Sunday, July 29, 2007

Personal Library Online


Comparison

Library Thing

Shelfari

Details


Book Shelf

Can be list, with columns, or cover pictures

Cover pictures, on shelf – large or small

Can see detail info on Library thing but do I want to see that or just know its there?


Sort order of book shelf

Sort by clicking on each column – ex. Author

Pull down menu gives you sort options



Tags

Yes

No – Make that Yes. They just aren’t that easy to find at first.

Librarything/Shelfari doesn’t assume a space means another tag. I entered Istanbul Turkey and that’s one tag


Search function

Not as good as Amazon – couldn’t find Suite Francais

Didn’t have a problem finding Suite Francaise

I don’t really understand why Library Thing didn’t find it since it seems to find books on Amazon – that’s the first place it looks


Search continued

Can add only one book at a time

If search for author returns multiple books you can select several for your shelf at once.

I added a few books on Library Thing accidentally because I thought I was reviewing book, not adding. Shelfari function buttons are big and easy to use


See other’s book shelves

In my profile, I have a window that shows other people with my same books. I click on them and see more books like mine that I forgot. Helpful

I didn’t see the same feature.



Tools

Export

Export

LT has link to Vox but it’s nothing great.


Tools continued

Many more functions but not sure how useful – some in beta




In General

Started out with LT but find the interface bland compared to Shelfari

Functionality a little delicate and slow to respond. I’ve gotten different tag screens by accident

Both need some work. Considering transferring my library to Shelfari from LT

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thats a pretty good comparison. I agree with the pros and cons. I think I am sticking with Shelfari!

Sungji Koo said...

You did a good job comparing these two sites and their different aspects.

Hala said...

The table was a good idea. You did a clear and a great comparison.

Unknown said...

That's an interesting way to compare both Shelfari and LT. Thanks for mentioning us, glad you are enjoying the site.
Anyways, we just launched a new blog widget at www.shelfari.com/widget

I'd love to hear your opinion on the widget. Give it a try and tell us what you think.

--Dave