Library Programs

My library consists of nearly 700 books and I often have a difficult time remembering what I already have and/or don't have. I have Bookpedia on my computer and I love the program. It's helped me keep track of everything. however, it's not on on-line program, so all of my data is at home, where I have no access to it if I'm abroad. This is why I recently joined a couple of on-line library programs, namely The Library Thing and Shelfari. The Library Thing looked good to me, what with it's import program and the way the data base is set up. On the other hand, I had several friends on Shelfari and I didn't want to miss anything there. Seeing as how Shelfari is free, I thought, why not.

Now that I've worked with both of them a bit, I've decided I like The Library Thing a lot better. It's easier to use, has more and better features and it's faster. Now, I'm not knocking Shelfari. It's a good program if you're looking for a freebie (The Libraray Thing is free only up to 200 books). However, it's import program is poor, it didn't recognize over 100 of my titles/ISBN nos., it slow to react when you search for something, it lacks a search in your own library (necessary when you have 600+ books) and there are few tools and is just generally not as easy to use as The Library Thing. However, it is free and you can keep in contact with friends. I think I'll continue to use it for that reason, but not as a main source. I'll update what I buy and keep up with groups, but I'm not going to bother going back to fill in the gaps from my import.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?