The challenge for this week is Examine different online tools for cataloging your personal genealogy library and keeping track of the books you read. LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com//) is a site where you can catalog and tag the books in your own personal library. It is a great tool for keeping track of the genealogy books you have. You can ever create tags for books you want to purchase. Good Reads (http://www.goodreads.com//) and Shelfari ...(http://www.shelfari.com/) are web sites that help you keep track of books you have read. All three of these sites have social networking components. Your challenge this week is to browse these sites and see how genealogists use them. Bloggers, do you use any of these tools? How do you organize your own personal genealogy library?
This challenge runs from Saturday, November 27, 2010 through Friday, December 3, 2010.
I checked out and set up accounts with both Library Thing and Good Reads. After one day of use, I preferred the set up of Good Reads. For whatever reason, it seemed more user friendly to me.
How will I use this in tool in my research? Good Reads will definitely help me keep track of books in my collection and others that I have read but that aren't part of my library. I think it will also help keep track of materials I have ordered but not yet received. I recently checked a book out of the library that I had already ordered through half.com. This occurred because I simply had forgotten about the ordered book (the book arrived within a few days after I had checked the same title out of the library).
The other thing the catalog system helped with is visually seeing how my voracious reading appetite has returned even if it is for all things genealogical. I amazed myself with the books I've read during the past 2 years and I'm still no where where I would like to be.
This was a great challenge. Thanks Amy!
Great minds think alike! I have an account at both LT and GR, and I also think GR is more user-friendly.
ReplyDeleteMavis,
ReplyDeleteI am writing my blog post for this challenge. I found your library on Library Thing. I'm going to have to check out these others, Good Reads and Shelfari.
Short term, finish writing my post.
Thanks for playing along with the 52-week challenge, Mavis!
ReplyDeleteP.S. if anyone wants to add me as a friend on LibraryThing, I am amybean2.
I've used LT in the past, but haven't been there lately. Never tried Good Reads, but will check it out.
ReplyDelete