Goodreads/Library Thing - Page 4

JSWolf · 07-31-2012, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlesatan

Technically they provide the same service but they have different ways of going about it, have different communities, and have different agendas (Shelfari, another book social network, was bought by Amazon a few years back, while Goodreads started purging its Amazon entries last year).

There's also an article on Book Riot that differentiates the two websites:

http://bookriot.com/2012/07/31/goodr...hing-part-one/

So that's what happened to Shelfari. It's another case of bought by Amazon and then ignored (aka Stanza).

charlesatan · 08-01-2012, 02:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So that's what happened to Shelfari. It's another case of bought by Amazon and then ignored (aka Stanza).

To be fair to Amazon, I don't think it was ignored. There just hasn't been any innovation in it lately, and the Amazon-owning-Safari exodus didn't help either.

BearMountainBooks · 08-01-2012, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlesatan

To be fair to Amazon, I don't think it was ignored. There just hasn't been any innovation in it lately, and the Amazon-owning-Safari exodus didn't help either.

They have just started doing things on Shelfari--for over a year that I was on, they didn't even have active ads. The ads are up now. They have had active "librarians" working on book entries for some time. They just seem to have added some "also bought" stuff as well.

It's always had the ability to "port over" any Amazon purchases to your "shelf."

That said, it could use some improvements, but overall it's not a bad social site. It's similar to GR when it comes to tracking books and making comments. It's plugged into Facebook and twitter (if you set it up) and there's some good peeps there.

BearMountainBooks · 08-01-2012, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'd give Shelfari beyond last place if it was possible. It's the worst site of it's type. I tried it and it was OK until I tried to enter a book and it came up with the wrong book. I send messages to the staff to get it fixed and after about a month nothing was done about it. So I left and never went back. I find the staff at Goodreads pretty responsive to fixing errors.

Fair enough. I've not had the same experience with the librarians at Shelfari; they fixed the two or three things I've sent their way. They were rather rude about answering a question I had one time, but I suppose they get tired of answering the same old questions over and over (I'm assuming that was the problem as I was told to go look in the faq/documentation.)

JSWolf · 08-01-2012, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Fair enough. I've not had the same experience with the librarians at Shelfari; they fixed the two or three things I've sent their way. They were rather rude about answering a question I had one time, but I suppose they get tired of answering the same old questions over and over (I'm assuming that was the problem as I was told to go look in the faq/documentation.)

Ignoring requests to fix errors and being rude. That does not make a site I want to be a part of. I'll stick with GR since the staff there are helpful in a timely manner.

BearMountainBooks · 08-01-2012, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Ignoring requests to fix errors and being rude. That does not make a site I want to be a part of. I'll stick with GR since the staff there are helpful in a timely manner.

Completely understand. One of the main reasons I like it was the private notes. But now that GR has them (supposedly) I may swap completely over. I find GR easier to use in general. One page to put up a review, versus shelfari that asks you 20 different questions about adding tags, whether you want to list characters, etc.

GR is really pretty dang spiffy.

JSWolf · 08-01-2012, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

GR is really pretty dang spiffy.

Shelfari is pretty dang obsolete.

Fbone · 08-01-2012, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Completely understand. One of the main reasons I like it was the private notes. But now that GR has them (supposedly) I may swap completely over. I find GR easier to use in general. One page to put up a review, versus shelfari that asks you 20 different questions about adding tags, whether you want to list characters, etc.

GR is really pretty dang spiffy.

To enter Private notes you click "more options" in the edit screen.

BearMountainBooks · 08-01-2012, 07:58 PM

Thanks FBONE.

Now, now, it's not obsolete. There are social groups hanging out there and posting every day. I'm on two fairly active groups. Oh, we're small groups compared to some of the GR groups, but small is nice too. We have some good discussions on books. In some ways I feel more free when it comes to whining about a book I don't like than on a bigger board. Its not a bad place to hang out.

charlesatan · 08-02-2012, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Thanks FBONE.

Now, now, it's not obsolete. There are social groups hanging out there and posting every day. I'm on two fairly active groups. Oh, we're small groups compared to some of the GR groups, but small is nice too. We have some good discussions on books. In some ways I feel more free when it comes to whining about a book I don't like than on a bigger board. Its not a bad place to hang out.

