Thing #11: Library Thing

I'd heard Dr. Griffith talk about Library Thing in the Reference and Bibliography class. But I haven't had a chance to look and explore it until now. So far everything is very simple which I actually prefer. Getting an account, adding books to your collection, searching for groups, and updating your profile are all very easy to do. However, as most established websites tend to do (i.e. Facebook) they grow above and beyond what they were originally designed to do. While some good things come out of this, with good will come some bad. In Facebook's case, their networks expanded and popularity grew but with the popularity came the need to expand their server capacity and that means necessary revenue. They had to begin posting advertisements and adding applications that will cost the user money, even if an account on facebook is free.
Right now, Library Thing slightly resembles facebook in it's beginning phases: well-organized, simple, and clean (minimal ads). I just hope that Library Thing stays the way it is for awhile. Although I wouldn't mind if they would use something other than Amazon to search for books to add to your collection. When I searched by title, such as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I would have too many entries to choose from. Maybe they have a deal with Amazon that gets them revenue for sending people to Amazon to buy books.
I would use Library thing to help students keep a sort of online record of how many books they've read (either for the year or even for their life). It's amazing how much people who say they don't ready actually do. Even kids in elementary school could use this site to keep track of their collections or their reading.
One group I found that I fit in with was the Hogwarts Express. I'm a big fan of Harry Potter. Not everything the group talks about is Harry Potter, but they have some discussions that are relevant to the Harry Potter series. I think the Library Thing groups would be a good place to get ideas for book club talks.