Jump to content

LibraryThing


Recommended Posts

I used it for a while some years ago but I stopped when it seemed I couldn't add any books so there was no way to catalogue any books by Dutch or Belgian authors. I liked that you could edit the titles and such in the list table of your books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did they not have a database which recognised the ISBN of those at all? They have over 1000 online sources now to get book details from including 1 Belgian and 2 from the Netherlands.

They used to have a limit of 200 books on the free version - but they lifted that a while ago, so its limitless now. Its the only thing that's allowed me to add all my books - including some that are from the 1800s. And you can add your own book covers too. I haven't found anything yet it can't do; I love it. I also have my collection there offline on my phone, so I can check it while bookshopping.

 

They also recommend books based on your collection - useful for my non fiction collections.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just as well they lifted the 200 book limit, it was a bit silly for a book-related website anyway!

 

I think it was so people could trial the "product". ie "if they like it, they will pay" - a bit old fashioned really. I suppose some did but it did put me off to start with when there were free alternatives (as well as more costly databases). Anyway, I think they removed the limit a year or 2 back. Not sure how they make money on it now - I don't see lots of pop up adverts or anything.

 

One upon a time I paid for DVD database software - and my 1 time payment did mean a lifetime of updates. It works well, does everything I want. But, for books, LT has even more features for what I do and its free. Doesn't look as nice but I can customise it if I could be bothered. There are talk groups and whatnot like with Goodreads but I rarely have time to look at those. Goodreads is probably easier to use and looks nice but I needed to record older books and obscure books - and GR was no good for that.

Edited by Flip Martian
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes I think LT is the best site for logging books, I looked at GR and thought well I've already got this on LT so no point in duplicating everything, although I do look at GR sometimes for reviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you sure it's free now? On their website I can still read

 

  • Enter 200 items for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life).

 

edit: Am I allowed to name another GR/LT alternative here? 

Edited by MrCat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you sure it's free now? On their website I can still read

 

  • Enter 200 items for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life).

 

edit: Am I allowed to name another GR/LT alternative here? 

 

Certainly free for me - I have nearly 700 on there and never paid a penny! I'm sure I got an email a year or so back saying they were lifting the 200 books limit. $25 for a "lifetime membership" was hardly a deal breaker anyway - the nearest book database software was more and not as good (I tried it).

 

Maybe You might be better starting a new thread for the other one - might just get lost in here otherwise?

Edited by Flip Martian
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I joined LT many years ago, as I much preferred it's simplistic layout to GR. After using it for a short time, I decided that a small amount for a lifetime membership wasn't too much to pay.. and I'd much rather do that than see lots of adverts.

 

I try to use GR as well now, because when I was reviewing a lot I knew that the publishers / authors like the reviews on GR. I'm a bit behind with LT this year though.. I think I'll go and update now. :)

 

MrCat, it's fine to discuss an alternative - note that Janet maintains this thread, so it might be in there... http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/2082-book-resources-library-thing-bookcrossing-good-reads-etc/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've just checked out LibraryThing and it's definitely not as nice looking as GoodReads and it does look like you have to pay if you want to add more than 200 books.  A one off payment of $25 does seem pretty reasonable to me although I do wish the site looked a bit more inviting.  It also says on the homepage you can also keep track of movies and music too and I do like the idea of being able to log movies as well as books.

 

Hmmm... decisions, decisions.  GoodReads or LibraryThing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Start an account for both, and add a few books - I'm sure you'll soon see which one you find easiest / suits you best. :)

 

That's exactly what I did. Ultimately, GR looks very user friendly and more simple perhaps - but I couldn't add all the books I wanted to add. For recording a wide range of books I think LT wins out. For anyone who mainly has more recent books and perhaps has a Kindle and wants to integrate their amazon account, GR is perhaps the better bet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did they not have a database which recognised the ISBN of those at all? They have over 1000 online sources now to get book details from including 1 Belgian and 2 from the Netherlands.

 

They used to have a limit of 200 books on the free version - but they lifted that a while ago, so its limitless now. Its the only thing that's allowed me to add all my books - including some that are from the 1800s. And you can add your own book covers too. I haven't found anything yet it can't do; I love it. I also have my collection there offline on my phone, so I can check it while bookshopping.

No, back in the day, many years ago, it didn't recognise some of those ISBNs I tried to add and there were no Dutch or Belgian sources if I remember correctly. And I couldn't see an option to add a new book. It's great to hear they've improved.

 

I used the site for a while and paid the $25, but a while later I switched to GoodReads. I used Safari and BookLikes for a little while too, but in the end found it too hard to keep up with multiple sites, and both of them had their problems, in the end I picked GoodReads.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Isn't LT also owned by Amazon? Why would someone pay for the same service to the same company, when they can get it for free on another website? 

 

As Michelle said - Abebooks own 40% - the majority being owned by the founder of the company. LT actually opened an interesting discussion thread when Amazon bought GoodReads. Its clear they don't see Amazon as their "owner" as such.

