Library DIY: Online Books/Library Tools

[Deborah Babb]

Are you a Do-It-Yourself-er? Do you explore books online? Tell us about it!

This is also the place to share your mini-READ poster if you made one using the ALA READ poster generator.

[Alison DePollo]

I looooooooooove Goodreads! I've heard about LibraryThing, but have never tried it, so I think I will do that this week. Great, one more thing to get addicted to!

I just looked at the ALA website at the READS mini posters, and the only thing I didn't like was their options for the poster itself! Now, give me a Patrick Stewart poster for me to use and I'll be all about that :-)

[Serafina]

I love GoodReads too! LibraryThing is definitely good, and they were the first, but the problem is they still look like the prototype in some ways. GoodReads' interface is much nicer, plus they don't have a limit on your collection. I also like how you sort books onto "shelves" instead of tagging them.

LT charges a membership fee to add more than 200 items, though it is a quite reasonable price. They also get review books every month; you can request any that look interesting and they draw names (or a similar process) to decide who gets them. They keep adding features and neat stuff all the time.

[Alison DePollo]

I agree about the look of LibraryThing. I think it's what turned me off the most. Goodreads is so nice looking and it looks professional. Plus, it was a lot more tedious for me to upload books to LibraryThing. I think I'll still with my GR :-)

[Ronda Y. Foust]

Goodreads is my new favorite place to explore books online. There are some great book discussion groups (or you can start one yourself) and I love being able to build a virtual bookshelf. It's helped me "discover" some new books/series to read and I enjoy the review feature.

Re Online-Books, I usually prefer to read hard copy--it's easier to get comfy, curled up with an actual book. That said, I have found a few online book sources that I enjoy. DailyLit is really neat--if you haven't visited it, give it a try:

http://www.dailylit.com/

What's cool about it is that you can sign up to receive free installments via RSS feed. Right now, I'm reading installments of Burn This Book, ed. by Toni Morrison. There are free books and also books available for purchase.

The other sites I like for online books are:

The International Digital Children's Library at http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

and

TumbleBooks http://www.tumblebooks.com/ (our local public library offers this one for free, but you can sign up for a free trial if your local library doesn't offer it)

[Jenny Rushing]

I created a shelfari account a while ago (http://www.shelfari.com/rushingjen) but I don't use it much. Like everything else, Facebook has taken this over with weRead. I like to get book suggestions from friends, so Facebook is a great way to see what everyone else is reading!

Love the mini Read posters! That's what I'll try next!

[Deborah Babb]

I've also used the Visual Bookshelf (livingsocial) Facebook app. Like these other tools, it helps me keep track of what I've already read and gives me ideas for new books to read! I really like the look and feel of the Goodreads interface too, along with the added features.

[Jason Vance]

I've done the LibraryThing thing, but just now signed up for Goodreads. There goes my productivity for the day!

[Michelle Nielsen Ott]

me too.

[Anna J]

I'd heard of Goodreads before but had never signed up. Now that I have, I've discovered how many of my friends are already in it . . . I think I will have to echo the lament of lost productivity now :-)
I too am a fan of Intl Digital Children's Library, as I actually did a paper on them several years back. But I hadn't thought to check it out lately, so I'm happy to hear they're still around, and am also thankful for the reminder to explore them again.
Off to spend [productively, of course] more time with digital libraries . . . :-)

[Susan Penn]

No time at work to play with these things now that Summer Reading Club is in full swing. I've done minor starts on LibraryThing and Goodreads at home. I took a few minutes this morning to photograph myself with a dancing ostrich I made for our becreative@your library SRC display and worked it into an acceptable mini-READ poster tonight. If you can't see, the books displayed are Jazz Baby by Wheeler and Sock Monkey Boogie Woogie by Bell. I liked the 'Techno' style poster a little better for my photo but couldn't get the photo to fit into it right.

Look forward to checking out suggested sites made by others on the forum.

[Mona Batchelor]

Really cool, Susan!

[Deborah Babb]

This is great, Susan! I certainly didn't expect to see a dancing ostrich today!