Comments on: Book-lovers’ hubs: Shelfari vs. Library Thing

By: NetFlix for p-books is on the way: Major issues for public libraries | TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:09:20 +0000

[...] as shown by Shelfari and LibraryThing, BookSwim is just one of a bunch of potential threats to the Carnegie model. These [...]

By: Blue Tyson

Blue Tyson — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 08:23:06 +0000

You could import from LibraryThing to Shelfair.

Could is the operative word.

You could if it worked. It doesn’t.

So, it is basically useless from that point of view. Manual book adding worked.

Anobii however imported the LT list, but ONLY those books with ISBNs. However, it did import tags. However, the website moves somewhere between snail and glacier, so haven’t been able to check anything else out as to whether it did reviews, etc.

This looks like it would be a Shelfari problem too. If no ISBN, it doesn’t exist (or no listing at Amazon, away.)

So, Anobii perhaps useful backup of sorts, Shelfari was no use at all.

By: starpause

starpause — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 17:40:39 +0000

Rob’s question answers itself: libraries are public, they’re free for everyone. For that reason I hope that they’re around for a while, because who knows what motives lurk under any corporate PR? Less diabolical: when will a corporation’s free services become pay, etc.

LexusNexus has been setting the standard in data storage and search for a long time, so in that sense the future you wonder about is already here.

By: Robert Nagle

Robert Nagle — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 11:22:56 +0000

My library is a very busy community center. It is also a place where people can go and hang out (after school, work, etc). Now that interlibrary loan makes it possible to obtain almost anything from any library (even from those outside the city library system), being well stocked has been less important than providing assistance to patrons (for research, finding a job, etc). Many people go there for internet access also.

My city library has a “job search kiosk” where patrons can find Houston jobs (from the Houston Chronicle classifieds) and print out jobs they like. That is also heavily used.

By: Jeff Donlan

Jeff Donlan — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 03:23:11 +0000

Libraries as cooperative purchasing projects for the public will last as long as we want such a thing. Perhaps the day will come when most content is digital and digital rights are such that public libraries become passe. Right now, though, libraries seem to be growing and adapting nicely. Commercial co-opting of public library service is always imminent yet remains in the future. Google hasn’t closed our doors yet.

By: Jon Noring

Jon Noring — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 23:49:08 +0000

Maybe instead of seeing library on my property tax bill, I’ll see “community center.”

It is hard to know what the future holds for brick and mortar libraries. I’ve always thought that their survival depends upon being a true value to the local community, and in the traditional library sense to focus on the acquisition, archiving and digitizing of truly local/community content. There’s no reason for a local library of the future to “hold” copies of the same ebooks “held” by other libraries, but rather to be a portal to some central repository. But they can specialize in local content, and make that available to the world.

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 16:06:44 +0000

Good points, short term, Rob. But how about the future when e-book-friendly computers and WiFi are cheaper and people have ‘em at home? And when people are more accustomed to the Net than now? The poor and the less educated need libraries, yes, and I hope they’ll be there in the future–for all income groups. Anyway it’s great to see a publisher who understands the synergy between libraries and his business. Thanks. David

By: Rob Preece

Rob Preece — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:30:48 +0000

I live in an urban neighborhood just south of downtown Dallas. Here, the public libraries are a huge traffic center. Teens wait in line to access a computer for homework or on-line chatting. Moms check out books on pregnancy and child-rearing. Men research the building code and take English as a Second Language classes. The library provides both computers and WiFi (for those of us who bring along our Pocket PCs).

In my neighborhood, at least, the public library is doing its job.

Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com