By Abby Tallmer

As followers of this The Collaborative Project (or TCP for short) may remember, when we last left off I, like other Æ staff members, had been blessed with a preview copy of the exciting new Æ MatchMaker. This software allows users to easily navigate the Æ Databaseand conduct a myriad of “Keyword” and other searches. When you find a book or imprint that interests you in your collecting subject area, you no longer have to cut and paste from the ÆD onto a cumbersome Microsoft word document or some such other 19th century method. Now, you can simply use Æ MatchMaker to click on any selected record in the ÆD and that record will be instantly and easily added to your “Provisional Wants List.”

At this point last month, I described in my article “An Addict Is Born: From Æ Database Dabbler To Totally Immersed ‘Wants List’ Junkie In Less Than 10 Easy Steps” the absolute glee I felt at using this software, which has made it much easier for me to pursue my very specific collecting interests in anti-slavery materials printed in the 19th century and either written by, or addressed to, a female audience. Through MatchMaker I had discovered the joy of simply clicking a button to add an entire bibliographic record to a growing list of books and imprints that I was, and am, searching for on various online internet bookselling sites like abe.com.

When we last ended off I had been using what to me was a crazy, antiquainted system of checking theÆ Database search by search and then cutting and pasting the “matches” into a word document, which I then planned to weed for duplications. And as I recall, I had a 150-odd page Microsoft word document of “matches” to be weeded against each other for duplication. I also still had many remaining “Keyword” Searches to perform as well as a remaining list of some 30 to 50 names which had come up in “matches” but which I had yet to check further. As previously noted, the work that took me more than a week under the old “cut and paste” system (and was nearly impossible for me to read and manage) is now accomplished more fully using Æ's MatchMaker technology in seconds. Further, it has been replaced by one document --- my “Provisional Wants List” -- holding all of my Æ Database record “matches” in a clean, clear, easy to manage list that I can do all kinds of things with: sort; name; rename; delete "matched" records I no longer want on my list; etc. And importantly, the Æ MatchMaker will simply not permit duplication of entries: it will allow you to input different editions or years of the same book or title, but not the same exact record more than once. This is a huge relief as weeding for duplication is no longer necessary.