Online Book Communities

I had no idea online book communities were a thing.  I knew of and (for some reason) had signed up on goodreads.com a long time ago, but I thought it was just a place people could review books.  Turns out, it's way more than just that.

Goodreads

I couldn't log in to the Goodreads account that I'd created before, so I made a new one.  The account creation process is a whirlwind.  As soon as you create a login (which took a bit because it didn't like my user ID or password--grrr!), you're taken to a screen to start selecting preferred genres and from there to books you've read. I rated several of the books I read until I got to a point that I could get recommendations.  Of course, that was a great experience.  I felt as if I was online shopping with no spending limit.  Trying to navigate my lists after I'd added a good deal was kind of annoying though.  I made shelves and wanted certain books in certain shelves but because certain shelves are "exclusive" anything I put in that shelf to begin with has to stay in that shelf!  Boo!

LibraryThing

This book community was super-easy to sign up for (everything on the first try!) and upon registering, you're immediately taken to a place that allows you to add books to your library, edit your profile, etc.  I like this better because you can see the big picture before you start adding books.  After updating a few pieces of information on my profile, I went to the "add books" area and typed "Neil Gaiman" into the search field.  A list of his books populated.  I clicked on the link for Neverwhere and the page just thought about it for awhile before giving me a "504 Gateway time out" message in the area where the list was previously.  So I went back and tried again and it was there, twice.  I was able to quickly delete the extra book.  Unfortunately there's no easy way to get back to the results page.  "Neil Gaiman" still sat there in the search field so I just hit the search button again to get the list back.  This became frustrating when I had to go on to the next page because I had to click more to get to what I wanted.  Once I finally added some books, I was able to easily add a couple of collections and I figured out how to sort my books into these separate collections without too much trouble.  

Shelfari

Shelfari scored points right away by offering a "tour" prior to registration.  I clicked through the slides quickly to learn the basics of the site's features.  Registering was a cinch with Shelfari since it is powered by Amazon.  I didn't even have to sign in to Amazon because I'm already signed in on my laptop (debating as to whether I should be worried about that).  The home page is inviting with nice little pop ups to show you where and how to start adding books.  I also like that the shelves look realistic with a wood-grain pattern, so graphically this site is a WINNER.  Adding books is so simple and logical on this site.  I just type in the author's name, the list of books populate and I can click add and from there specify if I plan to read, have read, or am reading now.  I also have the opportunity to  review and rate it right then and there, and also add some information about the book's character and add "tags" if I want.  If I want to skip all that, there is a drop-down menu under the book's cover graphic that I can use to mark.  This site doesn't appear to let you add special shelves, but I do have the ability to sort the books in a variety of ways (I chose alpha-order).  I like that this one is no muss-no fuss.  I feel like kids would enjoy it because it is so user-friendly.  It appears that you have to have an Amazon account to use it though, which is a problem for student use.

BookLikes

Well, BookLikes, just one-upped Shelfari by featuring an "all about me" style video as the first thing you see when visiting the page.  The video pulls out all the stops in trying to appeal to book readers along with some brief shots of how the site works.  I can imagine many of my bibliophile students from this past school year, squealing with delight while watching the video and chomping at the bits to get started.  After a very easy sign up process (easiest yet), a pop-up window appears encouraging me to select favorite genres. I saved my genres and examined the homepage which asks "What do you want to do?" and offers three options sharing interesting things about books, collecting and organizing books, and keeping track of your reading life.  I selected collecting and organizing books and clicked start.  I was taken to a blog profile page where I selected a profile picture (it worked) and a blog name, description, and tag.  Next you have the opportunity to select additional blogs to follow and later to connect your account to find friends on Facebook and Twitter (which I opted not to do because the only friend I have on social media who uses these types of online book communities is someone who is into erotica and I'm NOT and don't want that on my page).  After completing this process, a screen appears that tutors you on how to use the site with arrows and directives.  Using the search bar up at the top-right I tapped "Neil Gaiman" into the search field.  The results list was straight-forward.  It listed the titles and buttons appear to the right that allow me to add to shelf or add a post about the title.  Once you click add to shelf, a menu populates that allows you to select which shelf you want to add to and also to create a new shelf right then and there!  Someone was THINKING when they made BookLikes.  I also liked that the results list was (by default) organized by popularity because I found that intriguing as I added titles to my shelf.  After adding titles, you can add new shelves and edit which shelves books are placed (if you are in the "table" view).  BookLikes is user-friendly and the blogging interface looks very easy to use as well.

Biblionasium

Educator sign up was easy enough, but my confirmation email did not come very quickly.  After waiting about fifteen minutes, I resent the confirmation email.  Nothing. Tried another time with no success.  Decided to try again the next day.  Never got around to it.  Tried the following morning with still no luck.  Decided to open my work email in Internet Explorer because it's finicky about what browser you use and I double-checked my junk mail and added the biblionasium.com domain to my safe senders list.  Refreshed my in box and when I still didn't have an email, I started composing an email to Biblionasium to beg for help.  Just as I was about to send off that email, the idea to try opening Biblionasium using Internet Explorer occurred to me.  So I tried resending the verification email and lo and behold, it worked!  After all that trouble to even get signed in, I decided that this website better be stellar.  I clicked on "enter site" to get started and my laptop screen blacked out.  A few seconds later, this message appeared:

Of course!  This is why I loathe Internet Explorer!  I clicked OK and hoped that my whole computer didn't reboot as a result.  It didn't.  Thank.  Goodness.

In Biblionasium, you have to create groups before you can add books.  So I created a group representing each homeroom in my pod.  Thankfully, you don't have to add students to these groups prior to adding books.  So I started to add books.  It's pretty easy to do.  Everything is nice and large (font, checkboxes) on the site so that's a plus for both students and educators.  It's a little time-consuming to add books as the website seemed to lag a little and you can only choose one book at a time.  I feel that the benefits this site provides outweigh this inconvenience though.  This tool is going to help my SSR program greatly and take it to a new level and I am really excited about that.  I decided to add a few of my personal favorites to the groups, the Bluebonnet nominees for this year as "recommended", and the novels we'll be studying as "required".  The fact that the reading levels are displayed with each book is wonderful!  This feature made me realize that some of the novels we've chosen to read this year are not at a sixth grade level, so that's something I'll need to discuss with my department when we meet to do curriculum in a couple weeks.  Regardless of that outcome, I can't wait to see what my new students think about it.  If they're anything like the group I had this last year, they'll LOVE it!

Survey Says?

Biblionasium seems to be the best for both educators and students.  It's appealing to the eye, user-friendly, and allows for safe interactions about books.  My second choice would be Shelfari because its looks and functionality are top-notch; its only drawback is that an Amazon account is required which limits use for students.  Although I really like BookLikes set up, it is really geared towards book bloggers and I might consider using the account solely for that purpose.  Goodreads is OK, just too complicated to use and LibraryThing is too plain-jane to me, but that matches (I think) its purpose because it is certainly "all about the books, about the books, nothing else."