Hi Maria,

What are your favorite discussion groups in Shelfari?

Although to be fair, there are small groups in GR as well.

I think each social network has its own community and subculture, so each one has its own merits.

BearMountainBooks · 08-02-2012, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlesatan

Hi Maria,

What are your favorite discussion groups in Shelfari?

Although to be fair, there are small groups in GR as well.

I think each social network has its own community and subculture, so each one has its own merits.

Well, erm, if you must know, I'm most active on the group called:

Science Fiction and Fantasy for Nerds

It's a great little group:

http://www.shelfari.com/groups/53520/about

I'm also on the cozy group:
http://www.shelfari.com/groups/10985/about
But haven't been on there much lately because I haven't been reading too many cozies. Well, I did read one last month. It was okay, but I don't think anyone else had heard of it.

I also check out a YA group and a short story group (that is fairly dead these past few months.)

You are completely correct. GR has some good groups too. The cozy group I'm on on GR is HUGE. HUGE. I can't keep up and I forget who is whom and who I've talked to, etc. Very active. There's some other good ones, but I tend to be most active on GR based on updates from people I know and whatever they are reading.

dkb · 08-02-2012, 10:07 PM

I like Librarything better because I think it's easier to add books, and I like being able to add tags. I can easily see if I own the book or if I just downloaded it from the library. I can easily see the books that are in a series and which books of the series I have read. Because of the tags, I can easily get a list of books in any of the categories I've chosen to keep track of.

I didn't realize there was a limit until I'd already hit it. At that point, I didn't want to have to re-enter all the books again, particularly since it's more time consuming to do in Good Reads. But I haven't really regretted the $25, especially since it's a one time fee.

JSWolf · 08-02-2012, 10:10 PM

In Goodreads, you just make a self and put the book on the shelf. Then you can look at he shelf to see what books are there. It's just as easy as using tags and maybe easier. With Goodreads, if you want to enter all the books in a series, you just put the ones you are waiting to read on the to-read shelf.

Blossom · 08-02-2012, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

In Goodreads, you just make a self and put the book on the shelf. Then you can look at he shelf to see what books are there. It's just as easy as using tags and maybe easier. With Goodreads, if you want to enter all the books in a series, you just put the ones you are waiting to read on the to-read shelf.

If it's a physical copy, you can use your phone's bar code scanner to add the book to the goodreads app.

If it's ebook you can use Calibre's Goodreads plugin to add books automatically as you add them to Calibre.

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08-01-2012, 07:58 PM	#54
BearMountainBooks Maria Schneider Posts: 3,746 Karma: 26439330 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Near Austin, Texas Device: 3g Kindle Keyboard	Thanks FBONE. Now, now, it's not obsolete. There are social groups hanging out there and posting every day. I'm on two fairly active groups. Oh, we're small groups compared to some of the GR groups, but small is nice too. We have some good discussions on books. In some ways I feel more free when it comes to whining about a book I don't like than on a bigger board. Its not a bad place to hang out.

08-02-2012, 10:07 PM	#57
dkb ebook enthusiast Posts: 85 Karma: 40466 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Midlothian, VA Device: Kindle 2, iPhone, Sony PRS-350, Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch	I like Librarything better because I think it's easier to add books, and I like being able to add tags. I can easily see if I own the book or if I just downloaded it from the library. I can easily see the books that are in a series and which books of the series I have read. Because of the tags, I can easily get a list of books in any of the categories I've chosen to keep track of. I didn't realize there was a limit until I'd already hit it. At that point, I didn't want to have to re-enter all the books again, particularly since it's more time consuming to do in Good Reads. But I haven't really regretted the $25, especially since it's a one time fee.

08-02-2012, 10:10 PM	#58
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,771 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	In Goodreads, you just make a self and put the book on the shelf. Then you can look at he shelf to see what books are there. It's just as easy as using tags and maybe easier. With Goodreads, if you want to enter all the books in a series, you just put the ones you are waiting to read on the to-read shelf.