# Introduction

&app; is a simple GNOME application designed to allow individuals to keep a catalogue of their book collection. In addition, it enables users to keep track of books which are on loan.

## Features

&app; provides the following features:

- retrieves and displays book information (sometimes with cover pictures) from several online libraries and bookshops, such as

  - Amazon (searches .co.uk, .fr, .de, .jp and .ca websites, as well as amazon.com)

  - Proxis

  - Barnes and Noble

  - Spanish Ministry of Culture

  - Thalia

  - Internet Bookshop Italia

  - Renaud-Bray

  - US Library of Congress

  - British Library

- allows books to be added and updated by hand

- enables searches either by ISBN, title, authors or keyword

- supports the Z39.50 standard and allow you to define your own online book information sources

- saves data using the text-based YAML format, making it easy to work with your book data

- can import and export data into ONIX, Tellico and ISBN-list formats

- can export library data in the form of XHTML web pages themable with CSS

- allows marking your books as loaned, each with the loan-date and the name of the person who has borrowed them

- shows books in different views (standard list or icons list), that can be filtered and/or sorted

- handles book rating and notes

- supports CueCat barcode readers for data entry

- includes translations for several languages

Alexandria is under active development (as of December 2007) and new features are being planned and added regularly. See the &app; web page for more information.