What Groqit won't do for you
(Why you might like to hang on to your collector software or even get some).
Groqit is not about delving deeply into details about individual items
in your collection. We don't do anything at all with images
or cover art. We don't search out the full details on movie directors,
movie stars, reviews, or page count and chapter headings of books*.
See this page for lots of detail on exactly what Groqit does keep track of)
Readerware has a nifty "fisheye lens" way of searching your collection. Delicious
Library gives Macintosh owners organized, visually appealing galleries
of "bookshelves," while
we supply pretty basic data, by comparison. There is specialized
software to cater specifically to Wine collectors, and many other
specialties.
We focus on our ideas of what's important: supplying portability of
data and scanning capabilities. This can make the collector software
you choose even more useful to you, by adding the physical functionality
that is not quite there in any software.
Even very well thought out, wonderful software still has to have hardware
to interact with the world. So the software companies offer scanners,
ranging from clever and inexpensive to a lot more expensive than a Groqit. And
those scanners don't solve the problem of how you carry your collection
data with you, so you start thinking about the other part (iPod? PDA?) and
looking at that expense too.
(Yes, you can store collection information in the "Notes" section of an
iPod, for instance - but only up to 1000 items! Groqit doesn't have
the severe limitations an iPod does - after all, that is not what
the iPod is designed for.)
So we see the Groqit as a way of facilitating the two hardware at
once - scanner and portable data base - that software alone is hard pressed
to do much about. And we do it for less that the price that either solution
alone typically costs!
What Groqit really is better at -
While we're talking about Groqit's virtues, we should also mention that
our data is not "out there" on the Internet (typical collector software
takes advantage of Amazon.com's wonderful data base, but, again,
the folks at Amazon didn't design their database for the purpose
of being searched by collector software, so there are some disappointments
there.) The
data we rely on is captive in our data bases, and is therefore
accessed very quickly, via our servers.
We can perform over 500 lookups a second.
Our data has been checked for reliability.
We collect data from many sources. We cross-check each entry to ensure accuracy.
(including several hundred online libraries, not just the Library
of Congress). What
this adds up to is that we have data on hand that is accurate,
and quick to access, rather than a series of roaming searches.
Another difference between our data and some other data bases is that ours
is based on barcodes. Some extant data bases are
filled with Titles and Authors (or artists) but have no barcode
translations, because when they were compiled, the idea of the need to include
a barcode just wasn't there. We have compiled our data with an emphasis
on getting good barcode numbers (and ISBN and price-point UPC conversion
for books) with each item. This also helps us provide the basis for
our "version
control" methods. (But, unlike some barcode-based systems, you can add items
without barcodes through our site.)
So how about Integrating Groqit with Specific Software?
Say you want to use your collector software AND a Groqit.
This makes sense, because you want detail, you want cover art, and you
also want portability for both your data base and your scanner. You
use Groqit's data base to get good barcodes and do version control. You
use Groqit's site to organize information into lists - lists of what you
have, lists to put in the Registry to share with Groqit Buddies (both lists
of what you have, so they can surprise you with a gift, and of course Wish
lists in case they want to get you something on that).
You can share your lists with Groqit Buddies only if they are also signed
up at the site. So you may want to use some other software that you
share with them for list sharing, instead (at least until they get their
Groqit, of course...)
Groqit data is simple enough that you can import its lists to spreadsheets,
too, but maybe you want to port over to your specialized software and upload
all your nice clean barcode-enhanced Groqit data. You can use that
to do the Internet searches that bring back those pretty cover art images,
and the auxiliary data that Groqit doesn't display. You have a better
chance of getting good information on the first try, instead of errors or "can't
find" messages, because Groqit's data is much likelier to have found correct
barcodes correlated with the other basic data.
We plan
to post specific pages about integrating with individual software
makers, once we have established contact with them. At this writing
we are in Beta test mode, pre "go-live" and just embarking on making contact
with the various software companies.
We hope to provide those specifics soon, complete with links to the relevant
sites.
Other limitations: see this page
* There is a "Notes" section for each individual item in your
collections, where you can enter any information you choose to type in.
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