![]() And for those of you who have trouble keeping track of your library loans more specifically, our friends at ProfHacker recently reviewed Library Elf as a viable option.If you have a book collection, you’re probably like many other collectors of books and ephemera-you want to catalogue what you have. Last year GradHacker Andrea Zellner wrote a short piece on how she uses the service to keep track of her summer reading list. I’m still in the process of cataloging my entire library, but I’m continually finding new uses for the website. While the program is great, it does have one major drawback: I haven’t found a way to export my Goodreads library directly into a reference manager program yet – but there may be a work around for that in the near future. In addition to these great features, Goodreads can also locate duplicate references and keep statistics on the number of books (and pages) you’ve read. A search of your favorite authors reveals their books as well as memorable quotes and groups of users interested in the same writers. You can also create and join groups of users with similar literary interests. After rating 20 books, Goodreads will even start recommending readings to you.įor those interested in social media, you can attach a Goodreads widget to your blog or website displaying your latest books and follow your friends’ literary adventures through facebook and twitter. I have found the reviews to be more personal and in-depth than most online bookstore reviews. Goodreads encourages you to rate your selections and provides you with an average rating so you can see how others have assessed the book. The application also supports batch shelving so you can scan multiple books and “shelve” them all at once. txt files, and any website that includes ISBNs – such as your wishlist.Īfter scanning your books, you can catalog them into different “bookshelves.” The default bookshelves include “read,” “currently-reading,” and “to-read” but you are free to make your own as well. In addition to barcode scanning, users can also import titles from spreadsheets. The barcode scanner recognizes most books, although you will need to input your older books that don’t have barcodes manually. Once you have downloaded the phone app, you can begin scanning the books in your library. ![]() The interface for both the website and application are simple and easy to use. ![]() With a few simple steps you can start cataloging your library in no time.įirst you need to sign-up for a free online account and download the phone app. In 2011, Goodreads released their iOS and Android app with the ability to scan barcodes and input references with your phone’s camera, revolutionizing the way we can use the software. While many people use Goodreads to read reviews or share suggestions with friends, it turns out it’s actually great for cataloging as well. Best of all, the whole collection syncs wirelessly over the internet! With a smartphone and a free account you can easily collect the bibliographic information for all of your books, group them into categories, read and update reviews, and keep track of what you still need to read. This summer I came across a free alternative that has actually been around for quite some time now: Goodreads. However, I couldn’t justify spending $25 on a grad student budget. More recently, I’ve been particularly keen on Delicious Library because of its ability to scan barcodes and intuitively sync with and other services for pricing and reading reviews. I have tried Endnote and other reference managers in the past but found the process of searching online and importing metadata to be cumbersome. ![]() With so many books, I had to develop a method to keep track of all of them. ![]() But over the years I’ve fallen victim to the “I-don’t-have-this-book” syndrome, only to return home later and find it tucked away in the corner somewhere. I personally enjoy spending countless hours mining used bookstores for new titles. Īs a graduate student you’ll have plenty of books to read some you’ll buy, others you’ll borrow. You can find him on Twitter at or at his blog AfricanaArch. Justin Dunnavant is a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Florida. ![]()
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