0

By Robert Nagle

aquabrowser AquaBrowser, which hundreds of library systems use for graphically-oriented browsing of catalogs, has teamed up with LibraryThing to create a My Discoveries feature.

The Thingology blog says AquaBrowser will now be integrating LibraryThing’s tags and social networking knowledge (ratings, reviews, lists, etc.) from LibraryThing into a catalog browser.

“My Discoveries is the new Social Library Experience found in AquaBrowser, by Medialab Solutions,” says a press release. “My Discoveries gives the user space to contribute their own knowledge and opinions on library materials and services. This experience is beneficial for patrons and librarians alike; by reviewing, tagging and networking the user takes an active role in the catalog. Everyone in the community can contribute and share their knowledge through AquaBrowser. The mission of AquaBrowser is to assist the library attain its role as the epicenter and sole institution to provide and safeguard knowledge. That mission is incomplete without a truly defined web identity, one which the public relates instinctively with finding information. My Discoveries was created to take the next step: to give a role and a voice to the community, and to connect the people who create, organize and use the library’s resources, inside and outside the library.”

Fun fact from AquaBrowser’s press release: Over 245,000 LibraryThing members have added more than 21 million tags and 2 million ratings to almost 17 million books. Here are some screenshots from the AquaBrowser. You can test the visual browser display on the Queen’s library page (note that My Discoveries is not visible).

Random reactions:

  1. Doesn’t it seem perfectly normal that library-catalogs should be entirely Web-based these days? What was life like before Web catalogs?
  2. The current browser for my Houston city library is clunky and often makes it impossible for me to find material. Browsing by subject is hit-or-miss (because it’s hard to wade through hundreds or thousands of titles under a certain category).
  3. The great things about tags is that it lets you filter search results more easily. (I describe this more fully in my article about books and social networking).
  4. AquaBrowser is prettier, but Worldcat is a friendlier and more powerful querying engine. Obviously, though, the AquaBrowser concept is the wave of the future.
  5. Worldcat already includes the ability to store reader reviews. But because worldcat is a resource geared to librarians and researchers rather than typical patrons, they probably don’t attract many reviews at all.

LibraryThing started out as an emergent network of book information. Despite the occasional problems of wrong or inconsistent labels, LibraryThing’s core competence is helping individuals to tag, organize and review books they own and which are owned by others. As LibraryThing scales upward, it will face the problems Amazon.com already faced with user submissions—the need for moderation and balance. It also faces the problem of tagging digital content such as ebooks.

 
0