How does Library Thing Work?

Am new to this app, but have a few questions...

I see that I can sign onto both the app and desktop and see my library. Can 2 people sign onto the app?

Is there a limit to the amount of books or "libraries" that we can scan? The last one I tried limited me to the amount of "libraries" (Authors), and not it won't let me add more. I can add more to each author, though.

Just want to ask before I dive in again to rescanning.

>1 carolinagirl4645: "Can 2 people sign onto the app?"

Not at the same time from the same device but no issue to sign in from different devices with the same user (or two use two users on the same device by logging and out every time). And the app does not keep local data on the device - it shows you what is online only. Make sure you use the same user/password for both the app and the desktop - so you see your profile in both places.

>Is there a limit to the amount of books or "libraries" that we can scan?

Not anymore. :) There used to be a limit to 200 for free accounts but that changed a couple of years ago - you join as an unlimited account.

Now... if you add more than 10,000 or thereabouts, there are reported cache issues sometimes (resolved by the office) but other from that - no issues with bigger libraries.

Welcome to LT!

I suggest that you chose Overcat as your first source. It is a collection of library entries that have been searched along with some other library data that LT has been allowed to copy. You will find that it is much better data than Amazon, especially on older books.

It is also better to chose member covers rather than Amazon covers because Amazon covers can disappear or change depending on Amazon's stock. Member covers are on LT so they are stable.

>2 AnnieMod: I'm rapidly nearing the 10,000 mark. So far, so good. (Note: This has taken 14 years. It will probably be over another year before I top 10,000.)

>3 MarthaJeanne: They had been changing things so you may not hit the issues that early (I know that they need to occasionally allow bigger caches for the very big libraries - the 5 digits ones from what I had seen through the years). When it triggers had never been made clear (but it does). Maybe the default will keep moving so you never need to worry about that ;)

Almost 10K books - phew - that is a lot of books added (I really need to get to cataloging my physical library...) :)

What do you mean by

The last one I tried limited me to the amount of "libraries" (Authors)

"Library" on LT can mean either an actual library used as a data source, or someone's catalog, but you can search any number of libraries to use for adding books (I think the "bulk upload" limits you to three, but they're unrelated to authors), and has nothing to do with authors, nor are you in any way limited to how many authors you can have in your catalog, so it seems like you're encountering a very weird bug. Any details of what happens when you try to add more books?

>5 lorax: The last service/app (not LT) they tried :) Thus the questions before they start adding here.

>5 lorax: With that app I was using, I chose to categorize my books by authors.

Unbeknownst to me, it would only let me add a certain amount of "Libraries" to my inventory (for lack of better word) -- once I reached my limit of authors to add, it wouldn't let me keep adding new authors. I could keep adding new books to the already added authors, but not new.

Sorry with all the questions....

I just tried adding a few books to my LT. When I am all said and done, is it just one big list, and then I search by author to find everything by that person, or is there a way add that in there as I scan.

>8 carolinagirl4645: "Your books" is usually a list of the books you have added to your account. If you want to see them listed by author you can change the view from "list" to "authors" at the top. That will show you this: https://www.librarything.com/memberauthors/carolinagirl4645

You can also visit any author page to see checkmarks next to the books you have cataloged: https://www.librarything.com/author/calkhovenlaurie

You might want to check out the Welcome to Librarything (https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/8033/Welcome-to-LibraryThing%21) and Frequently Asked Questions (https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/625/Frequently-Asked-Questions) groups, which are aimed at beginners to the site

>8 carolinagirl4645: The easiest way is to search by ISBN - if you are using the app, you can just scan the ISBNs with your phone. :)

LT is designed to allow you to add the correct version of a book when adding (no "generic records" - the work level combines all individual books but you add a book to your library) so if you are just searching per author name, then it will be one big list and you will need to pick from it one by one...

Also - LT does not use LT as a source - so if you are starting from the author page here on the site, you have one unneeded hop - you can just start with AddBooks (https://www.librarything.com/addbooks) and search directly from there.

We also have imports in case you already have the list somewhere: https://www.librarything.com/more/import

See if any of the options will work for you. Universal import (https://www.librarything.com/import) is pretty powerful usually - but read the notes on the page before you use it.

