How to Create a Personal Library on LibraryThing

Create a free user account on LibraryThing (see Resources.) To begin, hit the "Join now" button located on the right side of the screen. Enter a member name, password and email address. Click "Join," and a book title will appear to copy into the entry box to confirm a human is completing the registration.

Create a library from scratch by clicking the "Home" tab, and then click the "Add books to your library" link. Enter the book title into the search form, and then hit "Search." A list of books with closely related titles will appear. Choose the title you are looking for by clicking it. The title will be added to your personal library.

Books can be searched by tags by entering a keyword such as "Genealogy." Only genealogical-related books will appear in the results list. Books can also be searched via specific library catalogs from outside sources by clicking the circle next to the catalog. Enter an author, title, and ISBN into the search box at the top, and then hit "Search." The results will appear on the right side of the screen.

Create a library by importing a list of books. Start at the "Home" tab, and then "Import books." Books may be imported from files such as text, html, and rtf. Browse for the list by hitting the "Browse" button and locating the file on your computer. When the file is located, click the "Upload" button.

Below the "Import your books" function is another one called "Grab," which allows users to import a book list from another website. To use this feature, navigate to the website where the book list is located, and then copy the URL. Return to LibraryThing, enter the URL in the box provided and click "Grab."

Share your personal library with others by using the "Talk" tab at the top of the screen. The "Talk" tab is located at the top of every screen, regardless of which tab you are working with. The "Talk" tab allows users to start discussion posts about books. Click on "Talk," and then choose "Post new topic" on the left-hand column to begin a new book discussion. Complete the form and post the topic.

Share your library by using the "Group" tab at the top of every screen within LibraryThing. This tab allows you to search for topic-specific groups, or you can become active in one of the groups featured on the page. For example, if you enter "History" in the search box and hit "Search," groups that discuss history-related books will appear. Click on one of the group names to read the posts and join the discussion.

Start your own groups by clicking "Start a group" in the upper right-hand corner. Complete the form by including a group name, description and photo. Indicate your group options, complete the security question and then click "Make it!" Your group is now created and ready for use.