Thing # 7 – Library Thing

Are you book lover or cataloger at heart? Or, do you enjoy shelf surfing for lost and forgotten gems to read? Then LibraryThing may be just the tool for you. Developed for booklovers, this online tool not only allows you to easily create an online catalog of your own it also connects you to other people who have similar libraries and reading tastes. Add a book to your catalog by just entering the title–it’s so easy that you don’t even need MARC record training to do it–-or connect with other users through your similar reading tastes. There are lots of ways to use LibraryThing. You can even view your books on a virtual shelf, add fun tools like widgets to display titles that are in your LibraryThing catalog or install a LT Search box on your blog.

So why not join the ranks and create your own library online? With over 65,000 registered users (BTW: LibraryThing also has group forum for librarians!), and over 4.7 million cataloged books, you’re bound to discover something new.

NOTE: If you use another online cataloging tool, like Goodreads, you do not need to sign up for Library Thing. It is enough to be aware that there are other options. You might want to play around with Library Thing and compare it to Goodreads or another cataloging tool, and blog about the differences you like/don’t like.

Discovery Resources:

• About LibraryThing
• Library Thing tour
• LibraryThing blog (updates & news)

NOTE for the Discovery Exercise: There is a cool widget for LibraryThing that allows you to show your five most recent reads.  Unfortunately, this widget doesn’t work with WordPress (who likes to control their own widgets & hasn’t added this one yet).Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look around LibraryThing and create an account.
2. Add a least 5 books to your library.
3. Blog about your findings and be sure to link to your LibraryThing catalog.