
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/transpo
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/Travellers
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/Twisted sisters
Cards/Eff/4ofakind/twisting
Cards/Eff/Acaan
Cards/Eff/All Backs
Cards/Eff/Ambitious
Cards/Eff/Ambitious/gradual visual rise
Cards/Eff/Anniversary Waltz
Cards/Eff/Brainwave
Cards/Eff/Cannibals
Cards/Eff/Card Warp
Cards/Eff/Cardbox
Cards/Eff/Cardbox - Opening Cardbox
Cards/Eff/Cardbox Suspension
Cards/Eff/Cards thru newspaper
Cards/Eff/Cardstab
Cards/Eff/Cardstab/Cardsword
Cards/Eff/Chicago Opener
Cards/Eff/Chicago Opener & Color changing deck
Cards/Eff/Clock trick
Cards/Eff/Coincidence
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/2 decks
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/2 decks/mene tekel
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/Blank deck
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/Brainwave
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/Coupling 4-4
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/Fred deck
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/Gimmicked deck
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/OOTW
Cards/Eff/Coincidence/triple
Cards/Eff/Color change
Cards/Eff/Color change under transparent napkin
Cards/Eff/Color Changing deck
Cards/Eff/Correcting misprint
Cards/Eff/Deck Production
Cards/Eff/Deck Vanish
Cards/Eff/Diary
Cards/Eff/Divination
Cards/Eff/Do as I do
Cards/Eff/Escape
Cards/Eff/Floating card
Cards/Eff/Floating deck
Cards/Eff/Follow the leader with O&W
Cards/Eff/Gambling
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Betting
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Blackjack & Prediction
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Cardsharp
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Monte
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Monte/2 card monte
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Monte/3 card monte
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Poker
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Poker & Gilbreath
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Poker & Prediction
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Poker 10 cards
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Poker&4ofakind
Cards/Eff/Gambling/Poker-Royal Flush
Cards/Eff/Haunted deck
Cards/Eff/Homing card
Cards/Eff/Horse Race
Cards/Eff/Hypercard
Cards/Eff/Inversion
Cards/Eff/Lasso cardtrick
Cards/Eff/Levitation
Cards/Eff/Linking Cards
Cards/Eff/Location
Cards/Eff/Location of 2 cards
Cards/Eff/Magnetized cards
Cards/Eff/Memory
Cards/Eff/Mental photography deck
Cards/Eff/Mentalism
Cards/Eff/Mindreading
Cards/Eff/Misc
Cards/Eff/Misc/Card Suspension
Cards/Eff/Misc/Cig thru card
Cards/Eff/Misc/Floating spread
Cards/Eff/Misc/Inside Out
Cards/Eff/Misc/Mathemagic
Cards/Eff/Misc/Sinking deck
Cards/Eff/Misc/Torn corner penetration
Cards/Eff/Mobile Phone
Cards/Eff/Moving Holes
Cards/Eff/Moving Pips
Cards/Eff/Moving Stickman
Cards/Eff/Multiple selection
Cards/Eff/Multiple selection-3
Cards/Eff/Multiple Selection-3/Collectors
Cards/Eff/Oil&Water
Cards/Eff/Opener
Cards/Eff/Order - Chaos
Cards/Eff/Packettrick
Cards/Eff/Packettrick (Horror)
Cards/Eff/Penetration
Cards/Eff/Penetration 2 cards - slit
Cards/Eff/Pips
Cards/Eff/Prediction
Cards/Eff/Prediction 1 out of 6
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Brainwave
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Equivoque
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Equivoque & Multiple outs
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Invisible deck
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Miraskill
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Open prediction
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Premonition
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Shufflebored
Cards/Eff/Prediction/Svengali
Cards/Eff/Printing&Prediction&Transpo
Cards/Eff/Production of card from deck
Cards/Eff/Red black
Cards/Eff/Reset
Cards/Eff/Revelation + Transpo
Cards/Eff/Revelation of chosen card
Cards/Eff/Revelation/Burned card
Cards/Eff/Revelation/Card on the ceiling
Cards/Eff/Revelation/Sleight of hand
Cards/Eff/Revelation/SOH/Slop Shuffle
Cards/Eff/Revelation/Spec finds card
Cards/Eff/Revelation/Spelling
Cards/Eff/Revelation/Sympathetic/Voodoo
Cards/Eff/Revelation/Tantalizer
Cards/Eff/Revelation/Universal card
Cards/Eff/Revelations/plunger
Cards/Eff/Reversed card
Cards/Eff/Rising card
Cards/Eff/Sandwich
Cards/Eff/Shrinking card box + transpo
Cards/Eff/Spec reveals cards
Cards/Eff/Spelling
Cards/Eff/Stoptrick
Cards/Eff/Story deck
Cards/Eff/Sympathetic Clubs
Cards/Eff/T&R
Cards/Eff/Telepathy/Electronic deck
Cards/Eff/Telepathy/Text
Cards/Eff/The trick that can't be explained
Cards/Eff/Think and Rise
Cards/Eff/Think/Multiple cards
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card - outofsightoutofmind
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card - psych force
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card - Special deck
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card & OOTW
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card & Transpo
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card- billet switch
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card in wallet
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card matrix
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card-(magician & spectator)
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card-5
