Thing 14: LibraryThing

I really enjoyed this thing, perhaps because it was more focused that Thing 13 -- fewer sites and tools to explore. I've had the LibraryThing blog among the rss feeds in my Bloglines account but didn't quite get how big and popular LibraryThing was until touring it a bit. As I get older I find that it's difficult sometimes to remember the titles and authors of books I've read. LibraryThing can keep track of them, especially the ones I want to remember.

I set up an account on LibraryThing, completed my profile with some favorite authors and a historical photograph of a woman reading a book. I then added six books, including tags and ratings. I love seeing the covers for so many of the recently published books. Being a visual person, the covers are an important reminder of the books and are an attraction for books read by others that I'd like to explore. I joined two groups, Librarians Who LibraryThing and Minnesota Things. I can see the value for readers in discovering other books and authors to read. I put the LibraryThing search box widget on the blog.

This seemed to be a perfect time to look at Good Reads, a site a retired colleague actively uses. I've sometimes looked at the books she has shared but haven't entered many of my own. Realistically, I'll probably only use one of these sites for my recreational reading and may choose Good Reads because I have a real live friend there. LibraryThing, however, fits libraries better and could be used as a promotional tool and source of images of book covers for new books listing on our intranet and public blogs.