Archives: October 12, 2007

Lots of disagreement about what can be called community, but one thing is for sure… when you meet people who have a similar interest when it comes to books, you sure hit it off! Not only can you share your experiences and attitudes about specific titles, but (more importantly) you can get recommendations for what to read next. For me, I really appreciate talking with someone who has enjoyed the book I just read… it’s a sure way to find my next good read.

This is called Readers Advisory. Libraries have been referring people to their “next good read” for years… whether in a thematic display, a “staff picks” section, or by purchasing a standard online package like the Gale product, What Do I Read Next?” I get great ideas from the library or even from browsing Amazon by subject, through recommendations based upon what I’ve purchased, or the “others who bought this title also bought…” tools.

These approaches work OK, but once you get involved with LibraryThing you will be hooked. Not only does it allow you to see what others recommend, but it also offers tools you can use that pull titles and ratings from the library catalogs of all the members to make suggestions for you. The Suggestor provides access to titles that “people with your books also have” and well as “similarly tagged books” and “most popular books you don’t have.” Like all such services that draw from your profile, the Suggestor works better if you have more books in your library collection. If you have not aspired to cataloging and rating your entire collection of books (hey, I know this is far cooler to me as a librarian than it is to the average reader) you can always even do a simple Book Suggester search based on a recently read or favorite title.

Don’t despair if you have not found anyone who reads the stuff you love. I read a rather eclectic variety of books and it would be difficult to find someone with the same range of interests. Still, I can connect with people on LibraryThing through common favorites from my catalog, suggestions with common tags and through groups. I don’t know if this constitutes “community” to you, but for me, it works!