Site of the week: LibraryThing

LibraryThing is a thing of loveliness indeed. At its most basic level it's an online cataloguing application - you enter your books (200 for free, as many as you like for a mere $10 a year) by title or author or ISBN, the site searches Amazon and libraries worldwide for the precise book data and you can then edit your collection, organise it and tag books with your own subjects. So far so good in a slightly nerdy kind of way. But what really sets LibraryThing apart, and makes it truly Web 2.0-tastic, is its social networking aspect. Once registered, you get your own profile which connects you to everyone else on LibraryThing and this is where the fun begins. Check out other people's libraries, discover how obscure your own collection is via a "fun statistics" page which measures how many other people have your books, and get recommendations via the site, based on what other people who share your tatstes enjoy reading, and personal suggestions from other LibraryThingers. There is also a "groups" feature which ranges from Librarians who LibraryThing (617 members) to Australian Quakers (1 - silent - member) and a very active discussion forum. Fantastic. Addictive and very, very cool.