Do you like to keep track of the books you own or have read? LibraryThing is a social site that lets you catalogue your personal collections, keep reading lists and meet others who have similar tastes.
Sign up for a free account and register up to 200 books. Beyond this limit, you can pay for a subscription. Starting an account is as easy as choosing a username and password. To share details of your collections while remaining anonymous, select a username that isn’t your real name.
It’s easy to enter a book that you have read or found interesting using the ‘Add books’ feature. Just enter a title or author or ISBN to bring up a list of possible matches in Amazon or Library of Congress. Clicking on a title in the list instantly adds it to your library with an image of the cover and all available information including title, author, ISBN, publisher, date and so on. You can also add your own ratings, comments and tags as on Del.icio.us and Flickr.
You can make your collections private, but most people choose to make theirs public as they enjoy the social aspects of the site. There are many social networking features worth exploring.
This site is useful if you often choose books on the recommendation of others.
One way is to go to ‘your library’ which gives you access to your collection. Here you can select the people icon for a book that you have read to get recommendations and find out what other members have to say in reviews, ratings and discussion list conversations. There are also links to Wikipedia.
The ‘Groups’ area allows you to join over 1500 discussion lists, communities where members can discuss books akin to a book club. Take a look at the Green Dragon community for Tolkien, the largest and most active community.
Additionally, you can search the entire database, check out other member libraries, arrange your library by Dewey and place books on your blog.
Need help searching the web? Contact your local CityLibrary branch:
CityLibrary Aitkenvale 4727 8312
CityLibrary Flinders Mall 4727 9665
CityLibrary Thuringowa 4773 8601 or infodesk@townsville.qld.gov.au
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Searchlight is a weekly column written by CityLibraries Townsville. It is published in the Townsville Bulletin newspaper and on this 'blog every Monday. Searchlight aims to make your internet searching more effective, efficient and fun by reviewing search tools, providing searching hints and tips, and helping with tricky search topics.
