Week 8 #19

#19 I had already discovered LibraryThing in week 5 when we were playing. I decided then to make a library of everything that I was reading this summer, both fiction from my school library and my personal reading.

I chose to use the widget which puts only the most recent books I'd been reading on my blog. Except for Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows and The Lightning Thief I found no discussions about the books I'd added, although there were a few people who also had each book on their list.

It's amazing how much is on this site. I have found myself skimming the discussion threads and getting caught up in a discussion that I wasn't planning to join. It's also fun to check out the tag clouds, authors, etc. (In David Warlick's latest 2 cents Worth blog and comments I read about some interesting ways to use tag clouds with students, e.g. in President's speeches to note the relative importance of themes.)

I'd like to use a LibraryThing widget on my school library page as a way of highlighting new books. I think it would be an enticement to students, especially if I use the format with the large book covers. It might even get them to look at the site for something other than research (always assuming that they actually do that now)!