Goodreads Project ( 3rd Web 2.0 Project)

This is a review of one of my technology projects:  Exploring Goodreads.  I could have set up a new account with Library Thing, or Shelfari, but to be quite blunt, I've opened more accounts  for this class then I have credit cards in the last 35 years!  And that's a lot! ;-)  Seriously, since I had already set up a Goodreads account years ago, I thought it would be best to reacquaint myself with an account I never really used, and determine if it is something I would use in the future.  After four weeks of monitoring and interacting with Goodreads, I have come to the following conclusions:

1.  This is a website which can help me with my Reader's Advisory duties at the Reference Desk.  It is clear, that I am not the bibliophile that others are at this site.  My piddly 107+ books pale in comparison to others, but to be fair, I've been locked in to a pattern of reading for classes, rather than reading for enjoyment.  Therefore, I find the wealth of reviews and input from others regarding titles I WILL NEVER get to to be invaluable.  For example:

•  I can look up any title and read a review or plot synopsis.  I can then decide to "go for it" or not waste my time.
• I can look at my fellow "friends"  accounts to see their reviews - and then be able to intelligently suggest titles to others based on their categorizing titles.  For example, our teen librarian has divided her teen book reviews into "teen horror" and "teen historical" titles, etc.  - so I can peruse those to make title suggestions for teens.
• I can dialogue with others by reading and responding to their reviews.  Not only is this helpful to build relationships, but it also helps me to understand other perspectives of titles I am considering, or I have read.  
• I loved the "to read" shelf.  It was great to have a record of books I've been wanting to read.  Unless they are marked down, I'm sure to forget them - so it was nice to have the accountability of a list.
• It is helpful to me as a person who works in a library to see what titles people are reading.  I may not be able to read them, but I become familiar with the title and can link it to the author's name because they have put it on Goodreads.  The next time a patron comes in to the library and asks for a similar title, I have some knowledge to draw from to associate the title with author, or to know that "yes, a book exists by that title."  This has happened many times since I've reactivated my Goodreads account.

2.  There are also very active groups you could join if you share a common love for certain genres or medium.  I joined the movies group because I thought it would be fun to see what people were saying about current movies.  I was surprised to find these were not necessarily reviews of new movies - but of all movies.  This was a site for movie lovers, and they commented and created threads on all types of movie and television shows.  The comments were enthusiastic and showed a true passion for the film experience.  I wasn't expecting to see such respect for movies on a reading website, but that goes to show you that you can love books AND still love movies.  It was both enjoyable and beneficial to read these comments, because not only do I deal with books at the reference desk, I also get asked questions about movies and movie trivia. I was also impressed with the timeliness of the comments.  When director Sidney Lumet died, there was an immediate discussion started about his impressive body of work.

I also signed up for the Jane Austen fan club, because, well, I'm a fan!  It was quite fun to read the comments and share my favorites. 

3.  I felt that the method for adding titles to my account was very user friendly.  I appreciated the way you could look up any title, and find not only the picture of the book, but all the possibilities.  If I happened to mistype the title, it would give me a variety of options which usually included what I was actually looking for. Once you selected a title, you would then select from three shelf options - read, to read, or currently reading.  You could also add other shelves, as many of my friends have.  They further categorized their titles by genre, and age group.  That is a helpful feature.  Adding reviews and comments was also very user friendly.

4.  I signed up for daily email notifications when my "friends" posted to their Goodreads accounts.  I liked this because they would lump all the reviews/postings together in one email, and I only had to open one email.  Some of my friends were constantly posting, and others were like me - their activity was either "feast or famine."  I was glad to see I wasn't the only one who had given "Goodreads" a break.

5  There was  a "compare" feature which enabled you to see which books you and your friends had in common on your bookshelves.  Because you "rated" each title when you added it to your shelf (up to 5 stars) you could see even if the person did not write a review what they thought of the book.  This was helpful because it was a good conversation starter between friends, plus, if you knew you had the same taste as a friend, you could instantly see what you'd like, or wouldn't like.

6.  I was not very prolific with my book reviews - I tended to prefer reading others to creating my own.  However, I will say that I was tickled to get a "like" notice from my review of Dewey, the Library Cat.  Even though it came years after my review - it showed me that once you post a review, it can be read and effective to a much larger audience than when it was immediately written.  Goodreads will give you "community reviews" of people you do not know when you search for specific titles, or when you place your own reviews.  This opens up your opinions and observations to many others.

In conclusion, Goodreads is most definitely a valuable asset for anyone who works in a work environment that includes books and stories of any kind.  The convenience of perusing my teen librarian's shelf alone is worth setting up the account, because YA is one genre that is on the bottom of my "to read" list.  However, I can benefit from her recommendations and booklists, and I have actually done that on more than one occasion!    Here is my link:   http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1733243-melanie