PNLA 2008

Linking with LibraryThing at the Washington State Library

Mary Paynton SchaffReference Librarian

mschaff@secstate.wa.gov

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

mschaff@secstate.wa.gov