 

http://blog.librarything.com/main/2013/03/amazon-buys-goodreads-what-does-that-mean-for-librarything/

 

In response to your question, I've already explained why LT suits me better than GR so I won't bore everyone by stating it again. Ultimately the features I prefer on LT may not be relevant to you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, back in the day, many years ago, it didn't recognise some of those ISBNs I tried to add and there were no Dutch or Belgian sources if I remember correctly. And I couldn't see an option to add a new book. It's great to hear they've improved.

 

I used the site for a while and paid the $25, but a while later I switched to GoodReads. I used Safari and BookLikes for a little while too, but in the end found it too hard to keep up with multiple sites, and both of them had their problems, in the end I picked GoodReads.

I don't think one is better than the other - ultimately we all go with whatever we find suits us best. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to pay for the yearly membership, then a few years they got badly hacked, and as compensation they awarded free lifetime memberships to anyone who was affected, but it's still good vale at $25.  Obviously it all comes to personal preference which site anyone uses, I like GR but just didn't see the point of duplicating my collection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to pay for the yearly membership, then a few years they got badly hacked, and as compensation they awarded free lifetime memberships to anyone who was affected, but it's still good vale at $25.  Obviously it all comes to personal preference which site anyone uses, I like GR but just didn't see the point of duplicating my collection.

 

That's interesting, ta. Maybe that's why I got free membership, I honestly can't remember. I do know I hadn't paid for the membership so had less than 200 in there at the time. They only had my email address though I think, not much else - I already get spam there so no big deal!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used it for a while some years ago but I stopped when it seemed I couldn't add any books so there was no way to catalogue any books by Dutch or Belgian authors. I liked that you could edit the titles and such in the list table of your books.

 

Interesting, I didn't realize they were not multi-national (at that time at least).  I'm pretty sure they are now though.

 

 

Are you sure it's free now? On their website I can still read

 

  • Enter 200 items for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life).

 

edit: Am I allowed to name another GR/LT alternative here? 

 

We joined 10 years ago, and your figures are accurate for then, at least.

We have three accounts between us.  His, mine, and ours. :)

 

 

I've just checked out LibraryThing and it's definitely not as nice looking as GoodReads and it does look like you have to pay if you want to add more than 200 books.  A one off payment of $25 does seem pretty reasonable to me although I do wish the site looked a bit more inviting.  It also says on the homepage you can also keep track of movies and music too and I do like the idea of being able to log movies as well as books.

 

Hmmm... decisions, decisions.  GoodReads or LibraryThing?

 

The main reason I list all of our books on Library Thing is that they accept duplicates without any extra clicking.  At first GR didn't accept duplicates, then they added the feature.....but it's more clicks than I want to bother with, so while I list books as I read them on GR (now), I don't bother with general purchases. 

Plus, I don't have kindle books on either site (unless I've put it as I have read them).

 

The groups are more easily accessed on GR, but for all other purposes, I'll take Library Thing over it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I joined both initially, but found LibraryThing more flexible, more powerful, and easier to use. I still go to GoodReads for reviews, and take part in a couple of forums, but even there, I find LT easier. GoodReads is prettier, I do agree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think one is better than the other - ultimately we all go with whatever we find suits us best. :)

 

Very true :)!

 

Interesting, I didn't realize they were not multi-national (at that time at least).  I'm pretty sure they are now though.

That's good to know. It's a problem with all of English book sites or at least it used to be (maybe not anymore). There is a Dutch site as well, called Hebban, but the problem with that one is that it doesn't list any books that haven't been translated into Dutch. Gladly I'm a GoodReads librarian so I can add and edit books. It does get tiring sometimes, having to add stuff, but since I read books in both Dutch and English and don't want to have my collection spread out or split, it has to be done. It does annoy me when I see errors on book websites, but because I'm a GoodReads librarian I can fix a lot of the errors on GR so that helps. And back in the day, when I decided on GR, GR was the website with the least errors in the books I was then adding. BookLikes for example, at the time, often had the wrong cover for a book and it really annoyed me. Not a different edition or anything, no, the cover of a completely different book.

 

We joined 10 years ago, and your figures are accurate for then, at least.

We have three accounts between us.  His, mine, and ours. :)

That's nice :).

 

The main reason I list all of our books on Library Thing is that they accept duplicates without any extra clicking.  At first GR didn't accept duplicates, then they added the feature.....but it's more clicks than I want to bother with, so while I list books as I read them on GR (now), I don't bother with general purchases. 

Plus, I don't have kindle books on either site (unless I've put it as I have read them).

That's true, adding duplicates isn't the easiest thing to do. In GR if you have two different editions it's quite doable but it can be awkward to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

A fairly recent addition for librarything users - TinyCat. Designed by LibraryThing as an online catalogue for small libraries, anyone with a LT account can set their own up with very little effort - it reads your LT collection et voila - you have an online catalogue of all your books which you can share with friends (if that's your bag). I've already used it a couple of times to show people particular parts of my collection rather than describe it. Its free for personal use

 

https://www.librarycat.org/

 

Mine is here if anyone's nosy):

https://www.librarycat.org/lib/Flip_Martian/search/text/+mediacode%3A+1%2A

Edited by Flip Martian
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...