linking with librarything at the washington state library
DESCRIPTION
A brief overview of the Washington State Library's use of LibraryThing, presented at the 2008 Pacific Northwest Library Association conference in Post Falls, Idaho.TRANSCRIPT
PNLA 2008
Linking with LibraryThing at the Washington State Library
Mary Paynton SchaffReference Librarian
Why LibraryThing?• Getting where our
patrons are• Marketing to a new
audience• Social cataloging• RSS• Hard to make wholesale
changes to a shared catalog
• First 200 books free• It’s cool!
How do we use LibraryThing?
• Advertise our materials
• Steer traffic back to our website, online resources, and Ask a Librarian
• Create RSS widgets to display “new” titles on our blog
• Create lists and bibliographies using tags
• Make connections with other members and projects
LibraryThing LocalAdvertise your events!
• Community-wide book-related events
• RSS• Favorite venues• Comment walls• Past Events• Claim your venue and link
it back to your profile
The Response So Far• Consistent click-through
from blog widget to new books
• Discovered LT’s value as a resource for reader’s advisory
• Spurred us to investigate other online portals
• Profiled in Ellyssa’ Kroski’s new book
Concerns to Consider
• Meaningless tags
• Consistent linkage between LibraryThing and your “official” resources
• Current lack of Java-enabled widgets
• WorldCat?
• Promoting your presence on LibraryThing
• Time sink
LibraryThing at the Washington State Library
http://www.librarything.com/profile/wastatelib
Questions? Comments?
Mary Schaff