Photograph your shelves before you catalogue

Before typing a single title, take a photo of every shelf. It's not only a keepsake: it is the quickest inventory there is, and it takes no effort.

How to take it

Straight on, light behind you, no flash. One photo per shelf rather than per bookcase, so titles stay legible when you zoom in.

If the spines are Arabic and the type is fine, shoot each shelf in two halves.

What it's for afterwards

First, as a backup: if you move, lend a lot, or must report a loss, the photo proves what was there. Second, as a typing aid: you enter titles from the screen without leaning over the shelf.

And it shows what you'd forgotten. Many readers rediscover books they thought they'd given away.

Redo it occasionally

Once a year is plenty. Comparing two photos of the same shelf is a good way to see what came in, what left, and what hasn't moved in years.