Screenshot of calibre-web interface


Feedback from initial bootleg library sessions: introduction[edit]

Some feedback collected during introductory sessions, December 2019:

Languages[edit]

user feedback decision
1. Descriptions of non-English texts: what is the best protocol?

2. Finding texts in non-English languages - possibly hard to find digital files, easier to find in print?

 1. They should be in the language of the text, with an English translation if possible

2. Digitise printed texts using the bookscanner

Categorising[edit]

user feedback decision
1. There is a lot of redundancy on the "categories" page. Categories are defined by tags - which are written subjectively, or downloaded from existing data on the uploaded books. There should be a distinction between categorising texts, and tagging them.

2. Tags are case-sensitive, leading to multiple entries of the same tag (e.g. Media Theory vs Media theory vs media theory)

1. Create a series of general categories, and then tags can exist as sub-categories. Further to this, can tags also be used dynamically? E.g. being able to highlight more popular tags? Tagging people?

2. Force all tags to be in lowercase

Cataloguing[edit]

user feedback decision
1. We noticed that if an article is uploaded from JSTOR, the book automatically takes the JSTOR logo as the cover. Is this because it is watermarked on the first page of the PDF?

1. Could watermarking be a way to make covers of future uploaded PDFs?

Interface[edit]

user feedback decision
1. Upload cover from local drive - currently only accepts jpegs, and the field remains empty after you choose a jpeg to upload

2. "Submit" button vs "Upload format" button - a bit confusing because of placement, similarity of meaning between "submit" and "upload"
3. "Get" metadata is ambiguous
4. Not possible to create shelves while in book view, limiting the functionality. Being able to create a shelf while looking at a book would be a more immediate use of the shelves 5. At the moment, it's not possible to see who uploaded what. This limits the sociality of the site - it might be a nice way to recommend other texts if we can see who uploaded them
6. If you click on a shelf, you get the option to download its contents - this is currently done one-by-one.
7. No ability to change username at present - what if people want to use a handle rather than their real name, but don't think about this when making their account?
8. Journal articles - how do you enter a season, e.g. "Autumn, 1977"?
9. At present, there is no ability to see the whole collection without filtering - e.g. you can only see by "recently added", "read" or "unread" etc. What if you want to see the entire collection? 2. "Submit" vs "upload format" 4. Book view - can't create shelves

 1. Allow png to be accepted, and make it clearer within the interface that the cover image has been uploaded (perhaps with a thumbnail of it?)

2. Create a clear distinction between uploading a new format of the same text, and submitting metadata, e.g. "upload", and "add new format"
3. Change "get" for "download"
4. Create this functionality
5. Implement a feature in book view that recommmends books that are related, and/or recommends the reader who uploaded the book
6. Include an option to download everything on a shelf
7. Create this functionality
8. Create this functionality
9. Implement a feature allowing user to browse everything without filtering