Library Thing Tutorial

LIBRARY THING TUTORIALBy Katie Taymans and Emily Underwood

WHAT IS LIBRARYTHING?

www.librarything.com •Cataloging and social networking site for book lovers•Contribute tags, reviews, and ratings for books in your collection•No special knowledge or software required and joining is free•Resource for library patrons to find new books•Tool can be used for reader’s advisory

WHY USE LIBRARYTHING? Free to catalog up to 200 books For more than 200 books, paid account is only

$10/year or $25 for a lifetime membership Libraries can integrate social data into their OPACs Libraries can link

to local events Small libraries can

use as a basis fortheir OPAC

Libraries can maketheir existing OPACmobile instantly

“Facebook for books”

HOW DO I SIGN UP?•“Join Now” button located in upper right corner of main page at www.librarything.com

•Only information required is your name and e-mail address, or you can join using your existing Facebook or Twitter account

GETTING STARTED

•Click “Add books” tab at top•Search by title, author, ISBN, or LC card number•Choose from result box on the right of your screen

YOUR BOOKS

work page

WORK PAGE Click on work page icon at right or title of book

to access an individual book’s page where you can: Create tags View recommendations or add your own Read published and member reviews See other members who have the book in their

collection View related or similar books View external sources that reference the book Link to outside vendors and WorldCat Rate book using five star system and compare to

average rating Includes “Will you like it?” predictor tool

WORK PAGE

WILL YOU LIKE IT?

•Makes predictions based on similarity to other books in your collection and their ratings•The more complete your collection, the more accurate your predictions will be

COMMON KNOWLEDGEAlso includes:•Epigraph•Dedication•First words•Quotations•Last words (spoiler alert)•Disambiguation notice•Publishers•Editors•Blurbers•Publisher series

YOUR BOOKS

detail page

DETAIL PAGE Provides

bibliographical information

Lists LibraryThing subject headings

Gives citation information in several formats

Most fields are editable (except subject headings)

CITATIONS Provides citations in

several popular styles.

Citation manager links to OttoBib website

YOUR BOOKS

setcollections

SET COLLECTIONS

Provides several preset collections.

You can add, change, or rearrange collections.

YOUR BOOKS

Edit your books—also available from the detail page

Click to delete books

DISPLAY OPTIONS

I HAVE MY COLLECTION. NOW WHAT?

Participate in discussion groups in the “talk” tab

Join a group with other like-minded readers Find out where there is an event near you Zeitgeist—more statistical information than

you’ll ever need Link to your Facebook, blog, etc. with widgets

and apps in “more”!

RESOURCES FOR FURTHER LEARNING http://www.librarything.com/tour/ --Help

getting started http://

www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Help_and_FAQ --FAQ and Help page

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Using_LibraryThing_as_an_Integrated_Library_System --How libraries can use it as an ILS

http://www.librarything.com/blogs/librarything/ --LibraryThing Blog