The two websites I have chosen to review are LibraryThing and Internet Library for Librarians. LibraryThing can be found at http://www.librarything.com/. Internet Library for Librarians can be found at http://www.itcompany.com/inforetriever/index.htm. LibraryThing is a social cataloging site that allows users to compile their personal libraries onto the site and share them with other users. Users can tag their books with keywords so that other users can find similar titles. For instance, tagging the novel Twilight with keywords like “teens” and “love” and “vampires” will link to books like Interview with the Vampire and Romeo and Juliet depending on which tag being searched. Internet Library for Librarians is a virtual hub of information for librarians. With subheadings like “descriptive cataloging,” “authority maintenance,” “MARC formats,” “meta-data,” and “OPACs” this site gives details on how the operations of a library work and links to helpful sites like MARC, AARC2, and RDA.
The criteria I used to evaluate the websites were twofold. Firstly, the site had to be easy to navigate. LibraryThing was not only extremely easy to maneuver through; it also came with a guided tour in case something eluded the user. Internet library for librarians had all of the links to the proper pages right at the top of the page. There was no searching though different links to find the information needed. It was all right there at the start. Both sites were laid out in a professional manner with link to contact site administrators with more information or assistance. The second piece of criteria I used to evaluate the sites was the level of detail that each site went into as far as the information it was trying to present. For the Internet library for librarians site, the site gets a gold star. The amount of information that site provides is almost too much. When going back to the parent site, there is information on Administration, Youth Services, and other parts of library service. As far as cataloging goes, the site explains what the issue is for the individual links and then provides links to the respective site on the World Wide Web. LibraryThing, being less formal, was also informative with its social aspects. I enjoyed being able to browse by tag and being able to look at an individual users library. LibraryThing also allows users to export their library to other sites, making it portable and accessible.
As far as my reasoning and use of the sites go, there are a few simple answers. I chose LibraryThing and Internet Library for librarians because both sites are different aspects of the cataloging phenomenon. LibraryThing dives into the Web 2.0 aspects of cataloging and social networking, allowing users to comment on each other’s collections and share ideas and reviews and personal connections to the books. Internet Library for librarians is the opposite, focusing on the purely detailed aspects of cataloging. Links to RDA and AACR2 and explanations of descriptive cataloging and OPACs and MARC and meta-data are all very un-Web 2.0, however, they are important to the librarian in search for help in cataloging books or other materials. My use of LibraryThing has already begun. I have begun cataloging my personal library with some success and begun to connect with other users about my graphic novel habit and my love of American literature. Internet Library for Librarians will be helpful for a search of general catalog topics. If I did not have access to the links provided on Blackboard of this class, then Internet Library would be the place to find the necessary information. It’s been bookmarked on my computer in preparation for the day the Blackboard site goes down at the end of the semester. I’m not sure how often I’ll use it, but it’ll be nice to know it’s there for me to access if I need it.