Has anyone thought of changing "Your Books" to "My Books"?

When I go to search my library collection for something, I must admit to often being pulled up short wondering exactly whose library I'll be checking. Who is YOU? I'd prefer to see:
HOME; MY BOOKS; ADD BOOKS; etc.

It's been requested. I like the formality of "Your." There is something a bit cloying about "My" in user interfaces. It's the buddy interface! I am not the only one who feels this way. But it may be a minority opinion today.

Both "Your" and "My" annoy me in interfaces equally.

That may be because you are a nice guy and are thinking that your library collection isn't the only one in the LT Universe? But see, I rarely search anyone else's library (as in never?), so, yeah, it's basically all about me.

Abraham Lincoln used to refer to himself in the 3rd person, but it was weird then and I guess it still is. These are MY books. But you can peek if you like :-)

>3 brightcopy:

Thy?

I'd find "My books" more confusing than "Your books", personally. It's obvious that the interface is talking to me, saying "Here are your books". If it was "My books" I'd be wondering who exactly the speaker was that was claiming them.

I may sometime go to my just for space reasons…

Nah, just skip straight to "Shelf".

(Or maybe to be more accurate to my personal storage system, you should make it "Piles." This will necessitate www.librarything.co.uk translations, however...)

Mine would then have to read "Cat Towers of Doom"

(I've been rearranging the shelves in my house, setting up stacks, and the cats have decided it's fun to try to topple them.)

#8 -- "Stacks" is pleasantly ambiguous, as you can take it as the library definition, or the literal one ... :-)

I wouldn't mind "Stacks".

Given that Add Books is right next door, Show Books would make more sense to me.

No no you all have it completely wrong. It should say "Catalogue" because that's what I've been calling it for years, even after it changed to "My Library" and then "Your Books". ;)

But the Americans write 'Catalog' which looks so bare, and at best something you might order clothes from.

You're logging your books, you aren't logue'ing them. :)

While it isn't sexy, "record" (or "records") is a synonym for catalog(ue) and is clear and unambiguous. It's also short to fit Tim's needs.

I like the idea of catalogue if we could agree on a spelling.

Don't like "record" at all, totally doesn't fit the site. I like "shelf" but unless it were "bookshelf" it feels not quite right also. I guess that means I'm for "catalog"?

I'm for "Your Books".

I emphatically agree with Tim (#2). That "my" convention startled me when I first encountered computers with GUIs (yes, it was a little while back), and even though I got used to it, I was still bothered by it. Did it imply that I was somehow meant to see myself as one with the computer, so that its possessions and mine were the same, or was it referring to itself as separate from me, and if so, what was our relationship? Either way it was disconcerting.

In addition to that strangeness, it was also incongruous with the inevitable "welcome to" greeting--as though I were the one who had just arrived in its world and not the other way around.

Please keep "your." I like knowing who I am and who I'm not.

". . .If it was "my Books", Iʻd be wondering who exactly the speaker was . . ." (6)

I think it does come down to the question of: "are we speaking to LT, or is LT speaking to us?". One post implies that it shouldnʻt be either of those.
I used to think that LT
was mistakenly placing a book that was in one of my collections in the wrong
collection -- the "MY/YOUR" Collection
when it belonged in the
"Wish List". (And that does happen sometimes). But then I realized that I was getting it FROM browsing someone elseʻs collection
in which it was (I assume) correctly placed.
Despite past ambiguities as described above, I agree with Meredy (19) that it should be kept as "Your...".

I would prefer Catalog(ue).

>19 by @Meredy, I have to strongly disagree. A computer has most certainly never ever sent me into a spiral of worry over who I was or whether it was taking me over. 0.o I'm rather flummoxed by your quite startling reaction to such a trivial label.

Maybe it's because I was still fairly young when Windows really became a thing and we upgraded from using DOS (to I guess Win 3.0), that I was still easily adaptable to understanding "my documents" "my desktop" and the like were quite simply referring to my documents and my desktop as the package says, but even so, I have trouble understanding how anyone would have such difficulty with the concept.

That said, while it makes sense on a personal computer, on a social website with lots of people (whose libraries we are encouraged to look at), that terminology doesn't really fit. And then, neither does "your," really. Hence the suggestions about shelves and catalogs and whatnot.

>22 .Monkey.:

The whole "My Computer" thing came in with Windows 95. I can't remember it from Windows 3.0 and 3.11.

I suspect I am a fair bit older than you. But similarly I haven't had any existential crises over a label.

