Anywhere you see the phrase (quickly becoming a tired cliche) “Web 2.0,” what it means is, inevitably, some variety of social networking. You have your MySpace, your Flickr, your del.icio.us, and now: Library Thing. But this one not only kicks it up a notch, as they say, it also seeks a higher level of intellectual stimulation than one is accustomed to on the web.
Here’s how it works: First, one must have a desire to connect with other readers and writers, and then a little time on your hands to enter some of your library into the database. But once you clear those hurdles, tag your books and start meeting fellow-travelers, striking up conversation and--maybe as importantly--finding new books you might otherwise have missed.
Thanks for sharing the link to your library. I’ve not entered any books, and not sure when in the next decade I’ll have time to, but I love the idea and browsing all the data being generated. And the guy whose brainchild it is, Tim Spalding, is funny, iconoclastic, smart-bordering-on-brilliant, a classicist to boot (I just learned that he’s the one behind the Ancient Library, and this portal of Ancient History sites: http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/).
I wish it integrated with a desktop library system, like Delicious Monster or Readerware--or better yet a reference database like BookEnds or EndNote. I really only want to enter the info once.
