Does anyone use social cataloguing for books?

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Torgo

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Didn't know quite where to post this, so mods: please move if inappropriate.

Does anyone here use any of the various social cataloguing services out there for books? LibraryThing, Goodreads, etc? If so, why, and do you find it useful?
 

ChaosTitan

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I use Goodreads all the time. I find it useful to keep track of the books I've read each year, as well as see what my friends are reading. I look for reviews on books I'm not sure I want to read. I find books I've never heard of because someone I know read it.
 

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I use Library Thing to actually catalog the books I own; I bought a Cue Cat bar code scanner for 15.00.

In my case, it makes it much easier to keep track of what books I own but which are in storage, and I can easily check bibliographic citations, etc.

Shelfari and GoodReads are fun, and, frankly, are useful in terms of promotion. I use them to find new authors and books to read.
 

Kitty Pryde

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I just started using GoodReads and I like it a lot--it's an interesting way to find new stuff to read or get reccies from friends or favorite authors. Plus I really like the book giveaways :D I checked out LibraryThing but it seemed far less aesthetically pleasing so I haven't messed around with it.
 

AlishaS

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I'm not published, however I am a huge Goodreads fan, to mimic what ChoaTitan said it's a good way to keep track of books you've read, as well as finding new books or read reviews.
It's also a good way to stay connected, it let's me know what books in my favorite genre's are coming out and when, let's me know if my Authors have updated their blogs, have news or update anything.
It's also super cool to see all the covers of books, they always show them to you when you look up a specific book.
 

cwfgal

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I use Goodreads to find new reads and I love it. Of course, I also use it to see what kinds of reviews my books are getting. I have Library Thing bookmarked mainly to check out reviews of my works but I don't use it for anything else.

Beth
 

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I checked out LibraryThing but it seemed far less aesthetically pleasing so I haven't messed around with it.

LibraryThing really is mostly about cataloging books.

GoodReads pretty much owns social book community space.

Shelfari, since Amazon bought it, is sort of floundering.
 

bearilou

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I'm a new convert to GoodReads myself. I've discovered yet more books to read and now I can keep up better with the lists of them other than the scraps of paper littering my desk.
 

Polenth

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I have LibraryThing and Goodreads accounts. I'm haphazard about actually cataloguing, though I remember to add new books now-and-then. Goodreads is easier for reading reviews and so forth. It also allows people in anthologies to count as authors, so I'm officially an author on Goodreads, but not on LibraryThing.
 

Libbie

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Social cataloging? The Master doesn't approve of such...devices.

(TORGO REFERENCE.)


Okay. Srsly. I do use Goodreads, and I've found it pretty useful in deciding what to buy. It's another source of reader reviews, like Amazon's rating system. I've found that in general the reviews on Goodreads tend to be a little more in-depth than most of the Amazon reviews, which are often shorter and less detailed.
 

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When I set up Written in Stone in August of 2008, mostly as a staging area to test new versions of software before installing them on AW but also, as a place to talk about books, social cataloging/book sites were pretty new.

I created fields in the CP Profiles for members to add social book sites if they wanted; it's been interesting watching that happen.
 
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Grrarrgh

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I use Goodreads. I've had an account for years, but I've only really been active for the a couple of months. I love keeping track of my books on there, and as someone up thread said, the reviews are more informative than the ones on Amazon or most other sites. Plus, the giveaways are great! :)
 

Susan Coffin

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LibraryThing really is mostly about cataloging books.

GoodReads pretty much owns social book community space.

Shelfari, since Amazon bought it, is sort of floundering.

I have a huge personal library and have been trying to think of a way to easily catalogue my books, short of creating a spreadsheet in Excel or Word. I might try LibraryThing.
 

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I have a huge personal library and have been trying to think of a way to easily catalogue my books, short of creating a spreadsheet in Excel or Word. I might try LibraryThing.

You can enter an ISBN by hand, and it generally finds the specific book, but I gotta say, the Cue Cat scanner is super. I've been giving them to people and libraries as gifts.
 

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I should also not that there's a nifty free Good Reads app for the iPhone that works like a barcode scanner; just take a photo of the ISBN bar code on a book, and it catalogs and adds the book to your Good Reads shelf.
 

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I'm on Goodreads, and have written some reviews, but I have to admit, I don't really know how to make friends there. On Facebook they seem to just pop up. I have joined a few groups, but perhaps I don't get how GR works yet, because I see a lot more interaction here on AW and FB.
 

bearilou

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Okay. Srsly. I do use Goodreads, and I've found it pretty useful in deciding what to buy. It's another source of reader reviews, like Amazon's rating system. I've found that in general the reviews on Goodreads tend to be a little more in-depth than most of the Amazon reviews, which are often shorter and less detailed.

Same here. I find that before a purchase I check GoodReads as well before shelling out my cash.
 

juniper

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Are GoodReads reviews generally more accurate than Amazon? I know some writers from a local group who trade good reviews with each other. "I'll write you a good one if you write me one."

Meh, I'm just too skeptical about almost everything, maybe. :Shrug:
 

MarkEsq

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I'm on Goodreads, and have written some reviews, but I have to admit, I don't really know how to make friends there. On Facebook they seem to just pop up. I have joined a few groups, but perhaps I don't get how GR works yet, because I see a lot more interaction here on AW and FB.

Me too, I want more GoodReads friends from here, but don't know how to go about getting them!
 
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