Archive for October, 2011

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Barcode scanning in Library Anywhere

We’ve just added a great new feature to Library Anywhere—barcode scanning.

Our new barcode scanning feature is available in both the iPhone (and iPod Touch, iPad, other iOS products) and Android apps for Library Anywhere. It lets you quickly scan the ISBN on a book and see if your Library Anywhere library has a copy.

Search more than one edition
The Library Anywhere book scanner is unique in that it searches not just for the exact ISBN you give it, but for any other editions of that title that might be in the library. So you can scan a paperback book with the “now an HBO show!” cover, and Library Anywhere will find the hardcover edition of the same title, if that’s what the library has.

Extend your search
It also doesn’t limit you to just one library—if no editions of the book are found in the first library you search, it will then give you a prompt to do the exact same search in other Library Anywhere libraries near you, or find the book at an online bookstore.

Scan QR codes
The barcode scanner also can scan QR codes, so libraries using our QR code feature (more about QR codes and Library Anywhere) can scan a code in their OPAC to bring up the record in Library Anywhere.

Available for every library
This isn’t an “optimum package” feature. Libraries don’t pay more to turn it on. We don’t play like that.

About Library Anywhere
Library Anywhere is the mobile catalog and homepage for almost 200 libraries and library systems worldwide. See all the libraries using Library Anywhere by simply clicking the … menu within Library Anywhere and choose “Select a Library.” Read more about Library Anywhere here.

To order Library Anywhere, or get a free trial, call 877 340-2400, or email Peder.Christensen@bowker.com. You can also email questions to Abby@librarything.com.

Labels: barcode scanning, library anywhere, mobile, mobile catalog, mobile web, QR code, scanning

posted by Abby @1:29 pm 7 Comments »
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    • Friday, October 28th, 2011

    Library Anywhere goes Multilingual

    Library Anywhere now includes the ability for any library to translate or edit any of the English text into whatever language they like.

    Libraries can even choose to have multiple languages and link between them—one in Spanish and another in English, for example.

    You can also use this for simple fixes, like changing the default text in the Search box from “Search” to “Search catalog” or even “Search catalogue”.

    Directions on how to get started translating or editing your Library Anywhere are here.

    Learn more
    Email me (abby@librarything.com) with any questions about any Library Anywhere, or how to enable translation for your account. To subscribe, contact Peder Christensen at Bowker—toll-free at 877-340-2400 or email Peder.Christensen@bowker.com.

    Labels: languages, library anywhere, mobile, mobile catalog, mobile web, translation

    posted by Abby @10:43 am 0 Comments »
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    • Friday, October 28th, 2011

    October Interviews: Susan Orlean and Richard Brookhiser

    This month’s State of the Thing, LibraryThing’s monthly newsletter of features, author interviews and various forms of bookish delight, should have made its way to your inbox by now. You can also read it online.

    Our author interviews this month:

    I talked to author Susan Orlean about her new book, Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. Find out how she got interested in Rin Tin Tin, which of her animals would make the best movie star, and about how Twitter has affected her work and her interactions with readers.

    Read the full interview with Susan Orlean.

    I also chatted with Richard Brookhiser; his newest biography, James Madison was published recently by Basic Books.

    Asked what surprised him most about Madison, Brookhiser wrote “Everyone knows he is smart. I was interested to discover he was tough. Madison never quit. When he lost a fight, which happened often enough, he always thought: what next? what now? how do I go on from here? This is why he generally prevailed in the end. The history of the early republic is littered with the broken careers of people who got in his way.”

    Read the full interview with Richard Brookhiser.

    Catch up on previous State of the Thing newsletters.

    If you don’t get State of the Thing, you can add it in your email preferences. You also have to have an email address listed.

    Labels: author interview, state of the thing

    posted by Jeremy @9:18 am 0 Comments »
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    • Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

    Occupy Libraries!

    It’s been fascinating to watch the rise of libraries at the various Occupy sites around the world, particularly the impressively-large collection at Occupy Wall Street known as the People’s Library. We reached out and suggested a LibraryThing account for the collection, and the volunteer librarians in Zucotti Park responded enthusiastically.

    The OWSLibrary catalog now includes more than 3,300 titles, and it’s quite a rich and varied collection (check out the tag mirror). We’ve got a Talk thread where members are posting the books they share with the library; as of this morning, I share 100 titles with them, everything from E.O. Wilson to Annie Dillard to Strunk & White. If you’re signed into LibraryThing, you can see what you share with the OWS Library here.

    The OWSLibrary folks also have an active blog, Twitter, and Flickr presence (they’ve even got library stamps!). Many authors have visited to speak, lend support, and sign books, and there’s now even an Occupy Wall Street Poetry Anthology.

    More than 1,300 writers have signed the Occupy Writers petition in support of the Occupy movement, including Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Junot Díaz and more.

    You can read some good coverage of the Occupy library movement in American Libraries, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Wall Street Journal.

    On Friday, local librarian JustinTheLibrarian, Tim and I went downtown on our lunch break and cataloged the Occupy Maine library, a small collection housed at Portland’s Spartan Grill restaurant (which also serves a very tasty gyro).

    Occupy Sacramento’s library is also up on LibraryThing, and we’ve been in touch with various other Occupy libraries; if your city’s library joins up, we’d love to know about it!

    While you may agree or disagree with the Occupy movement as a whole, we think what they’re doing with books and libraries is simply awesome. And we’re very happy to be a part of it.

    Labels: cataloging, flash-mob cataloging, libraries

    posted by Jeremy @8:56 am 23 Comments »
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    • Friday, October 21st, 2011

    LibraryThing Meetup in Boston!

    Are you up for a day of bookish enjoyment, food, and LibraryThing socializing? Join us on Saturday, November 12 for a series of meetups in Boston, centered around the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair, one of the best book fairs in the country!

    We’ll begin the day by meeting for brunch at 10 a.m. at Trident Booksellers and Cafe on Newbury Street and stop in at Raven Used Books’ Newbury Street location before the book fair opens at noon (at the Hynes Convention Center).

    Commonwealth Books is providing free passes for the book fair, and offering at 15%-off discount to LTers for Saturday, so after we’ve seen the fair we can head downtown during the afternoon for visits there and to the Brattle Book Shop. In the evening, we’ll go out to Cambridge for dinner and visits to Harvard Bookstore and the Raven location on JFK Street.

    Help us plan in the Talk thread, and sign up on the wiki page to let us know what meetups you might attend (feel free to come to as many or as few as you like!). We hope to see you in Boston!

    Labels: bookstores, boston, meet up, members

    posted by Jeremy @10:24 am 0 Comments »
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