Hello Readers,
Today I share my thoughts on Library Thing (although I did mention it during my Shelfari post). It's so simple: catalog the books you own, assign tags to your titles, rate them, review them and join groups to discuss them. You can also personalize your page to include recommendations from other Thingamabrarians (as we are called), author visits in your area and a listing of members who have the same titles in their library as you. Tagging also gives you the option to catalogue your collection outside of Dewey convention. For instance, I have tags called "movie tie-in" and "tv tie-in" to designate books in my collection that have been adapted into film or television. I also use the tag for books from films and television series.
The best and most unusual features of Library Thing are the Suggester, which is basically recommendations based on your catalog and the Unsuggester, which recommends titles that are the antithesis of your library collection. Another signature feature is the opportunity to received free books from publishers to review for the site called "Library Thing Early Reviewers".
I can't really explain my collection. This collection isn't every book I own, but it does represent what I love after reading- art. Check out my Library Thing. I hope to see yours. Until then, keep reading.
Queen B.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Bonus Buzz: Shefari: Exploring Reading Possibilities
Hello Readers,
I just finished my library for Library Thing (I'll share my thoughts soon). I do like Library Thing because I can see who else owns the books I own, do my own reviews and post them to Twitter and join groups with unusual names like "Librarians Who Library Thing", "Awful Lit." and "Tea!" . But the number of books you can catalog for free is limited to 200. Does any librarian own less than 200 books? Possibly. It doesn't cost much to upgrade to an unlimited library and it's good for book swaps and insurance purposes. The only thing, I wouldn't include books I don't own on Library Thing, which is why I like Shefari.
Shefari is a social networking book site, like Library Thing. You let people know what you read, what you are reading and what you're going to read if you choose. You can choose your display shelf and just add books. You can also catalog magazines and individual comics (which is harder to do with Library Thing). I liked having a separate place to review and recommend books I read from my school library and books I checked out from the public library without taking up my Library Thing space. I also have two separate bookshelves: one for my young adult and adult reads and ones for children's books and professional books. Check it out. Create a shelf for books not in your personal library and share. I'm always looking for books to read. Hopefully you'll try out some of the books on my shelves.
My Children's/Professional Shelf:
Queen B's Children's Books
My YA/Adult Shelf:
Queen B.
Until then, keep reading!
Queen B.
I just finished my library for Library Thing (I'll share my thoughts soon). I do like Library Thing because I can see who else owns the books I own, do my own reviews and post them to Twitter and join groups with unusual names like "Librarians Who Library Thing", "Awful Lit." and "Tea!" . But the number of books you can catalog for free is limited to 200. Does any librarian own less than 200 books? Possibly. It doesn't cost much to upgrade to an unlimited library and it's good for book swaps and insurance purposes. The only thing, I wouldn't include books I don't own on Library Thing, which is why I like Shefari.
Shefari is a social networking book site, like Library Thing. You let people know what you read, what you are reading and what you're going to read if you choose. You can choose your display shelf and just add books. You can also catalog magazines and individual comics (which is harder to do with Library Thing). I liked having a separate place to review and recommend books I read from my school library and books I checked out from the public library without taking up my Library Thing space. I also have two separate bookshelves: one for my young adult and adult reads and ones for children's books and professional books. Check it out. Create a shelf for books not in your personal library and share. I'm always looking for books to read. Hopefully you'll try out some of the books on my shelves.
My Children's/Professional Shelf:
Queen B's Children's Books
My YA/Adult Shelf:
Queen B.
Until then, keep reading!
Queen B.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Bonus Buzz: Web Tool Book- Blogger
Hello Readers,
I can't believe I didn't have a blog before 23 Things. Well, I had my reservations, but I'm really enjoying this now. Blogger is so easy to use, but there is so much more. When I decided to take on these 23 Things, I checked out a couple of books. One book I found useful was Publishing a Blog with Blogger (part of the Visual Quick Project series).
