I first discovered LibraryThing through Neil Gaiman's blog. At the time I was cataloging my books through a Mac program called Delicious Library. Using my built-in laptop camera I would scan in the bar codes of not only my books, but also my movies and my video games; and information would be pulled up from Amazon.com for each item. I could also edit each item's record, adding search terms.

So then I discovered LibraryThing. What makes LibraryThing different? There is the obvious: It is web-based and free (though there is a paid account option). As an online tool, LibraryThing is also a social tool. When you add your book, you can see other LibraryThing members who have the same book in their LibraryThing. You can also see how other people have tagged books in your list. And in addition to Amazon.com, information about these books can also be pulled from the Library of Congress as well as a variety of other university and special libraries. The LibraryThing LibrarySuggester, BookSuggester, and BookUnsuggester also use information about members who have similar books to offer recommendations for books you should and shouldn't read. (Also look to the right column to see the "Random books from my library" widget.)

I still mainly use Delicious Library for cataloging my books and media, but LibraryThing is nice as a tool to share my library with others. For my KimLibrarian LibraryThing account (see below), I have cataloged books I want to consider for booktalking. By using the BookSuggester and LibrarySuggester, I can see recommendations for other books I can consider for booktalking.