Thing 14: The Library Thing Thing

I started adding and tagging some books I have recently read or am currently reading. While it was fun and the site was attractive, I admit that it took me some time to figure out how Library Thing could be worthwhile or useful to an individual or to a library. But now that I have done some exploring and some more tagging, I am hooked on Library Thing! I may even have to splurge on a paid account so I can enter and catalog ALL my books. Libraries can create subject lists; school/ academic libraries can tag books according to a specific class or program. Book groups can use for discussion and sharing information; individuals can find others with similar interests. I'm not sure how well it would work for older books, though I see you can also search the LOC for bibliographic information. A friend of mine (a non-librarian) is looking for a way to catalog his collection of rare books--I'm not sure this is it. He's also concerned about privacy. I have a collection of Modern Library editions that I'd like to tag if I can find them via LT.

Thing 11: Yummy delicious

I tried some tagging (see previous post) and set up a del.icio.us account. Now I have attractive new icons on my tool bar. The material and examples presented were helpful in showing how libraries and scholars could use social bookmarking to share and organize bookmarks. Thank you. However, as many people have commented, it's just one more thing to have to check. I think I would have used del.icio.us more if I were just starting out collecting favorites/bookmarks or preparing for a class. As far as tags go, I suppose the caveat is that they can be subjective and not necessarily accurate, unlike carefully crafted (ha), politically correct (ha again) library subject headings.