About

Shelf dog is your digital literary companion, a loyal guide to your book collection. Quite simply, a barkingly good system to manage any library.

We provide a lightweight, secure and simple approach to keeping track of your books. Working in conjunction with your G-Suite or Google login, we provide a fully web-based system which allows users to browse your Calibre library from anywhere.

Shelf dog is available for both personal users (e.g your own library collection) or organisations (e.g. school libraries). To find out more, try out our demo, read about how to subscribe or view our pricing here. We have also put together a list of frequently asked questions to get you off to flying start!

account_box You will need a Google account (for personal subscriptions) or a G-Suite domain (for organisations) and access to Google Drive.

We support the most recent versions of all major browsers:

• Chrome
• Chrome for Android
• Firefox
• Safari
• Mobile Safari (IOS Version 10.3 and later)
• Edge
• Chromium-based Edge

As this is a client-side web app, it requires Javascript to operate. If you don’t have Javascript enabled in your browser, you will be able to read all the pages on this site, but not use the app.

We do not support Internet Explorer or older versions (pre-2017) or the legacy native Android Browser. If you are using an Android tablet or phone, we strongly recommend using Chrome for Android instead.

The Shelf Dog library system comprises three main components:

Library Web App

This allows library users to search for, and view details about, books held within the library. Searching and navigation is all conducted within the web browser, so it is incredibly fast and easy to explore the collection!

For lending libraries, loans can be requested by users directly and license free ebooks (EPUB format) can also be read online if the library is configured to allow it!

Management Tools

This is where the magic happens. You can manage loans, returns and requests in the web-browser. All the loan data is in a simple Google Sheet stored in your My Drive or a Shared Drive if you prefer. This spreadsheet acts as a simple database, but can also do so much more. You can filter and analyse your own data, and we have included functionality to allow emailing out of overdue notices to your users or other interested parties (e.g. Class Teachers).

Book Catalog

Behind the scenes is the catalog of all your books. To keep things as open as possible, we read information about the books from a Calibre Library database. This means you can use the excellent Calibre to manage your library.

If you have an existing Calibre library, you can definitely use this - provided it is (or can be) stored in Google Drive! We don’t need anything special, although we do support a few special configuration options for custom columns. If you want to find out more about running your existing library in the cloud, have a look at our tutorials. Finally, if you want to see how you can migrate existing metadata about the books in your library into a Calibre database, we have got you covered.

Terms of Service

Firstly, thank you for using our app! By accessing or using our app, you agree to the terms set out below, so please read them carefully. These terms refer to, and govern, your use of this app, and of this website in general. The code used on this site (and your rights to view and modify it) is subject to copyright and governed by a separate license agreement. Under these terms, we may refer to this app (Shelf-Dog) as we, our, or us.

We use a small number of cookies and store some local data in your browser cache. In using this site, and apps, you, therefore, consent to our use of cookies under the terms set out in our privacy and cookie policies.

We believe in transparency, free speech and the importance of respecting the rights of all. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, prejudice, or any discriminatory behaviour. By making use of our platform you agree not to engage in hateful activities or use our service to facilitate hateful activities engaged in elsewhere, whether online or offline.

We reserve the right to refuse use of our services to individuals or organisations that do not share, or respect, our values.

No Warranties

This website is, and the apps containing within are, provided as is without any representations or warranties, expressly stated or implied. We make absolutely no representations or warranties concerning this website or the information and materials provided within. While every reasonable effort will be made to ensure the reliability and continued operation of this site, we depend entirely on the availability of other APIs, over which we have no control. As such, we cannot warrant that these apps will be continuously available, or that they will be fully functional at all times.

Limitations of Liability

We will not be liable to you (whether under the law of contact, the law of torts or otherwise) concerning the contents of, or use of, or otherwise in connection with, this website or these apps. This includes, but shall not be strictly limited to, any indirect, special or consequential loss; or any business losses, loss of revenue, income, profits or anticipated savings, loss of contracts or business relationships, loss of reputation or goodwill, or loss or corruption of information or data.

By using this website, and apps contained within, you agree that the limitations of liability set out above, and the absences of any warranty, are reasonable. If you do not think they are reasonable, then you must not use this website or these apps.

Enforceability, Assignment & Agreement

Should any provision of these terms of service be, or be found to be, unenforceable under applicable law (or deemed unlawful), by any court or duly designation competent legal authority, then that will not impact the enforceability of any other provisions contained herewithin. From time to time, we may need to revise or alter these terms of service, or other policies related to them. These revisions will apply from their date of publication on this website, so please do check this document regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes.

We may transfer, sub-contract, or deal with our rights and our obligations under these terms or service without needing to inform you or obtain your consent. These terms of service, taken in conjunction with the license and other related policies accessible from this page constitute the entire agreement between you and us in governing your use of this website. The current version published here should be considered to supersede all previous agreements in respect of your use of this site and this app.

• 0.0.9pAPI: 1.9.7

  • Site v0.0.9p

  • Minor Updates

    • Code Style Bug Fixes

    • Updated Tests

    • New Build Process

• 0.0.9nAPI: 1.9.5

  • Site v0.0.9n

  • Minor Updates

    • Profiling Framework

    • Updated Performance Tests

• 0.0.9mAPI: 1.9.4

  • Site v0.0.9m

  • Minor Updates

    • Extra Loan Policy Options

    • Reliability Improvements

    • Request Bug Fixes

    • Policy Loan Tag Exclusions

• 0.0.9lAPI: 1.9.0

  • Site v0.0.9l

  • Search Updates

    • Search Result Filters

    • Filtered Results Count Indicator

    • Custom Column Details Update

    • DB Null Caching Bug Fix

• 0.0.9kAPI: 1.9.0

  • Site v0.0.9k

  • Client Updates

    • Client API Bug Fixes

    • Client API Unit Tests

    • Verify Client API Functionality