To add to >9 norabelle414:

You can also group your own books based on tags and/or collections thus creating smaller sets of books inside of your own full catalog.

>8 carolinagirl4645: It's far more than a list. It's a database. Once you've added several books, view your catalogue ('Your Books' tab) and check what you can do with it. You can sort by any of the fields there, filter by collections and tags, search by any of fields, edit most data from there ... When on Your Books, the upper search is the site search which appears on all pages, but the one below which says 'search your library' enables you to search just your own catalogue by author, among other things.

>8 carolinagirl4645: I didn't get it when I first joined, either. So I list my books, & then . . . ? But now I can't imagine my professional or regular life w/o LT. Once you get into the swing of it, first it becomes compulsive fun, checking out libraries like yours to get ideas of what people like you are reading, then it becomes an incredibly useful way to access your library. Instead of wondering, Didn't I have a book about Herman Melville? You just type his name into your collection's search box & there are all your Melville tags, including that one book you completely forgot about but which ends up being the most useful. This place has changed my life.

You'll also come across some of the smartest, most interesting people on the net here.

Facebook for nerds

>13 susanbooks: I'll second that. I just added "The unbearable Bassington" and found a couple of other books in my library that also had illustrations by Osbert Lancaster :-)

bergs47:

Facebook for nerds

Except without the "harvest all your data for advertising purposes", "destroy democracy", and "ruin your mental health via attacks from friends of friends" parts.

(I stopped checking Facebook a year ago, and have not been tempted to go back.)

>16 lorax: I'm still there as an activist (and admin to a couple of groups) - but, yes, it's rough out there.

And it's sort of amazing I'm not banned yet.

My publicist (i.e. Other Reader) maintains my author Facebook page for me, because I won't touch it with the proverbial ten-foot pole.

>3 MarthaJeanne: It is also better to choose member covers rather than Amazon covers because Amazon covers can disappear or change depending on Amazon's stock. Member covers are on LT so they are stable.

After going through all the effort of scanning, you can make a file on your computer and save the images. If a cover is broken, you can then access the image from your computer and reload it.

My current project is copying cover images of all my books to a file. I may not load this saved image. I choose a matching member-loaded image that is marked high-quality and not a "best guessed"image. This prevents me from adding a duplicate member-loaded image.

eta: corrected

Please is there a way to delete my posts since I have not gotten any answers after having uploaded for a while?

>20 mjreal: Apologies. That hardly ever happens. There are members here who really like to help new members get oriented. What are your questions?

And where did you post them to begin with?

To answer your current question, you can delete the content of your post by using the edit button just below it. If the system refuses an empty box, just put a dot there and save. You cannot delete the topic thread itself, even if you created it. The group administrator has that power.

>21 2wonderY: Name the Book: https://www.librarything.com/topic/333814 ; https://www.librarything.com/topic/333854

>20 mjreal: It is very hard to read things that are written all in caps. Make it easier for people to read your posts and you are much more likely to get answers.

>22 anglemark: Ah. Yeah, I would think there are a lot of Name that Book posts that don’t get responses because nobody knows the answer.

I would suggest adding new posts to add more information as it comes to mind. The approximate age of the book; details of the cover; character names; etc. etc.
Trying to find a book you recall details but no title can be so frustrating. It sometimes takes years, not days or weeks. You can post a “bump” every now and then to bring it back to the top of the page.

Also, as MarthaJeanne says, using caps for your message is very distracting and hard on old eyes.

Yeah, I see that wall of caps & seemingly unedited text & keep scrolling.

>24 2wonderY:

I would suggest adding new posts to add more information as it comes to mind.

In the same thread, though.

Thank you all very much for your contribution. I have gone back to change the post. It is no more in all caps. I hope you all can go over now and read it if you might perhaps get some inspiration?🤗

>27 mjreal: See >2 AnnieMod: for good answers. Did you have more questions?

>28 aspirit: mjreal didn't ask the question in >1 carolinagirl4645:, they just piggybacked on the topic to ask the question in >20 mjreal:.

>29 anglemark: I understand now. Thanks.