LibraryThing debuts BookPsychic at Portland Public Library

PORTLAND, Maine, Sept. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- LibraryThing and Bowker® have launched BookPsychic, a new concept in readers advisory — a personal recommender system for libraries. BookPsychic is a service within LibraryThing for Libraries™, distributed by Bowker®, an affiliate of ProQuest. It went live at its first site earlier this month at Maine's Portland Public Library.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120620/DE27948LOGO-d )

BookPsychic works by inviting library patrons to rate books using an interface that early users felt was familiar and intuitive. Books to rate and recommendations are split into simple genres, like "Recent Fiction," "History" and "Home and Garden." As patrons rate more books, the system learns more and more about their likes and dislikes, enabling the creation of "Just for You" recommendations.

"We are excited about BookPsychic because it fits right in with our library's focus on engaging readers with particularly relevant recommendations for their next read. It's simple, fun, and fast at doing just that," said Sarah Campbell, Head of Lending, Technical Services and Systems at Portland Public Library. "It's good for the library too because BookPsychic recommends what the library actually owns. It's a way for the library to be of immediate service to our community anywhere, all the time."

"BookPsychic isn't just a new service," said Tim Spalding, president of LibraryThing, "It's also a new idea — a recommendation system for single libraries. Commercial websites have such systems, but, useful as they can be, they're about pushing you to buy their products. There's never been something driven by library values and recommending items you can get for free and often that day."

BookPsychic's recommendation system runs off more than 200 million data points from members of LibraryThing.com, a social network for book lovers. It also analyzes book and DVD popularity in the library, and across the more than 300 libraries that use LibraryThing for Libraries. BookPsychic integrates with the social networks Facebook and Twitter for signup, and users can import ratings from LibraryThing.com and Goodreads.

Initial reactions from the library and technology worlds have been positive. Tech publisher and speaker Tim O'Reilly tweeted "More libraries should adopt bookpsychic." Carli Spina of the "Novel Technology" blog wrote "For an automated tool, I think Book Psychic does a surprisingly good job of coming up with personalized book recommendations. I expect that it will be a hit with libraries and patrons alike." Twitter user @ethanharris tweeted "OK, bookpsychic.com is seriously GREAT! The recommendations are spot on. It's like Netflix for my books. Well done."

Libraries interested in further information on BookPsychic can contact Peder Christensen at 877-340-2400 or email [email protected].

Key links

BookPsychic: http://www.bookpsychic.com

Bowker http://www.bowker.com/en-US/products/servlib_ltfl.shtml

Portland Public Library: http://www.portlandlibrary.com/

Information about BookPsychic, for libraries http://www.librarything.com/forlibraries

About LibraryThing

LibraryThing is a leader in social networking for readers and in software for libraries. LibraryThing.com counts over 1.5 million members who have cataloged 75 million books. In addition to BookPsychic, LibraryThing also offers libraries a suite of ten catalog enhancements, LibraryThing for Libraries, and a mobile library catalog, LibraryAnywhere.

BookPsychic is available exclusively through Bowker®, the global leader in bibliographic information. Bowker also distributes LibraryThing for Libraries and LibraryAnywhere.

About Portland Public Library

Portland Public Library is the largest public library in Maine, providing service from four physical locations (Main Library on Monument Square, Burbank Branch, Riverton Branch, and Peaks Island Branch), via an outreach service targeted at low-mobility populations, and through a growing digital presence. Annually, Portland Public Library loans close to 1,000,000 items and is visited more than 660,000 times. There are also many thousands of virtual visits to various online services provided by or hosted by the library through its website (www.portlandlibrary.com).

About Bowker® (www.bowker.com)

Bowker is the world's leading provider of bibliographic information and management solutions designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers. Creators of products and services that make books easier for people to discover, evaluate, order, and experience, the company also generates research and resources for publishers, helping them understand and meet the interests of readers worldwide. Bowker, a ProQuest affiliate, is the official ISBN Agency for the United States and its territories. The company is headquartered in New Providence, New Jersey, with additional operations in England and Australia.

SOURCE Bowker