7b. Personal Libraries – LibraryThing

The What

LibraryThing is another cataloging and social networking site for book lovers. Founded in 2005 by web developer Tim Spalding, it currently has 989,843 registered users who have catalogued over 47 million books.

LibraryThing allows users to see other members’ libraries to find people with similar reading tastes. LibraryThing also makes book recommendations based on the collective intelligence of the other libraries. A free account at LibraryThing allows members to catalog up to 200 books. A paid account ($10 a year or $25 a lifetime) allows members to catalog an unlimited number of books.

The Why

Unlike other personal online library sites that primarily use Amazon.com for cataloging member books, LibraryThing is a full-powered cataloging application, searching the Library of Congress, all five national Amazon sites, and more than 80 world libraries. Members can edit their information, tag it, or use the Library of Congress or Dewey systems to organize their collections.

In addition, LibraryThing offers an interactive product, LibraryThing for Libraries, that enhances a library catalog with LibraryThing’s book recommendations, tags and reader reviews.

Both LibraryThing and Goodreads allow users to easily import and export their booklists. Both websites also have mobile sites for cellphones so users can download booklists, recommendations (LibraryThing) and wish lists (Goodreads).

The How

  1. Read “A short introduction to Library Thing”
  2. Go to LibraryThing and click Join Now to become a member.
  3. Add 3 -5 books that you have read to your library. Then rate and tag them.
  4. From the Home screen click on Recommendations to see what books LibraryThing suggests for you based on your titles.
  5. Click the Zeitgeist tab (top right) to see the data that LibraryThing compiles.

More for the Curious

  • Explore other areas of LibraryThing such as Groups and Local (under tabs) and Connections and Statistics (under Home).

Other Personal Online Library Sites to Explore

  • Shelfari – members can build virtual bookshelves to express themselves to their friends and to the world.
  • BookArmy – UK based site that allows users to make direct contact with authors.
  • GuruLib – members catalog their book, movie, music, game and software collections and use their webcams as barcode readers to scan titles.
  • Blippr – in addition to books members share short (160 characters) reviews of other media such as movies, music, games, and applications.

 

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About the Author

Dedra Anderson

Dedra Anderson

After working in both circulation and reference, Dedra Anderson became a district trainer for Douglas County Libraries in 2006. When she’s not in a library she’s probably either reading (her favorites are serial killers and Tudor history but not in the same book!) or working on her readers’ advisory websites, The Romance Reader and The Mystery Reader.