What Do You Use LibraryThing For?

Today on one of the profession-related e-mail lists I subscribe to, I mentioned LibraryThing as a tool that I use in marketing my business. A listmate asked whether LibraryThing is also a social site, and yes, it is. I shared there the ways that it can be used, and I'm offering the information here too for the rest of my colleagues who don't subscribe to that list.

I use LibraryThing as a way to have a detailed online inventory of the books I own (I'm still not caught up with that part!) and the books I've edited. My library is here. And I like that LibraryThing offers me a chance to create widgets showing the books I've edited, for use on my web site, on this blog (see the sidebar at the right), and on my LinkedIn profile.

But LibraryThing is a social site too. It offers discussion groups, including one named Hobnob with Authors, which LinkedIn describes like this:

This is a group for readers and authors to connect. Unlike the rest of the groups, this is a "safe space" for authors to promote and converse about their books without fear of being accused of spamming. Authors are encouraged to chat with members, not just copy and paste blurbs about their books.

There is also a group called Author Chat:

Author Chat has scheduled discussions with authors. Each "chat" will be contained in one topic thread. So come up with your questions, and start asking! Authors who are interested in having their own chats should email ...

And there are many book- and book-topic discussion groups. I don't participate in any of the LibraryThing groups, because my favorite arenas are Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn and there's only so much time in the day. But I can see that some editorial workers might find networking through LibraryThing very helpful.

Check out the main About page for more information.

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