That could be. I don't remember the specifics so clearly, it's been quite a while. But yeah, I have changed OSes multiple times in my adult years, and while some things may be a little frustrating to get used to, they have certainly never caused any sort of identity crisis.

The reason both "Your" and "My" bother me on LT is that I click on a username and get to their profile. Then I click on "Your library" in their collections, which isn't MY library but is YOUR "Your library". Then it shows me all YOUR books, with the tab "Your books" at the top highlighted, which again isn't MY "Your" but YOUR "Your".

It's just a muddle. It'd be just as silly if it was "My."

Right, that's what I was getting at in 22. The whole "my" thing works on a computer you use, but a website tons of people use, not so much.

How about just "Library"?

But definitely "Your" over "My"...
"My" sounds so... elementary school...

>27 Crypto-Willobie: "My" sounds so... elementary school...

That's my feeling too. But I'm guessing @lorannen would roll her eyes at my stodginess here. What do you think @lorannen?

Can I roll my eyes too? While it's irrelevant to the larger conversation I don't see how "my" sounds more elementary than "your." Stodgy old coot.

You're older than me!

Yeah, people* have such weird connotations about the most mundane things.

* people who aren't me.

"The word we were looking for is it. And you sang it..."

>28 timspalding: Much eye-rolling ensued. So much that I couldn't read for a while, because my eyes got stuck. That said, I don't entirely disagree with the sentiment. It's not that "my" sounds "elementary school" for me—it's that it's chummy. It makes me think of Clippy.

"My" does make more sense to me, though, than "your."

I vote for neither.

>27 Crypto-Willobie: "Library." I like it better than everything else so far. Lesser of all evils? I somewhat dislike the redundancy of a "library" on LibraryThing (insert @timspalding eye-roll here). LT is not going to single-handedly end the "catalog/ue" spelling war, so this gets my vote.

But if you use the word "Library", people will be confused because they think it is somehow related to your public library. Just like they see the word "LibraryThing" and think it's a way to check books out from your local library.

(Had to say it because it's the kind of thing that gets said. Better I bring it up and point out the silliness first.)

I actually think "your books" is fine -- maybe just because I'm used to it, though.

>34 brightcopy: I see your point, but considering the fact that the "Your books" tab doesn't even show up for those who aren't logged in to the site, I'm a bit less concerned about that possibility.

I'm not concerned, either. But someone would have brought it up even though it doesn't really make sense when you expand your focus out to the whole site.

Library doesn't work because a sizable percentage of people—even of real hard-core book lovers—think "library" means an institution. Personal library doesn't mean that to them. Maybe you can explain we mean "personal library," but they'd have to be taught, and would never click on such a tab thinking it was about their books.

Back when LT had it's Portland party we had a lot of librarians in the house. Someone asked why it was called "LibraryThing" when it didn't start out being directly involved in the library world. I explained that, to me "library" meant your books. As a big-time book nerd I naively thought this usage was something others understood.

A very strident librarian, who clearly wasn't following the conversation, barked out that "to HER, libraries were a great public resource, not a private thing." It was so harsh and misunderstanding I was fairly speechless. She left shortly afterward.

So, anyway, people dislike "library" for a private collection—and from different points of view.

@lorannen: Told ya somebody would bring it up. ;)

Tim, I think you take what could be outliers FAR too seriously. You've had multiple people come on here confused as to why they can't download free ebooks from the site. People are just weird and you can't please them all. You often say this, but then you waffle.

Yeah, not the library thing. The "library" in our name is bad news.

>39 brightcopy: 2nd paragraph—100% agree.

>40 timspalding: So what you're saying is that we're switching our entire site name to "BookThing."

ThingThing

The cycle is finally complete.

Has anyone pedantically asserted that people catalog more than books? Thus, it's not properly "Your books" anyway.

How about "Your stuff"? Or better yet, "Your things."

And thus, >42 brightcopy:, the cycle is finally, truly complete.

I'm with you, 'BookThing' it is.

>43 PhaedraB: Phaedra

How about "Your stuff"?

Cue George Carlin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x_QkGPCL18

Unfortunately, StuffThing sounds like a four-year-old describing Thanksgiving dinner.

... LiberryThang...

LibraryThong exists.

>41 lorannen:

Sorry, lorannen, but there's already a BookThing*. :)

*which just happens to be a terrific source of free, gently used books!

Please keep LibraryThing, in ancient times libraries started as personal libraries. This comes from a librarian.

I have always seen LT as a group of people who share information, "My" is exclusive and does not express this as "Your" does. One could consider "Our" but please don't.

catalog(ue) is terrible.

