After blogging, my favorite activity is reading. I’m aware that neither of these tasks involve much in the way of kinetic energy, which is underpinned by my third-favorite hobby – sleeping. One of my biggest peeves about being away from New Orleans for so long after Katrina was the separation from my cherished library. My dad loves his plants, my mother her writing … I tend to my books like they are my precious children, each one allotted a special place in the hierarchy of barrister bookcases that is my library. Each item is organized by genre, importance within genre and then height – a fractal system of management, if you will. And believe you me, I know when even one soldier is out of place.
My compulsive fate, in the form of Dave, introduced me to LibraryThing right after my last post. Ever since then, each of my 500 or so books were entered into this online interface and are in the process of being tagged, ending with my last three literary purchases. Of course, these are only the books that reside in my immediate possession and not every one I’ve read. That would be cheating.
Once all of the books are entered [Update: ISBN or Library of Congress Call No. is the best way to search], the interface offers features like how many other users share your library and by how much, and “clouds” of favorite interests and genres. For instance, my cloud emphasizes the tags funny, geology and science fiction. Go figure.
Check out my personal catalog and the new widget in VatulBlog’s sidebar. Cool, huh? [*readers roll eyes*]
Books are enthralling, their organization is a vortex. Seriously, if you ever want to keep me occupied (and stop the whining about how bored I am), hand me last week’s newspaper or even a Chilton’s manual and I will stay out of your hair for a while. Give me books, papers and music to sort through and the silence will last for weeks.
Which makes me wonder if there is a Library Thing for music. CD cataloging, here I come!
OK, I’m hooked on Library Thing! Drop in and see it grow, takes time tho’.
Yeah, Library Thing is addictive as hell. I NEED TO BE WRITING A PAPER RIGHT NOW NOT DOING THIS. Or, if I really feel the need to organize, I should at least be running my horribly messy, mis-labeled mp3’s through iTunes.
But I even have to reorganize my book list since I know some of the ones I have listed are not the actual editions I have; time to start searching by ISBN…
Thanks, Maitri. We don’t need no stinkin’ productivity.
ISBN is the way to go. If that doesn’t work, put in the LoC Call No. and search through the Library of Congress. I love this interface, especially for its Manual Entry form for older, pre-ISBN and foreign books.
You’re welcome, Julie. Adding value, that’s what I’m here for.
I quickly found out I needed to get ISBNs out of my books too. Most of my books are old or weird editions of things apparently. I love that you can upload your own cover image too. I may have to do some scanning soon.
Dave, where did you find how to upload cover images?
Blair,
When you view your catalog, each book should have a pencil symbol associated with it in the far right column. That’s the “edit info” button. Once you’re in the Edit page for that book, you’ll see a Change Book Cover at the top of the left hand column. That will give you the option of choosing a pre-loaded cover image or uploading one from your computer or from another website.
N.B.: Changing your cover to an Amazon cover also changes your book’s ISBN. So, watch what you choose.