# Is there a standard ID for books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Concepts\ **Created:** [September 17, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/is-there-a-standard-id-for-books/2796 "2025-09-17T23:43:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bbud](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@bbud](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/bbud)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/is-there-a-standard-id-for-books/2796/1 "2025-09-17T23:43:40Z")
Hi, I have been planning out the JD index in a single text based file (org-mode file to be specific). I am bringing together various pieces of information under the indexes. I already like the fact that I could eliminate duplicated information! One thing that doesn’t seem to fit in the standard LAS is an ID for books. Have I missed something? I would consider this something common and fundamental. I would like to have an ID for books as there are many types (digital, physical, formats) I like the idea of first going to jdex which would tell me where the books are located. If its not already defined I will define it, but any recommendations as where within LAS would it fit naturally. Under this ID in jdex, i will keep a list of books to read, locations of existing books. Also when I finally implement the File System I will move all the digital books under the directory with same ID. ---
**Author:** ![bbud](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@bbud](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/bbud)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 8:34pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/is-there-a-standard-id-for-books/2796/2 "2025-09-18T20:34:20Z")
The answer co-incidentally turned out to be **42**!! There couldn’t possibly better AC ID than this. - 40-49 Books and References - 41 Non-fiction - 42 Fiction ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2025, 9:16am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/is-there-a-standard-id-for-books/2796/3 "2025-09-21T09:16:43Z")
Ha! Serendipity indeed. Books are just a kind of collection. At least in our LAS design philosophy. So our reasoning went: 1. Either you don’t have many books, and you can squeeze them in at `11.82` or `11.83`. 2. You’ve got loads of books, and now that’s a hobby and is outside the scope of LAS. FYI here’s what Karsten did [over on Discord](https://discord.com/channels/822215537589354566/1267671575017295952/1416327395169931295). Simple and graceful. I like. ![image](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/uploads/default/original/2X/6/6b53cb85abb3160ef73501078fb431e4988329ba.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![bbud](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@bbud](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/bbud)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 11:57pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/is-there-a-standard-id-for-books/2796/4 "2025-10-16T23:57:42Z")
Thanks! I also ended up with something similar. But i use the full AC.ID so i can use `cdj` or the equivalent in emacs i can start browsing the collection in few key strokes. ---
**Author:** ![theuni](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/theuni/32/1735_2.png) [@theuni](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/theuni)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2025, 8:54am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/is-there-a-standard-id-for-books/2796/5 "2025-12-28T08:54:59Z")
Also, for the book and organisation nerds: [https://vlb.de/assets/images/WGS\_Version\_2\_1\_Erweiterung\_ohne\_index.xlsx](https://vlb.de/assets/images/WGS_Version_2_1_Erweiterung_ohne_index.xlsx) I’ve kept my shelf in this order for a while. The system is quite nice as it’s also a hierarchy and you can choose to only use broader categories if you have few books and expand easily once a category grows.