Just to let you know, the book was published in 2005, so some of the features look different in the book than how they look in Blogger now. Still, the book was very visual- large color pictures, concise text and multiple examples. There was also clear explanation and breakdown of HTML codes and how it looks in your posts. Now I'm not into code, but it did help me see how it translates. One day I'll probably go down that road when I need that challenge.
Now everything in the book could probably be found in Blogger's help section, but I can't stare at a computer screen to read all of the time. Having a book to refer to while I'm doing a project helps. Give this book a look. Let me know if you've found a better book on Blogger or blogging in general. Until then, keep reading.
Queen B.
I can't believe I didn't have a blog before 23 Things. Well, I had my reservations, but I'm really enjoying this now. Blogger is so easy to use, but there is so much more. When I decided to take on these 23 Things, I checked out a couple of books. One book I found useful was Publishing a Blog with Blogger (part of the Visual Quick Project series).
Just to let you know, the book was published in 2005, so some of the features look different in the book than how they look in Blogger now. Still, the book was very visual- large color pictures, concise text and multiple examples. There was also clear explanation and breakdown of HTML codes and how it looks in your posts. Now I'm not into code, but it did help me see how it translates. One day I'll probably go down that road when I need that challenge.
Now everything in the book could probably be found in Blogger's help section, but I can't stare at a computer screen to read all of the time. Having a book to refer to while I'm doing a project helps. Give this book a look. Let me know if you've found a better book on Blogger or blogging in general. Until then, keep reading.
Queen B.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Bonus Buzz: A Web Tool Book to Check Out
Hello All,
Queen B here giving you some bonus buzz. Storms came and went, but that's Texas. While I waited for the weather to clear, I read by flashlight- a quick read called No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason. You could follow the Amazon link, but many public libraries have this title (World Cat says 193 libraries worldwide have this title physically in their library and over 200 have an electronic version available ). What I found interesting about this book is the blogging ideas are divided by the amount of time you may have to dedicate to your blog. The first chapter is called "Fifteen Minutes of Fame". The other chapters cover Thirty minutes, one hour and long term blogs.
The one of the ideas I found interesting was "29-Place Yourself". Using the website Platial, you can create a Google map mashup of anything you like. For instance, the summer reading program for our district is "Books that Bite". Librarians or students can do literature maps like "Places That Bite" (a Google map mashup of the settings of vampire stories, shark , reptile or bug related stories). I going to explore this site and let you know how it goes. Until then, keep buzzing.
Queen B
Queen B here giving you some bonus buzz. Storms came and went, but that's Texas. While I waited for the weather to clear, I read by flashlight- a quick read called No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog by Margaret Mason. You could follow the Amazon link, but many public libraries have this title (World Cat says 193 libraries worldwide have this title physically in their library and over 200 have an electronic version available ). What I found interesting about this book is the blogging ideas are divided by the amount of time you may have to dedicate to your blog. The first chapter is called "Fifteen Minutes of Fame". The other chapters cover Thirty minutes, one hour and long term blogs.
The one of the ideas I found interesting was "29-Place Yourself". Using the website Platial, you can create a Google map mashup of anything you like. For instance, the summer reading program for our district is "Books that Bite". Librarians or students can do literature maps like "Places That Bite" (a Google map mashup of the settings of vampire stories, shark , reptile or bug related stories). I going to explore this site and let you know how it goes. Until then, keep buzzing.
Queen B
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Thing 4: Mashup
Hello,
I spent a lot of time on the various mashup links for thing 4. Maybe TOO much time. The Spell with Flickr site reminded me of the Caldecott Honor book Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson. His book has illustrations of city objects that look like the letters of the alphabet. Johnson also created a sequel using numbers called City by Numbers. Check them out, they are more than your standard counting and alphabet books. Until then, keep buzzing.
I spent a lot of time on the various mashup links for thing 4. Maybe TOO much time. The Spell with Flickr site reminded me of the Caldecott Honor book Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson. His book has illustrations of city objects that look like the letters of the alphabet. Johnson also created a sequel using numbers called City by Numbers. Check them out, they are more than your standard counting and alphabet books. Until then, keep buzzing.
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