LibraryThing Stuff

Updates on LibraryThing

LibraryThing is created using MediaWiki. It recently boasted that it has catalogued close to 20 million books so it should be no surprise that LibraryThing now has a wiki. This fact seems odd to me. It is the whole thing about having a wiki about a wiki.

So I checked out my LibraryThing account I had to create last fall for a LIS class. I still detest “Ruins” by Scott Smith but adore my review: “I found the author to be overly fond of the characters' body fluids and waste. . . Rather than being suspense-filled, it was easier to count the ways how each character would make stupid mistakes with, ho-hum, tragic repercussions.”

So they have added a “new and addictive feature” which they refer to as "Common Knowledge." So now they have added a bunch of new fields to every author and book page, so anyone can enter new stuff such as book awards, characters, and even biographical details on authors. So while this is great and it is hard to fault the fleshing out of authors' backgrounds, it has spawned a tide of questions (i.e., what gender do you you bubble when the author used a male name but was actually a woman?, with regards to colleges, do you put down only the places they got degrees or all the places they attended?, do you include honorary degress?). So see the blog post about it for more info.

Now the part I like best about the new stuff at LibraryThing is this new program where you have the opportunity to be an EARLY REVIEWER! "LibraryThing is teaming with publishers to give out advance copies of books to you, our members, in exchange for reviews." In October, they had 12 publishers involved and almost 600 free books. How cool to be the first one on the block to read a book and then casually slip it into the conversation flow during the weekly Euchre get together.

The part of LibraryThing which reminds me of the joys and struggles of working in a team setting (like our class) is one of the groups set up in LT entitled I See Dead People('s) Books. Their current and first project is cataloging Thomas Jefferson's library. It is great how they have split up responsibility on their main page. I believe they are at over 83,000 books so working collabrately online does work!

If you are really into LibraryThing and do not currently receive the monthly enewsletter “State of the Thing”, go to your LibraryThing account and select “edit profile” under the profile. Make sure to check the little box by "receive a monthly 'State of the Thing' email."