Online Book Communities

Online book communities are increasingly growing. There are several available to choose from, and while many of them offer some of the same features, they also have unique qualities of their own. These are great digital tools to use in order to organize your own book collections virtually, share your books and thoughts about them with others and follow people that have similar tastes in books. Here are some book community resources that are available:

Goodreads

It is very easy to set up and get started. Tabs across the top (Home, My Books, Friends, Recommendations & Explore) make the site simple to navigate. I like the explore tab because it has a drop down with numerous categories and ways to explore books and the site. I especially like the option to explore by genre. When looking under the recommendations tab, books are organized based off of your bookshelves and also organized by genre. It can be linked to Facebook and Twitter to automatically post when you add or review books. I am even able to follow people I am currently following on Twitter with just one click! I also like the design of adding books; it is bolded in green to standout and all in one spot I can add a book to any shelf and rate it as well. With 16million users, it is a great resource.

LibraryThing

It is simple to set up. Tabs across the top (Home, Your Books, Add Books, Groups Talk, Local, More, Zeitgeist) make it also simple to navigate. On the left side of the page is a link to organized book lists. Your favorite lists can be added to the Home Page dashboard for future reference and quick access. I found adding and organizing books to shelves not very user friendly. It takes multiple steps to add a book to your list and put it in the shelf of choice. I also find it not really pleasing visually. Although, one benefit offered is the option to join groups. This gives you the ability to join other members in a group to discuss books of mutual interest. There are even book club groups that post a monthly title to read and discuss.

Shelfari

I have mixed feelings toward this book community site. I definitely like the look of the site. It is very attractive to the eye. When looking at your bookshelf, it looks like an actual bookshelf. The shelf is organized by: “I’ve Read”, “I Plan To Read” and “I’m Reading”. When browsing books you can define the search by clicking on featured, most popular, subject, series & lists and authors. While within those search options, you can then narrow your search even further by genre. The books are displayed on scrolling bookshelves and are very easy to choose which shelf you want to add it to, rate it and post on Facebook or Twitter. I ran into problems when I attempted to add a profile picture. I have attempted to add four different pictures varying in size. I have used the help source on the site and have Googled solutions to no avail. I did not encounter any of these issues on Goodreads or Librarything. In addition, Shelfari allows you to connect with Facebook and Twitter to follow members in both locations. I accomplished this with ease on Goodreads, but have had no success connecting on Shelfari. I have utilized every troubleshooting advice I could find, but it gives me numerous errors like: “disable pop-up blocker”, “server error” and “not signed into Twitter”. After assuring all digital tools and sites are working properly, I am still unable to connect to Twitter through the site. Ughhhhhh. This is frustrating because I like the design of this site most of all.

Booklikes

This book community is definitely unique from the previous ones I have discussed. I was able to sign up, set up and link with Twitter very quickly. I immediately thought, “This looks a bit like Tumblr”. Across the top I am given options to add text, quote, photo, video or URL. I am also given the option to pick my theme to create a look that I like and then chose the option to blog, add to a virtual bookshelf or create a reading timeline. So, it is like a blog and book community site mash up! Interesting…On the top left of the home page you can use the Dashboard to toggle between blog, bookshelf and timeline. It is very user friendly, and to set up your bookshelf just click on “Book Catalog” within the Dashboard. A large variety of categories to search within are available on the left side as well as the option to search a particular title. When you have found a book to add to the shelf, you can use the default customized shelf or customize your own. You can hover over a book image and get a book synopsis, rating, options to share and an option to post to your blog. I give this site 2 thumbs up.

Biblionasium

Here is a book community for educators, parents and students to share. You can use it for your own personal children or your students. Students/children can add books to their shelves; you can also add recommended books to their shelves. You can get a book synopsis, a link to purchase on Amazon and reading level information. You can even set up reading challenges from the bookshelves for the children to work toward and access resources including articles, booklists and reading organizations. It is designed to be attractive to kids, and they will find it great fun to set up and organize their own collections. It gives them a tool to take ownership of their reading and look forward to what they will read next.

Ø  In the end, for my own professional use I will continue to use Goodreads and Booklikes. I liked the navigation and layout of these sites the most. Goodreads has the greatest number of users, which gives more resources to utilize. Booklikes offers the opportunity to build my shelves and blog simultaneously. I find that very appealing. Professionally speaking Biblionasium will be a tool I recommend to teachers to use with their students. This will be a great way to get students to plan future reading.

* Screen shots were taken with the FREE software SKITCH. It just takes a moment to download and is very easy to use. With SKITCH you can take full screenshots, screenshots of selected portions of your screen and you can draw, highlight and type on your screen before taking your screenshot. It is such a handy tool to utilize.