Filed under: Social Networks, Tags & Tagging | Tags: books, GoodReads, libraries, library 2.0, LibraryThing, Social Libraries, Social Networks, web 2.0
Put simply, GoodReads and LibraryThing are social networking sites for book lovers.
With a membership of over 700,000 LibraryThing has 40 million books cataloged in its system, using data from the Library of Congress, 680 world libraries, Amazon, original cataloging by users, and more. Some small organizations are even using it as a simple library catalog and OPAC.
LibraryThing has numerous features, and adds more on a regular basis. Among other things, it allows users to:
· catalog their home libraries
· find other people with similar reading interests
· receive suggestions on books that they may enjoy, based on their home library and those of other users with similar tastes
· talk about books on discussion forums
· tag books
· submit and read book reviews
· keep track of local bookstores, libraries, book festivals, and author visits
· optionally use inexpensive CueCat scanners when entering books
However, I can’t wait for the option to organize my reading list by cover color.
For this Thing, go to http://www.librarything.com and sign up for a free account. Add a few books from your home library, and tag them with appropriate keywords.
Read the sections on ThingLang, ISBN Check, and MARCThing to see how they intersect with the tools used by regular libraries.
Take a little time to browse through the website. You may want to look at some of the user postings, including ones from the groups Librarians who LibraryThing and I See Dead People’s Books. Take a look at the Thingology blog to get a better idea of upcoming features and new ideas.
LibraryThing also provides services to libraries. Our customers can post book reviews for titles in our catalog, and we have enhanced our catalog with LibraryThing information about other editions, similar titles, and tags for our titles.
Facebook users might want to also take a look at GoodReads. This social site doesn’t have all the features of LibraryThing, but allows you to post and share your recommendations and reading lists right in Facebook. It combines the power of two social networking sites!
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Here’s a bonus for those of you still working on this Thing. One of the fun LT Groups is “Name that Book” (http://www.librarything.com/groups/namethatbook) – a group of people dedicated to helping you track down the title of that book you just can’t remember.
Comment by EAChase February 19, 2010 @ 11:42 amsome of the topics have gone “dormant” through lack of use. Maybe the librarians started a private group as one poster suggested.
Comment by digitalblizzard May 5, 2011 @ 12:40 pm