Using Librarything for Engineering
Talk Engineering Library
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1all4metals
I guess I would like to know how every one else plans on using librarything for their personal collection.
My primary goal has been to properly catalog my books. Sometimes, I get technical books as gifts, but people are no longer sure what I have. Hopefully, Librarything will help with that.
My other goal is to use the Librarything suggestion system to find other technical books that may be useful. Unfortunately, it seems there are very few true technical collections. Hopefully, that changes.
My primary goal has been to properly catalog my books. Sometimes, I get technical books as gifts, but people are no longer sure what I have. Hopefully, Librarything will help with that.
My other goal is to use the Librarything suggestion system to find other technical books that may be useful. Unfortunately, it seems there are very few true technical collections. Hopefully, that changes.
2sm5por
There aren't a lot of us yet in this group... As for myself, I'm not really into engineering as a profession (I do computer system administration), but I use the LibraryThing group feature to indicate my interests and affiliations in a broad sense, to help finding out "what does the bookshelf of the average engineer-type person look like" rather than "what engineering books do people have".
I suspect it will take a long time before LibraryThing gathers a substantial mass of engineering literature; it's a very diverse field and even with a lot of users, the amount of title overlap may remain small. As an example, my own collection includes Bit-slice microprocessor design which I received from a friend (but never actually read) when I began studying computer science many years ago, and that title has one (!) other owner at LibraryThing. Two is a company, but three is a crowd, and I think that's especially true in this context.
Does a common set of books really constitute the best defining characteristic of an engineering professional today? Maybe engineers would have better luck collaborating via (hypothetical corresponding services) ToolThing or SoftwareThing...
I suspect it will take a long time before LibraryThing gathers a substantial mass of engineering literature; it's a very diverse field and even with a lot of users, the amount of title overlap may remain small. As an example, my own collection includes Bit-slice microprocessor design which I received from a friend (but never actually read) when I began studying computer science many years ago, and that title has one (!) other owner at LibraryThing. Two is a company, but three is a crowd, and I think that's especially true in this context.
Does a common set of books really constitute the best defining characteristic of an engineering professional today? Maybe engineers would have better luck collaborating via (hypothetical corresponding services) ToolThing or SoftwareThing...
3all4metals
I agree it will take a long time for a large number of engineers to join us here.
I don't think engineers need to share the exact same books. In fact, my own hope was that a few of my books would be in other collections so I can find other works.
As for books being a defining characteristic of engineering, I guess it depends on the kind of engineering you do. Exchanging or sharing software/tools might work for some fields (computer or electrical), but many fields still need reference data or detailed theoretical/empherical observations for properly designing products and systems. Books are the best way to present this information. Also unlike many online services, once you buy a book you will always have the information.
I don't think engineers need to share the exact same books. In fact, my own hope was that a few of my books would be in other collections so I can find other works.
As for books being a defining characteristic of engineering, I guess it depends on the kind of engineering you do. Exchanging or sharing software/tools might work for some fields (computer or electrical), but many fields still need reference data or detailed theoretical/empherical observations for properly designing products and systems. Books are the best way to present this information. Also unlike many online services, once you buy a book you will always have the information.
4sarahemmm
Just a quick hello from a computer systems engineer... though I'm really a programmer nowadays. Most of my books are now catalogued, with a few more technical books to come.
5orionpozo
I am developing a list of Classic Engineering titles from various sources: Seminal Engineering Titles Worksheet - http://dld.bz/EngClassics. Also I am looking at a way to display these titles, and am experimenting with a LibraryThing collection to display the results: http://dld.bz/ClassicEngineering.
As an engineering librarian I don't need LibraryThing to catalog my engineering books. I see it as a tool to create engineering bibliographies.
As an engineering librarian I don't need LibraryThing to catalog my engineering books. I see it as a tool to create engineering bibliographies.
