The Experiment Continues (Public)
I've uploaded several more sub-collection books into my LibraryThing account. The Dead Sea Scrolls (which I've yet to read) which I'd overlooked in the initial book-uploading frenzy, Benedict's Dharma which I'd been reading at that time (and will have to return to the rule of St. Benedict someday), and One Island Many Faiths, which I just recently bought.
Then my book shipment came in the mail, and I had three more books to upload: Karen Armstrong's Muhammed: A Biography of the Phrophet; Vows: A Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son by Peter Manseau; and Where God Was Born: A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion by Bruce Feiler. Vows was quite good and hopefully I'll review it when I start making a dent in the review stack. Muhammed I'm reading now and it seems more on the Buddha side of readablity than the A History of God side, thankfully. Ironically, although I ordered the books because I'd heard of Feiler's reputation and wanted to give him a try, I haven't gotten to his book yet. Hopefully it's as good as the hype proclaims.
Overall I am quite happy with LibraryThing so far. It's been intriguing to watch the religion subcollection grow and I have plans to add my Vietnam War Dog and Fixed Form Prose subcollections as well (they top the scales at about 8 and four books respectively, which is why I hesitate and wonder if it's worth the effort).
There's an interesting review over at a community I just joined that compares LibraryThing and rival catalouging site GoodReads. I do have a GoodReads account, but I haven't done anything with it, uploaded any books/reviews/etc. As the review says, GoodReads is more of a social personal library catalouging site, and I really fullfill that aspect on livejournal.
What I'm looking for in a site is the ability to organize and track my large and sometimes scattered collection electronically. The quality of information and ability to tag, rate, and review books efficiently is far more important to me than the (admittedly cool) social aspects. Why am I telling you this? Well, if you've been following my adventures thus far and are thinking of uploading your own books to an online catalouge, I don't want you to get a LibraryThing account just because I have one. Take your time, look around, consider all the options. (And then get a LibraryThing account because it's the best ;)
Speaking of getting friends to join LibraryThing,
zhiebrought up a very good point the other day. As a librarian, she wants all of her books to have call numbers when she finally catalouges them. So I played around for a bit until I discovered that you can in fact set the catalouge for Dewey (or LOC) call numbers. LibraryThing will supply call numbers for some books but no cutters; luckily it is simple to add in your own call numbers. It's not a feature I expect to use, but it's nice to know that it exists and little features like that are why I'm definitely going to buy a lifetime membership and put in the time to upload all my books.
At some point I need to get some reviews up on LibraryThing. I've already reviewed several books about religion (with two currently on the "write a review" pile and one that I'm about half-way through reading), so I just need to go back and revise them for LT or link to them. This is one time when having friends only reviews is a disadvantage. Why put up reviews at all, you ask? Well, my not having any reviews posted is going to factor into my not getting any of the free Early Reviewer books. Yes, I may have finally stumbled across something that will truely motivate me to do reviews. Amazing, eh?
And now to get going on those reviews!
Then my book shipment came in the mail, and I had three more books to upload: Karen Armstrong's Muhammed: A Biography of the Phrophet; Vows: A Story of a Priest, a Nun, and Their Son by Peter Manseau; and Where God Was Born: A Journey by Land to the Roots of Religion by Bruce Feiler. Vows was quite good and hopefully I'll review it when I start making a dent in the review stack. Muhammed I'm reading now and it seems more on the Buddha side of readablity than the A History of God side, thankfully. Ironically, although I ordered the books because I'd heard of Feiler's reputation and wanted to give him a try, I haven't gotten to his book yet. Hopefully it's as good as the hype proclaims.
Overall I am quite happy with LibraryThing so far. It's been intriguing to watch the religion subcollection grow and I have plans to add my Vietnam War Dog and Fixed Form Prose subcollections as well (they top the scales at about 8 and four books respectively, which is why I hesitate and wonder if it's worth the effort).
There's an interesting review over at a community I just joined that compares LibraryThing and rival catalouging site GoodReads. I do have a GoodReads account, but I haven't done anything with it, uploaded any books/reviews/etc. As the review says, GoodReads is more of a social personal library catalouging site, and I really fullfill that aspect on livejournal.
What I'm looking for in a site is the ability to organize and track my large and sometimes scattered collection electronically. The quality of information and ability to tag, rate, and review books efficiently is far more important to me than the (admittedly cool) social aspects. Why am I telling you this? Well, if you've been following my adventures thus far and are thinking of uploading your own books to an online catalouge, I don't want you to get a LibraryThing account just because I have one. Take your time, look around, consider all the options. (And then get a LibraryThing account because it's the best ;)
Speaking of getting friends to join LibraryThing,
zhiebrought up a very good point the other day. As a librarian, she wants all of her books to have call numbers when she finally catalouges them. So I played around for a bit until I discovered that you can in fact set the catalouge for Dewey (or LOC) call numbers. LibraryThing will supply call numbers for some books but no cutters; luckily it is simple to add in your own call numbers. It's not a feature I expect to use, but it's nice to know that it exists and little features like that are why I'm definitely going to buy a lifetime membership and put in the time to upload all my books.
At some point I need to get some reviews up on LibraryThing. I've already reviewed several books about religion (with two currently on the "write a review" pile and one that I'm about half-way through reading), so I just need to go back and revise them for LT or link to them. This is one time when having friends only reviews is a disadvantage. Why put up reviews at all, you ask? Well, my not having any reviews posted is going to factor into my not getting any of the free Early Reviewer books. Yes, I may have finally stumbled across something that will truely motivate me to do reviews. Amazing, eh?
And now to get going on those reviews!