LibraryThing, Take Two

I'm guessing my last post, errrr...poem, will not truly suffice for finishing my Project Play Week 7 assignment so here goes - a second stab at LibraryThing. I'm fairly certain the first I heard of LibraryThing was at either a WLA or WAPL conference a few years back and I was instantly intrigued. Then again, I could have just dreamed of a conference session and really LibraryThing insinuated itself into my subcontious via something I ingested or some mysterious futuristic surgery-type-thing. Somehow, I think option #2 may have been the dream due to my finishing Extras late, late last night. No matter the origin of LibraryThing catching my attention, I have found it useful both personally and at the reference desk.

I began adding titles read to my librarything library in January of 2007. My goal has been to add any books I enjoyed during the year so I have a complete list (or rather link to an online list) to send out for family and friends along with my winter solstice cards. In previous years, I tried to keep a journal style list of titles only to find soggy, inky fibrous blobs mixed in with my just-washed skirts as I transfer them to the dryer. All-in-all I am having better luck with adding to my LibraryThing list but it still requires me remembering to login and add the titles...so I am certain there are some that I've left out. Especially while on vacation and far, far, far away from a computer. Which is where I wish I were right now...but, I diverge.

I've recommended LibraryThing to a few patrons as a way to keep track of their reading and was "friended" by a YA patron who took me up on the suggestion. (Note to self: consider doing something related to LibraryThing as part of an upcoming Teen SLP.) I've also used librarything a couple of times when working with a well-read patron on readers advisory suggestions and when compiling suggestion lists for BookAlikes. Overall, I can see using LibraryThing sort of like using Wikipedia - as a jumping off point of ideas for Readers Advisory in combination with print RA lists and guides, Novelist, and my own little grey cells - but not as an end-all resource.

Thank Goodness for the Diet Coke!

Phew! Thanks for the great tip of grabbing a Diet Coke before beginning lesson #2 of Project Play so I was good and caffinated as I read through all of the links. Similar to another Project Play participant Pinky, I am not completely new to blogging. I have a rarely updated personal blog and I am a participant in an internal library staff blog; however, reading the article Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services has got me thinking about if and when my library might want to begin an external library blog. After reading David Lee King's article about the Library 2.0 Ripples, I would place my library at about a 3.5-4. That tells me that my library might be ready sooner than later to take the public blog challenge. I'm looking forward to discussing ideas about our target audience and blog content with other Project Play-ers and staff at my library. I can really see potential in a blog for the young adult crowd - promoting library programs, services, and the SLP. Madison Public Library's Teen Topix blog is a great inspiration and I learned a lot from blogging this summer at the SCLS Teen Read Blog.

Now, I think I might just be ready for a second Diet Coke.