An Anonymous Patron writes “ The Internet Book List (IBList) was a hobby project started by Patrik Roos in early 2003. Its purpose is to provide a comprehensive and easily accessible database of books, since Patrik considers the Book to be humanity’s greatest creation.”
Note from rochelle: It’s a site about books, rather than a site with ebooks. I wasn’t sure by anon’s post. Pretty neat, though. rh
WorldCat anyone?
Has he heard of OCLC’s WorldCat? They’re only about 30 years and 30 million items ahead of him.
I admit it’s not easy to use or easy to find. Few people besides librarians know about it. But that may change through alliances with Google, etc.
Re:WorldCat anyone?
There are a couple of key differences between databases like WorldCat and the Internet Book List.
WorldCat is not free. To quote their website “WorldCat is available exclusively through libraries or other organizations, and is not available for direct purchase by individuals.� The Internet Book List is.
Second, the core content of the IBL is released under a Creative Commons license. This means that it can be downloaded without cost.
Last, the IBL is not intended to be used solely by librarians. The information that librarians and the average Joe are looking for are different.
Steven Jeffery
the allure of the IBL
Another thing that sets the IBL apart from WorldCat, and makes it irresistible to the likes of me, is the fact that the aforementioned average Joe can contribute to it, by making suggestions or by signing on as a volunteer. Sort of a dmoz.org for books, if you will.
Re:WorldCat anyone?
http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/ for those who don’t know the link. I didn’t.