Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Librarything vs. Shelfari

Booklovers unite! could be the catch phrase for either LibraryThing or Shelfari

Both sites basically have the same concept- to be a social media site for books. Personally I liked the layout and the ease of use that Librarything provided. It didn't seem as complicated, and editing tags was part of the loading process. For Shelfari it seemed that tag edits were afterthoughts.

I like how both sites give you a variety of options for searching for books, issn, title, author, LC or amazon! They create a community that anyone could use!

I feel that Shelfari really pushes the whole community aspect, upon sign up they can check your address book to determine if any friends are registered. They want you to connect to those you know and don't know...sort of pushing it to be a giant book group.

I find that I like LibraryThing better for general browsing and for readers advisory. The suggested books are more evident, I don't feel that I am searching for this information as I was on Shelfari.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thanks for mentioning Shelfari in your blog :) My philosophy on social networking book sites is why pick one when you pick both? Here at Shelfari, with no cost or obligation, we encourage everyone to try out the site.
Anyways, we just launched a new blog widget and would love to hear you opinion on it. Give it a try and tell us what you think :)