Web 2.0 and WorldCat

As well as being a powerful tool for users and librarians, WorldCat has many Web 2.0 features. User-generated content is a new frontier for WorldCat; it has been integrated to address the demand of the internet community for interactivity. Examples of Web 2.0 features of WorldCat are the lists, bibliographies and reviews that are now available through a user account.




OCLC is merely a newcomer to the online book game: Goodreads and LibraryThing have already experienced success with bibliophiles on the Web.



Unlike WorldCat, these other Web 2.0 sites are not created to locate materials first, and be social networking tools later. They are, however, very innovative and easy to use. WorldCat's tagging and listing features are new and seem more like a reaction to the success of these web-based Web 2.0 predecessors.




Below I have created a chart that compares the features of WorldCat's Web 2.0 features to Goodreads and LibraryThing.

	WorldCat	GoodReads	LibraryThing
Customizable Profile/Avatar	X	X	X
User Resource (Book) Reviews	X	X	X
Reading Lists/Recommendations	X	X	X
Rating System	X	X	X
Tag Cloud/Tagging	X	X	X
Blog from service	X	X	X
Friends/Followers		X	X
Link to Buy/Find books	X	X
Mailbox		X
Videos		X
Events (Local literary meetups)		X	X
Links to Free EBooks		X
Discussion Forums		X	X
Groups		X	X
Classification (e.g. to-read, read, etc)		X	X
Import/Export of lists to other product		X	X
Import of contacts from Email		X	X
MySpace/Facebook Widget		X	X
Email notifications: other users		X
Email notifications: from service			X
Trivia		X
Metrics on user data			X
Random Books from Library			X
RSS Feeds			X
Picture Gallery			X
Early Reviewer Program/Giveaways			X
Book Swap		X	X
On this Day			X
Paid Account upgrade			X
Favorite Libraries	X
Status Updates		X

There are a few features that all of these services share: customizable profiles, tagging, tag clouds, user reviews, reading lists or recommendations, a rating system and a blog directly from the service. All three can help you locate a copy of the book, either for sale, via a swap or through a library, but WorldCat has this as its central goal. These features can be seen as a core functionality of these services. Additional add-ons are offered by all three of the web-based tagging softwares, however, WorldCat seems to be lacking many of the features that bring users back to Goodreads and LibraryThing. Even if many of these features, such as "On this Day" or "Author Photogallery" could be seen as offering minimal value, they are still offering content and interactivity. In WorldCat's defense, the use of user data, as can be seen in LibraryThing's metrics, could be seen as a breach of privacy for users of libraries.

A solution is needed wherein the good features of all of these products can be reduced to one website. The makers of WorldCat could use this comparison to assist in improving their product. In the meantime, I will continue to use Goodreads and LibraryThing. The lack of an import/export feature on WorldCat's Web 2.0 product leaves me little choice.