# Exhibitionist bibliophiles: show off the size of your book collection! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420 "2005-10-09T17:31:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/1 "2005-10-09T17:31:57Z")
The last couple of days I’ve started playing around with [LibraryThing](http://www.librarything.com/), a site that lets you catalog your books online. You can share your library with other users, tag books with whatever description makes sense to you, and see what you have in common with other book fans. You can enter books by ISBN, author name, or title. It’s free to dork around and add up to 200 books – [I’m only up to 80](http://www.librarything.com/catalog/scarequotes) at the moment – and costs $10 for unlimited capacity. Note: I’m not affiliated with the site in any way, other than using it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/2 "2005-10-09T17:54:29Z")
I suppose if you had 200 books and were addicted to the Internet and sharing meaningless personal information, this might seem attractive. I have 10,000 books and this method of cataloging has no value for me. I find it pretty hard to imagine even going there. What would be the point? Seriously. What are you getting out of this? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/3 "2005-10-09T17:56:06Z")
This looks pretty cool, but what happens when the site goes down? I spent several days entering my books (almost 1200) into a similar program (singlefile) but then the site owners closed up shop. There was no way to transfer the data. I’ve been reluctant to do it again, unless there’s a way to move the info elsewhere, like Access or Excel. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/4 "2005-10-09T20:33:00Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I suppose if you had 200 books and were addicted to the Internet and sharing meaningless personal information, this might seem attractive. Hence the “exhibitionist” tag in my thread title. What do I get out of it? At the moment, it was fun to spend 30 minutes throwing in book titles from my library and seeing how it compares to others in the system. Will I pay $10 and go past 200? Dunno. I like playing with tags. We’ll see how much. It’s Flickr for books. Obviously, the concept floats some people’s boats – I found the link at [Language Hatp](http://www.languagehat.com/), and he’s got over 1500 books cataloged. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/5 "2005-10-10T02:13:41Z")
Maybe it’s just a generational thing but I can’t comprehend why I would let anybody know what books I owned, let alone the whole world. Then again, I can’t imagine ever posting on Flickr either. I’m truly baffled by this concept. That’s why I’m asking what you get out of it. I honestly don’t understand, but would like to. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/6 "2005-10-10T03:25:15Z")
I can’t answer for Interrobang!, but the reason I catalogued my books was because the program was fun to use. Enter the ISBN and up pops the book, with a picture of the cover, publication date, number of pages, etc. It linked to similar books and authors at Amazon too, and periodically I’d go through the list and put stuff up for sale. Also, I was accidentally buying books that I already owned, and making a list helped refresh my memory about what I had. I didn’t share the data with anyone, but I could have. Doesn’t anyone else play with their books? Rearrange shelves and stuff? It’s like that. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/7 "2005-10-10T03:31:35Z")
Well sure I have my collection cataloged on my computer. What I don’t understand is why you would do it in such a way that other people could log in and view it and compare who owns what. Anybody at all. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/8 "2005-10-10T03:33:24Z")
200 books. You call that a library? I’ve bought more books that that in a single day. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/9 "2005-10-10T04:30:09Z")
I tried it, but it didn’t collect all the information I needed, and a lot of my books are pre-ISBN. So, not interested. Before kids interrupted I had all my books indexed on cards, and also had all the short stories indexed - a big help in figuring out if you’ve read stories in an anthology already. I’ve got the Day, Metcalfe and NESFA indices, but there are no really good anthology indexes - or weren’t in the pre-Web days when I did this. I’m reentering the books on my computer, using an old Star Office db which exports to a spreadsheet. I’m up to 2,000, and haven’t begun the magazines and hardcovers yet. I’ll think I’ll hit 6,000. That’s sf books only - I have no desire to index all our other books. But it still isn’t as good as Forry Ackerman’s collection or the MITSFS collection. _sniff_ ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/10 "2005-10-10T04:38:31Z")
List all my books by _name?_ Ha. By cubic footage would be easier. ---
**Author:** ![Kyyrewyyoae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Kyyrewyyoae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyyrewyyoae)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/11 "2005-10-10T04:39:52Z")
Well, I gave it a try and got hooked. I put in the 262 books I have in the apartment, now I’ll go back and add tags and comments. I don’t see any real point to it, but it’s fun as hell to see who has the same books as I do and if they posted reviews of them. And I can’t imagine why I would care that anyone who wants to can see what I have. Anyway, if anybody cares, here’s my [profile](http://www.librarything.com/profile/Kyyrewyyoae) and my [catalog](http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Kyyrewyyoae). Yeah, I’ve got a bunch more books but they’re in storage at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/12 "2005-10-10T13:08:47Z")
Good lord. I have no idea how many books I have – several thousand, certainly – even without Pepper Mill’s and MilliCal’s libraries thrown in. But I couldn’t imagine cataloging them – that would be like having another job. And I can’t see the point of gataloging them online. That seems an invitation to book moochers, and maybe thieves. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/13 "2005-10-10T13:16:46Z")
\*\*I don’t have time to catalog my books. \*\* 😉 I have over 1500+ Sci-fi/Fantasy Over 500+ reference books Over 250+ childrens books 50+ sports books 80+ computer books 200+ fiction books not Sci-fi/fantasy 30 AD&D books 30 Hardy boys/Nancy Drews 100 very bad Perry Rhodan books 20 Cook books. 35 Comics books (as in Bloom County, Doonesbury, Calvin & Hobbes and Foxtrot) I am closing in on 3000 books. I have book shelves in 6 different rooms. They are an entire fllor to ceiling wall in my Bedroom & Living Room. My office has shelves on 2 walls for books and computer parts/software. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/14 "2005-10-10T14:11:27Z")
Cubic footage? You can measure your books by cubic footage? I measure mine by gravitational distortion! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/15 "2005-10-10T14:19:16Z")
Hmmm - the one time I counted I was around 2000; I’m in the midst of cutting down the ranks to those that either (a) I haven’t read yet, and intend to; (b) reference books; and © other books that there is a chance in hell of my ever reading again. I suspect that I’ll end up around 1000-1200 or so. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/16 "2005-10-14T23:07:00Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > I suppose if you had 200 books and were addicted to the Internet and sharing meaningless personal information, this might seem attractive. > > I have 10,000 books and this method of cataloging has no value for me. I find it pretty hard to imagine even going there. What would be the point? > > Seriously. What are you getting out of this? For me the attraction is that it is extremely easy to find the exact book you have (e.g., publisher, year etc…) as you can search, among other places, Amazon and the LOC. Then you can export your entire collection, and if something, god forbid, happens to your books, all is not lost. You have a record of them. Compared to manually copying down the metadata for your large collection, I would estimate a 10/15 to 1 time savings. Plus they’ve been adding features like mad 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/17 "2005-10-14T23:50:31Z")
How many of Cecil’s books are in your library? Hmmmm? ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/18 "2005-10-15T00:10:02Z")
_sheepish_ only three ! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exhibitionist-bibliophiles-show-off-the-size-of-your-book-collection/325420/19 "2005-10-15T00:23:13Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > How many of Cecil’s books are in your library? Hmmmm? I only have 2 of Cecil’s so far. I just got them last month.