Is "Your" broken?

It amazes me what can get members of LibraryThink talking :)

Obviously it needs to properly named: "The books username has chosen to add to LibraryThing"

This is unambiguous and correct. (hopefully!)

TIM you just need to make LT bigger.

Instead of "Your" books or "My books", it could read "x's " books, where "x" is your file name, meaning your sign in name. Then it would be clear to everyone, but then it takes up more space on the header and may not be practical.

I'd like to change Your books into My books -- just drop me a line and I'll send you my mailing address...

...Perhaps it could be made a language setting?

You could have the languages set as first person or third person and then let people choose. It would probably be easy to fix it that way since there are very few places this would change on LT.

I'm more inclined to return to "Catalog(ue)."

>55 timspalding:

Your Books
Catalog(ue)

Fewer characters either way (without the parens). Works for me.

For a moment I read the above as timspalding(ue)

:-)

>48 timspalding:

The image that conjured up means I now need to wash my brain out...

>59 Maddz: http://www.cafepress.com/ThingStore.64923022

My vote (if I have one) would be for just "Books".

ETA: .... or "Library". Drop the possessive adjective.

Your Library?

My Library?

I think I'm done pandering to the idea that "library" is alienating to people who think libraries are buildings with marble columns.

I think Library would be good.

I like 'Library' or 'Your Library'. I think of it as a library not a catalogue so I don't really like 'catalogue' and if I had to look at 'catalog' all the time, I think I would weep little book shaped tears of sadness. I would assume that the UK spelling would have a similar effect for US members (among others).

We already use 'Library' in a number of places. It can't be more contraversial than the choice of spelling for 'Catalog(ue)' or the choice of possessive adjective. I think 'Books' alone looks bare.

>62 timspalding: I like that, but if the overall name of our catalogue changes to {Your/My} Library, to what will the default collection be renamed? Or will it remain Your Library? Might be confusing that way, but I don't have a good suggestion for another name at the moment.

In a flash of insight I thought that 'Your Library' could be renamed 'Personal Library'.

A second flash of insight revealed that not all LT accounts are personal accounts.

<thinking> ...

>66 rosalita:

Yeah.

>67 TheoClarke:

Yeah.

I have to say that I'd be just as happy if it stayed the same. I don't think it hurts anything, and it has to be named *something*. It might as well be "Your Library" though, if everyone seems set on change for change's sake.

>68 timspalding: </thinking>

and it has to be named *something*

>71 timspalding: The website formerly known as LibraryThing?

I like Your Books and see no reason to change.

If Your Books was changed, on my Home page Your Collection, Your Notepad, Your Posts, Your Tags and Your Recommendations would all need to be changed. I am sure somewhere at the beginning of this debate this was pointed out and then lost sight of. There was debate on the new design, it was accepted so now we use it. I say "if it ain't broke..."

No preference for my versus your, or books versus library - all options make sense and avoid the catalog/catalogue debate.

However, it's always seemed very odd to look at someone else's books and see the "Your library" collection. Because that "your" is not addressed to me, I feel like I'm eavesdropping on a conversation between the user and LT. If that collection was "My library", or else "(username)'s library", then I could interpret as the user or LT addressing me directly.

The only thing I personally would ever want changed with that is it really annoys me that "books" is not capitalized in "Your books" and "Add books." I see those as being the "titles" of those particular pages, which, in traditional titling conventions, every word should be capitalized aside from {and, or, the, a, or of} and possibly a few others.

>76 benuathanasia:

in traditional titling conventions, every word should be capitalized aside from {and, or, the, a, or of} and possibly a few others.

Depends on which titling conventions you're using.

Screw APA and their weird-ass conventions...

>76 benuathanasia: Bugs me too. Always has. I hate that we sentence-case UI elements at LT. But Tim's the boss and he likes it that way. Meh.

In the Dutch LT it is "Mijn boeken" (My books).

>81 mene: In the Welsh LT the tab is "Dy lyfrau" (Your books), while the collection is "Eich llyfrgell" (Your library). Only 'dy ... di' signifies singular/familiar/informal 'your', while 'eich ... chi' signifies plural/respectful/formal 'your', much the same as French 'tu' and 'vous'.

Or not as the case may be. I see that the French LT uses "Vos livres" and "Votre bibliothèque"; something to do with library (singular) and books (plural), with a bit of gender thrown in?

In the Dutch LT it is "Mijn boeken" (My books).

Dutch rebels!