FAQs
When was BIBLIOTECA established?
BIBLIOTECA was established in 1993 in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1999 BIBLIOTECA moved its Head Office to Alberta while maintaining Clients in Vancouver and expanding its service offerings to the rest of Canada. Prior to incorporating, BIBLIOTECA’S principal, Donna Devloo had been a full–time librarian within the Design and Building Community since 1990.
Who would benefit from the services BIBLIOTECA offers?
All firms, regardless of size and/or specialization within the building and design community would benefit from the services and products offered by BIBLIOTECA
How many hours on average does BIBLIOTECA spend with each Client?
The average number of hours spent at each Client varies considerably and is contingent on the needs of the client, the type of organization, and the size of the organization. BIBLIOTECA will typically provide services to Clients on a monthly basis. Contact Us If your require a proposal on options and costs involved in your own in–house library management.
How user friendly is the BIBLIOTECA Library Management System (LMS)?
The BIBLIOTECA Library Management System is user friendly for all levels of web savvy individuals. The development of the BIBLIOTECA library management components incorporate input and participation from our Clients and as a result meets the needs of the design and building community and is easy to use.
Who are BIBLIOTECA’s Clients?
Our Clients consist of Architectural, Engineering, Interior Design, Environmental Consulting, Specification Writers, Municipalities and Construction firms of various sizes and specializations. All our clients share one common need: “…a comprehensive, accessible, and up-to-date library….” Our Clients
What is the most prominent cost savings you provide the Specifier Community?
caboodle is one of the most prominent cost saving tools we offer to the design community, and it is free! We assume all your costs of maintaining a current virtual library. Not to mention the useable real estate in your firm if you eliminate the physical library. Our LMS is a service that offers management of inter–office documents.
Other BIBLIOTECA services offer cost savings in sample library set–up/maintenance, archive set–up/maintenance and reference library set–up/maintenance.
For additional information on BIBLIOTECA, Contact Us and we will be happy to respond to your inquiries in person.
How many manufacturers/companies can I expect to see on caboodle?
Great question, this is where we differ from other electronic reference resource providers. BIBLIOTECA is continually adding new manufacturers’ information and updating existing information on caboodle to provide a more complete list of available products to Specifiers, not just the manufacturers that subscribe.
The catalogue I use regularly is not on caboodle, can I request it be added?
Yes, we encourage you to advise us of the name and contact details of suppliers you would like included on caboodle. We will also, approach the suppliers and ask them to consider having their catalogues included on caboodle. We have prepared postcards for you to give to manufacturers in the transition period of your library. These postcards give them our full contact information and state that your library is in the process of “going virtual”.
When you require postcards simply email us at
Can I cut and paste from the eCatalogues?
eCatalogues are Flash driven so you cannot copy text or images from them. However, each eCatalogue carries the source PDF file that you may download. You can then copy images and text from the downloaded PDF file.
How up to date is the information?
We understand information currency is critical to you, so the date of update for each eCatalogue and associated PDF file is indicated on caboodle. We are in regular contact with suppliers to verify and update information to ensure its currency. Being a “virtual library” updates are much quicker and easier than a paper–based library.
If I register for caboodle, does that mean I will be sent spam email?
No, when you register for caboodle, you will be asked if you would like to receive news and updates from caboodle. You may choose not to receive the news and updates.
What does it cost the suppliers?
They may choose a package that best fits their needs – a basic listing without an eCatalogue is free, this enables us to provide you with a more complete library listing.
For additional information on BIBLIOTECA, Contact Us and we will be happy to respond to your inquiries in person.
How is caboodle different or more valuable to manufacturers, than Sweets – McGraw Hills Construction or ARCAT?
This tool is an evolution that happened by BIBLIOTECA’S clients across Canada requesting a solution. It was brought to our attention that there was nothing on the market that completely meets their needs. We assume they did the research of what is currently available on the market.
Another comment made was that other services were not complete, that the only listed manufacturers were the ones that subscribed. Specifiers like choices, and need to know what is available to them. BIBLIOTECA is continually adding new manufacturers’ information and updating existing information to provide a more complete list to Specifiers. This is why we have provided the manufacturer with the choice to either display contact information or an eCatalogue at no charge. There is costs associated if you want to have both displayed. See last page of Pricing to view the comparison chart.
We already have our catalogue posted virtually on our website, why do we need to post it on yours?
This is great! You are in the forefront of replacing the paper catalogues and have already saved some trees. The advantage you will gain by subscribing to caboodle’s eCatalogue is simple “exposure”. This tool is free to Specifiers of any discipline (Architects, Interior Designers, Engineers and General Contractors). Think of our “Virtual Library” as the standard paper library, even though you have an electronic version available on your own website. We believe the more “exposure” to more specifying professionals the better!
Not to mention, new people enter the industry every year, how do they know about your products and your website?
Our eCatalogue’s are displayed in one platform (consistent) that supports all project choices instantly available to entire project team.
A Google search for “exterior metal cladding” came back with 2,770,000 hits. Specifiers do not have the time to weed through and narrow the searches. This tool is a refined search engine that displays only the applicable product information being searched. (Also see above Q & A)
What is an eCatalogue?
It is simply a digital book, formatted with a searchable table of contents. For Specifiers, an eCatalogue has all the benefits of a familiar paper catalogue, with the convenience of being available electronically 24/7. The digital eCatalogue can also be downloaded as PDF files so that Specifiers are able to share them with the project team.
Our printed catalogues are made up of several brochures and fact sheets. Do I need to put them into one document?
No, we can merge several PDF files into one eCatalogue. You will be required to outline the order of your submitted information by preparing a table of contents or bookmarking each section.
What file format do you accept?
PDF is the required format for our conversion to an eCatalogue. There may be additional charges if you require the assistance of BIBLIOTECA to convert your files to PDF.
How often can we update our eCatalogue?
This will depend on the package you purchase. We recommend that you keep your information as current as possible. Updates are an important factor to consider when deciding on which package.
Can we have more than one catalogue?
Yes, depending on package purchased. There are several packages available offering a variety of options. See price details at the end of below package.
How easy is it to navigate through an eCatalogue?
All eCatalogues are formatted to navigate the same for a consistent feel of this tool. This format is a result of how Specifiers currently use hardcopy binders. There is a “searchable” table of contents and a bookmarking option attached to every eCatalogue, making the navigation consistent throughout the entire virtual library.
I received your email but would like to know more, including pricing.
The package you received contained all the information you are looking for, however, if you are not able to view HTML the formatting is broken. If you are able to go back to the original email received and click on “View this email in your browser” (top right hand corner) it will open the correctly formatted document. Once open, you will see three button type options. Two buttons on the right side (What is an eCatalogue” & Pricing Information) and one bar on the bottom of the page (Click to forward on). When you place your cursor over either choice you will see these boxes are live links. Click on either link to view more information.
For additional information on BIBLIOTECA, Contact Us and we will be happy to respond to your inquiries in person.