Kat--

Somehow I missed this thread.

As a librarian when not doing anything relevant, I certainly agree with those who warn against overkill. A simple dbase program will work just fine for what you want. I still have very outdated DBase III+ for personal use, and have never seen any reason to upgrade. You design the database rather easily and yes, search or sort on any field. A real "library" program would have too much jazz for librarian minutia, would cost outlandishly, and would take too much space. How many books roughly are we talking about?? Oh, here's a hint: When you set up your own form, use a different field for EVERYTHING. Author's last name goes in one place (max size by long experience, 14 spaces); first name goes in another. Then when you aren't sure, you can track down "Edgar" whether the last name is spelled Cayce, Casey or Kesey. Etc. Oh, if you start with one simply dbase package and someday want to upgrade, many will "translate" older systems so you will not have to re-key.

Good luck, CC