(From 13 December 2007): Do you use any of the online book-cataloguing sites, like Library Thing or Shelfari? Why or why not? If not an online catalog, do you use any other method to catalog your book collection? Excel spreadsheets, index cards, a notebook, anything?
I love making lists and being organised so combining that with my love of books means that book-cataloguing sites are often frequented by me :) I joined up with LibraryThing first and it remains my favourite site for cataloging my books. It has a well-designed layout and it's so easy to navigate around and edit my books with tags, ratings, reviews etc. When I buy a new book I can't wait to catalogue it, tag it and find the correct cover. A sure sign that I'm impressed with the site can be seen by the fact that I paid for lifetime membership - I NEVER usually do that sort of thing with websites!
I tried Shelfari for a little while but didn't find it as easy to use. It wasn't able to import all of my books from LibraryThing and it didn't have covers available for an awful lot of my books. I liked some aspects of the site, but ultimately I preferred LibraryThing, so I deleted my account.
I signed up with Goodreads last week and it remains to be seen whether or not I'll stick with it. Goodreads also wasn't able to import all of my books from LibraryThing so at some stage I'm going to have to go through them all and see what's missing and then add them manually. I'm happy to see that finding the correct cover is easier here than it was on Shelfari. I like the ability to add quotes to one's profile, but I'm having trouble adjusting to parts of the layout, such as the font (there seems to be quite a few different fonts and font sizes used, which makes it a little tough on the eyes).
I like the community aspect of all three sites. There are discussion groups for just about anything, and while I don't usually make a habit of posting in them, I like to read what everyone else is saying. I also find the reviews invaluable.
And as if all that isn't enough, I also have an Excel spreadsheet cataloging my books. Along with the name and author, I also have fields for the genre, ISBN, year of original publication, year my edition was published, number of pages, and whether the book has been read or remains unread. These details come in handy when I'm doing book reviews. The spreadsheet isn't actually complete yet, but it's almost there!
3 comments:
Welcome to my humble blog! -Retractions:
1. Wrong Singh - I blush hotly - interesting no-one spotted it before! I was obviously having a little short circuit of the brain.
2. Lehmann - quite right - suspended for five one dayers. memo to self: consider fact checking...
3. Shameless - yes, it is wonderful, isn't it
4. Interesting website - feel free to add my humble volume to your 'to-read' list (he wrote shamelessly - as it were!) you can get it at fishpond in Oz but mind you at $40, I wouldn't blame you i you didn't! Grossly overpriced! I complained to the publishers about the price generally when it was first published but they cited production costs. There is a guy in Florida who I have blog contact with - downtown guy - http://epicdystopia.blogspot.com/ - who has an interesting project: to work through a long list of dystopias - including mine :D
Do drop in again! I'll be especially on my guard if I post about Australian cricket again. By the way, although Australian cricket is as popular as - well - words fail me for a suitable (printable) analogy - I agree that India are problematic on the behaviour front.
Interesting blog you have - I'll keep dropping in!
Thanks white rabbit. I hope I didn't come across too strong/rude in my original post on your blog - I don't get worked up very often but when it's my beloved cricket... :) I'm happy to talk cricket any time with you and I promise I'll behave!
I found your blog through the link on downtown guy's website. I love dystopians so I'll be sure to add yours to my wish list (although I can't promise I'll get to it any time soon because I have a couple of hundred books on my TBR pile!)
Congrats on getting a book published - it must be such a difficult thing to accomplish. I have a dream of writing a dystopian myself one day (yes, I'm one of those people who dream of being a writer but know it will never really happen).
Welcome to my blog :)
Kylie - I look forward to an even Ashes series - 2005 was so brilliant - not just because we won - but because it went to the wire - either side could win the Ashes up to the last day of the final Test.
One thing I have discovered is that becoming a published novelist is a foot in the door and no more. I am presently engaged in sporadic guerilla warfare trying to sell the US rights - at the moment I am waiting on a US agent who seems to have all the urgency of a snail on mogadon!
tc
the rabbit
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