Delightful Thing 14: Library Thing

Creating an account was easy. Deciding what part of my book collections to begin entering was a toughie. I have always meant to catalog my collection of books and Library Thing makes it easy. Once I have typed in the title, it searches Amazon or LC for me and finds my book and the pertinent bibliographic information and zips it into my library list.

I tagged my books with categories that made sense to me. The small but easily silenced! voice of my former cataloger self protested I should use viable headings but I have just gotten so contrary in my old age that I gleefully squashed the cataloger voice and had fun making up my tags. Of course, I will now obsess if I don't use my own headings consistently, so tangled web city.

I started my project with my gardening books which were next to my computer. There was something so satisfying and relaxing about the whole process I knew I would switch up to lifetime member once I reach the magic 200 number.

I was surprised how much I liked seeing how many people own my books. I found I had to make sure I marked the correct edition of the book, even if my edition did not have a nice cover for display. This bothered me quite a bit. Those black plain covers that display when they don't have your image--icky, shroudlike. Could they arrange for you to scan in your own cover? Or make a set of mock up covers that look like old covers with colorful bindings. Something other than the plain one?

Good Reads and Shelfari

These might be useful for quick reader's advisory. Scanning the popular titles when your mind tragically goes blank and a bestseller title goes missing could help. Or, a person could compartmentalize, and put their gardening books on Library Thing, Their Mysteries on Good Reads and their Science Fiction/Fantasy on Shelfari. Nah...

My in progress Library Thing page: http://www.librarything.com/home/librariandoa

Thing 14 complete (except for the adding of tomes to Library Thing).