Recently I was contacted by Tim Spalding, developer of a new web interface for book cataloging called LibraryThing. I checked it out. What a creative idea! Just the thing for us librarian souls. It extracts data from the Library of Congress catalog. You can share your catalog or keep it private. And there’s a widget (ooo, a widget!) to put on your blog to show people what you’re reading.

I currently use a free computer software called Books for Mac OS X, and it does a nice job of helping me keep track of what I’ve lent and borrowed. What appeals about LibraryThing is the potential for finding what others are reading by using search tags. I’m also drawn to it because I’m a nerd for all things books and libraries.

My only concern with LibraryThing is whether it will exist for the duration. Online applications tend to come and go. AllConsuming morphed and I lost all that I’d previously input. I’m not eager to waste effort. We’ll see. My library currently has 750+ titles. If Tim finds a way to make it possible to import my titles from my current software, then I may just sign up.

Update, 12:06 a.m. 9/13: This is addictive! I started adding my current reads and from there it sucked me in. Whoosh!