Thing #11

It's spring break and the weather has been glorious so I'm just now sitting down to look at my "things". I took a close look at "Library Thing" and decided very quickly that I'm not a fan of the web site. I realize after looking at so many different web applications with this assignments that there are features to some sites that I don't really care for. Library Thing has too much print on the home page (and the print is small), too many tabs, too much to look at. I like web pages that are clean and well organized. I did sign up and begin building my book shelf but soon turned to Shelfari. I checked out Shelfari after hearing good things about it from classmates and immediately got pulled in. I built a shelf and had fun adding books that I've read to it. I spent some time adding tags and rating books too although I'll have to go back and do that when I have more time (when will that be?). I joined two different groups; 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, and Libraries and Librarians. The Library group has a lot of interesting discussions including using Shelfari in the library, banned book week, book mold and what one book would you have in your library if you had to choose.
I'd like to continue using Shelfari personally to get recommendations for books to read and keep up with some of the groups there. I'd like to introduce my students to Shelfari this spring and then add it as an option to their summer reading assignment. I'm always looking for ways to encourage my students and their parents to read together at home and to really share positive reading experiences together. This would be a very motivating way to keep track of the books they read at home.