Showing posts with label librarything. Show all posts
Showing posts with label librarything. Show all posts

Sunday, July 29, 2007

steel cage death match


It's LibraryThing vs. Shelfari. Both are online communities where users catalog their own libraries--then tag and review books and share recommendations with other users. After a brief tour of each of their websites, here are my impressions of each:

Shelfari:

  • Offers a Shelfari widget for users to post on their blogs or MySpace. If I indulged my widget desires, my blog would be cluttered with them. The widget holds weight with me.
  • Shelfari apparently joined forces with Amazon.com this year. Can world domination be far behind?
LibraryThing:
  • More users, it seems like--the better to add to my virtual book club! LibraryThing has been out there longer than Shelfari, and was on my radar screen before I started library school.
  • Much more advanced options for tagging, organizing, and searching--and these options are accessible on the user interface--not a whole ton of clicking through.
  • List option for displaying your catalog: I think the covers are helpful, but they can clutter the display.
As someone who regularly experiences book club envy (but . . . how to find the time?)--both Shelfari and LibraryThing appeal to me. But as someone who wants a personal catalog that is as versatile, searchable, and well-organized (the last according to my definition) as possible, I'm going with LibraryThing. I guess that makes me a thingamabrarian (although, for the record, I prefer Shelfarian, as a term).