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card-5 - matrix fox
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card-8
Cards/Eff/Think-a-card-Tossed Out deck
Cards/Eff/TNR
Cards/Eff/Transpo & Fusion
Cards/Eff/Transpo of signature
Cards/Eff/Transpo to box
Cards/Eff/Transpo/2cards
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card from closed cardcase
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card in balloon
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card in Orange
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card thru hanky
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card thru window
Cards/Eff/Transpo/card to bottle
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card to envelope
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card to envelope
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card to Impossible location
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card to Pocket
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Card to Wallet
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Cards across
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Cards across/Thought of card
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Inside pen
Cards/Eff/Transpo/Torn corner
Cards/Eff/Transposition
Cards/Eff/Triumph
Cards/Eff/Wild card
Cards/Eff/X-ray vision
Cards/Flourishes
Cards/Flourishes/Cut
Cards/Flourishes/Fanning
Cards/Flourishes/Throwing
Cards/Gambling
Cards/Gambling/Act
Cards/Gambling/article
Cards/Gambling/Card counting
Cards/Gambling/Poker -Texas Hold'em
Cards/Gambling/Poker Theory
Cards/Gambling/Routine
Cards/Gambling/T
Cards/Gambling/T/Warning
Cards/General
Cards/General (Packet Tricks)
Cards/General/Selfworkers
Cards/Gimmicked cards
Cards/Gimmicked deck
Cards/Gimmicked deck/prediction
Cards/History
Cards/Impromptu
Cards/List of faro-effects
Cards/Mathematical effects
Cards/Memorized deck
Cards/Memorized deck & CU
Cards/Memorized deck & General
Cards/Memorized deck & Memory
Cards/Memorized deck/26 pairs
Cards/Memorized deck/Aronson Stack
Cards/Memorized deck/DaOrtiz Stack
Cards/Memorized deck/Mnemonica
Cards/Memorized deck/Nikola Stack
Cards/Memorized deck/Osterlind
Cards/Memorized deck/Si Stebbins
Cards/Memorized deck/Special Stack
Cards/Miscellaneous
Cards/Playing cards trivia
Cards/Printing
Cards/Routine
Cards/Routine/Stack
Cards/Stack - Any stack
Cards/Stack - Si Stebbins
Cards/Stage-act
Cards/T/Addition
Cards/T/Bottomdeal
Cards/T/Carbon impression
Cards/T/Catch-all-principle
Cards/T/Cheating
Cards/T/Controls
Cards/T/Controls & Forcing
Cards/T/Counts
Cards/T/Crimps/Breather
Cards/T/Culling
Cards/T/Cuts
Cards/T/Dealing/Bottom deal
Cards/T/Dealing/Seconds
Cards/T/Deckswitches
Cards/T/Double lift
Cards/T/Estimation
Cards/T/False Cuts
Cards/T/False Shuffles
Cards/T/False Shuffles/Dealing & Stacking
Cards/T/False Shuffles/Faro
Cards/T/False Shuffles/Faro/Antifaro
Cards/T/False Shuffles/Faro/Non Faro
Cards/T/False Shuffles/Overhand
Cards/T/False Shuffles/Riffle
Cards/T/False Shuffles/Riffle/Perfect
Cards/T/False Shuffles/Zarrow
Cards/T/Fanning
Cards/T/Folding
Cards/T/Forcing
Cards/T/Forcing deck
Cards/T/Forcing/Classic Force
Cards/T/Forcing/Equivoque (sort of)
Cards/T/Forcing/Psychological
Cards/T/General
Cards/T/Gilbreath
Cards/T/Gimmicked deck
Cards/T/Gimmicked deck/Instantodeck
Cards/T/Gimmicked deck/Stripper
Cards/T/Gimmicked deck/Svengali
Cards/T/Glide
Cards/T/Index
Cards/T/Keycard
Cards/T/Location
Cards/T/Locator card
Cards/T/Locator/Breather
Cards/T/Locator/Long card
Cards/T/Maintenance
Cards/T/Marked Cards
Cards/T/Marked Cards/Luminous readers
Cards/T/Marked cards/Marking System
Cards/T/Mathematics
Cards/T/Memorized deck
Cards/T/Misc
Cards/T/Misc/Asher Twist
Cards/T/Moves
Cards/T/Palindromic stack
Cards/T/Palming
Cards/T/Palming/Bottompalm
Cards/T/Palming/Cop
Cards/T/Palming/Sidesteal
Cards/T/Palming/Top palm
Cards/T/Passes & Shifts
Cards/T/Peekdeck
Cards/T/Peek-Glimpse
Cards/T/Pre-Arranged Deck
Cards/T/Punched cards
Cards/T/Setting up a stacked deck.
Cards/T/Shiners
Cards/T/Special card
Cards/T/Stack special
Cards/T/Stack/Staystack
Cards/T/Stripper deck
Cards/T/Switches
Cards/T/Switches/Top change
Cards/T/Switches-Bottop
Cards/T/Switches-Packetswitches
Cards/T/Tilt
Cards/T/Tools
Cards/Taxonomy
Cards/Technique
Cards/Tools

For those who want an electronic catalogue system for books and DVDs, try this: libib.com. There is a free version and you can use either a computer or mobile device.

Bruce

To keep track of all my books, tricks, DVDs, etc, I use a system created by Ed Hass.
It's easy to use and gives me al the info that I need when I am looking ofr a book, DVD, trick Etc. It's call the Magic DataBase, is sold by Ed Hass, and is not expensive. If you wnat to be organized, do yourseehass@optonline.netlf a favor and get this dataBase from Ed. His e-mail address is: ehass@optonline.net

For those of you who have access to another's library - how do you handle 'checking out' a book? Is there a book plate inside the book to let you know where it came from?

The scholar in me wants to make sure that I would get my book back, but the collector in me wouldn't want to 'damage' a book by adding the bookplate.

In the past I have just looked to public libraries as a model. There is a used book store here that will put the plastic cover on books; they do a folding method that does not involve tape of any kind. So the book itself is much more protected from damage and then you can put a book plate, sticker or whatever on the plastic cover.