Moving a large database from place to place is a daunting task unless most of the process can be automated. If you have a thousand or even half that number of titles
to move, you want the process to automatically populate the new space without having to retype most of the information being moved. I hate re-inventing the wheel, so let me share what I have learned over the past few days. FIRST THING. At least on GoodReads and LibraryThing, you need to have an ISBN for each title in order to successfully import that title into your new home; ASINs don't count. I have not looked into any other websites, because I don't know where to look--but I am happy for suggestions.
GoodReads says:
File Import TipsAll columns in our sample file are supported, but only ISBN is required.
In other words, if all you
want to do is populate the library and are not trying to also move
tags, comments, reviews, etc. then all you have to send them is a list
of ISBNs --which is what I did.
LibraryThing says:
Universal Import does not read any data from your file other than valid ISBNs, if they're included. If you have books without ISBNs, this will not add them. If you have keyed reviews or tags into your desktop program, this will not add them.
In other words, it doesn't matter what else is in the DB, the import applet is only going
to look at records that contain an ISBN and then it will populate each
title in your library with information about the ISBN from another
catalog. You will still have to add book by book any tags, comments, etc. See the FAQ for more precise information: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Adding_and_importing_books
Bottom-line: Just how much work is it going to take to make sure that you have an ISBN for every tit
le in your library?
le in your library?
SECOND THING. If you plan on sending your entire database, beware of commas!!! Why? Because commas are used to separate the data in the columns. However, not a really problem if you can use "Find and Replace" to change , to ",".