A Public Library Tries LibraryThing

By Lynn Blumenstein -- Library Journal, 06/15/2007

LibraryThing developer Tim Spalding may have warned that public libraries are more scared of user-generated tags than are academic ones (see “Chief Thingamabrarian,” LJ 1/07, p. 40–42), but he's found a taker in the Danbury Public Library (DPL), CT, the first to sign up with the consumer-oriented, collaborative book cataloging web site.

So, for example, the “tag cloud” before Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, suggests not just “economics” and “sociology” but also “crime” and “abortion,” two lesser themes. A click produces a list of similarly tagged books.

The DPL catalog cautions that some tags may seem “irrelevant, wrong, or just plain strange,” but DPL coordinator of library automation Kate Sheehan said she's “really looking forward to seeing how our patrons respond.” Patrons can't add their own tags yet; that poses technical challenges with the library's ILS.

LibraryThing pricing, according to the Thingology blog, is a formula tied to the number of ISBNs, multiplied by total collection or circulation figures, so consortia and branch systems would pay more than a single library but not for each collection item.