I love LibraryThing!  I’ve started and stopped with it a number of times, though; I think I’m too lazy to keep up with it.  Part of my problem is I don’t read as much as I used to (or rather, I read just as much, I just read blogs, not books).  I used to be a dedicated book journal keeper, and I like what LibraryThing has to offer that a paper-and-pen journal doesn’t.  Most of all, I love seeing all the book covers of what I’ve read or plan to read.  It’s like browsing the shelves to see what to read next or to just remember what it was like to read the book the first time. 

Click here to veiw my catalog.

I think that LibraryThing is also a fantastic tool for Reader’s Advisory (a skill I’m, frankly, terrible at).  I did a tag mash up for “classic, humor” and got a wonderful list of books ranging from Mark Twain and Voltaire, to Wodehouse and Roald Dahl. 

I also am really intrigued by the social aspect of LibraryThing.  There’s a feature that lets you narrow the vast conversation down to just what groups are talking right now about books in your library.  That seems a great way to jump in and join a discussion. 

LibraryThing is also a really cool tool for adding into existing library catalogs.  Seeing a list of similar books and a tag cloud (and maybe even reader reviews?) really makes the catalog much more usable, inviting, and vibrant.  I had the pleasure of hearing the founder of LibraryThing present at Computers In Libraries last year; he mentioned that users shouldn’t feel stuck in the catalog, that there’s no reason the catalog shouldn’t lead out to the rest of the web.  Users are more comfortable with sites that work like websites, with links coming in and out.  The catalog doesn’t need to be as static as it is.

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