Comments in the Catalog: Community
Interaction
Computers in Libraries 2007April 17, 2007
Glenn Peterson, Hennepin (MN) County Library
Comments are…
mini-reviews
on any title in the catalog
a “blog for every book”
A very brief history…
Four threads
•summer book reviews by
kids and teens
•book reviews by adults
•catalog customization
•conversations about books
Demo
Patrons can comment…
From the library catalog
•Full bib screen
•Items out
From booklists
Anatomy of the
Comments page
It’s a mash-up…
Bibliographic info Enriched content Patron comments Audio reviews (podcasts) Amazon reviews Related lists Recent comments
How’s it going?
Most-heavily used feature on
our site
Especially popular with teens
5700 comments/3000 users
over the first 11 months
The Long Tail
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Tail
Number ofcomments
Number of Titles
Maintenance
Pre-screened for language
Maintenance
Pre-screened for language
Title
Maintenance
Pre-screened for language
Title
Maintenance
Pre-screened for language
Batched every 4 hours and sent
as an email message
Reviewed by Web Services staff
on rotating basis
Click a link to hide a comment
“Problem” comments edited
Our to-do list
Ratings
Avatars
User profiles
Tag cloud
Related developments
WPopac (Plymouth State U.)
SOPAC (Ann Arbor District Library)
Millennium (Innovative)
LibraryThing for Libraries