Today's Tuesday Thingers question is:Why LT? Why did you choose to open and maintain an LT account? Do you/did you use other online cataloging/social networking sites, like GoodReads or Shelfari? Do you use more than one? Are they different or do they serve different purposes?I happened across a link to LibraryThing at a time when I was looking for ways to catalog my books, so the timing was perfect. I love being able to tag the books any way I want - I don't have too many really oddball tags, but I love the potential to get really creative. Setting up my account was wonderful - I got to physically touch every single book in my library, so I could get them all entered. I also love the way the site combines cataloging and statistics with discussion forums. It has put me in touch with people who are even more book-crazy than I am, always a plus.
The Early Reviewer program is a big part of why I love LibraryThing - free books! Who could resist free books? Plus there's the "cool" factor of getting to read something before it's available to the masses.
I'm also on GoodReads and that's only because a group of folks at one of the other forums where I post are enthusiastic users. Oddly enough, a couple of them are librarians and they dislike LibraryThing for the very thing I love - the ability to tag-it-yourself. Still, GoodReads is a good way to see what people are reading right now and pass on book recommendations when you finish something great, but I can take it or leave it.
9 comments:
I'm not creative with my tags - I need to think more about that and I haven't rated many of my books - there is so much to do with LT that I could spend all day on it.
The free books from Early Reviewers are a plus.
I'm not surprised some librarians don't like the whole tagging thing- I'm ambivalent about it myself, since I see the benefits of standardizing subject points entry. (Pardon the professional jargon there!) But on the other hand I'm also a control freak and like being able to categorize *my* books in *my* library the way *I* like! :-)
I'n not a tagger. I forget how I tagged books, etc. I'm brainless at that sort of stuff.
I didn't get the whole tagging thing at first, but it's fun to see the cloud once you get started. Plus there seems to be some feeling in the ER program that having tags might help you snag an Early Review copy? So far this hasn't worked for me yet, but every month I keep hoping!
Since Livejournal added tags back in 2005 or 2006 (I can't remember and it isn't important), I've been addicted to tags for everything, so I was pleased as punch to find that LT had them available. I'm with you on their unlimited potential for creativity, though I'm quite boring with tagging mine. (I did briefly consider a foray into silliness by tagging my favorite books 'cheese' or 'brie' for the algorithm.)
I find the tags useful to show me what types of books I'm reading (based on how I would classify them rather than how someone else might). It's eye-opening about my library.
tagging, that is something I use to my benefit...I tag books as read or TBR. I haven't gotten beyond that. I never know what to tag books on LT, I would like it if they gave suggestions for each book, and I could click on whatever I wanted.
I also really love tags, I think it goes along with my inherent inclination towards organization. And I like that I can control exactly what they are, rather than follow some established system.
Similarly, entering my library was also a joy. It was nice to go through and see all the books I owned, especially the ones who hadn't seen the light of day in a while due to storage. It's nice to evaluate my collection every once in a while.
Normally I tag like a mad thing, but I've just added over a 100 books and not one tag among them. I need to go back and sort that out, it's not making me loose sleep... not yet anway.
Agree that the tagging is one of the fun part of the LT experience. I tag for what the book means to me so not worried if it right and wrong
Post a Comment