Goodbye, Pledge? Hello, Shelfari!

I believe one of my least favorite chores involves whipping out that old dust rag and hitting the shelves with my can of Pledge. Of course, I do love the fresh lemony scent that fills my apartment after wiping down the furniture, but having to remove all the books and trinkets to sort and clean isn’t the most desirable of tasks. Wouldn’t it be just be great if there was a shelf out there that didn’t make me sneeze? In a virtual world, maybe!

Two years ago, my sister, who is an elementary teacher, showed me an online tool introduced to her during one of her professional development classes in technology. Shelfari, as it is called, allows users to list the books they have read, are reading, or intend to read and put them on their virtual bookshelf. For my sister, she was able to include books she has read for school (elementary, high school summer reading, college novels and textbooks), for pleasure (fiction and nonfiction, in book clubs and solo), and for work (teaching resources). Through this tremendous variety of books on her shelf, she is connected to so many different networks of users, from those who teach young children to those who enjoy a good work of historical fiction in their free time!

I created an account for professional and academic use to sort through all the books and textbooks I have been using for my graduate classes. Not only can other users see that I have these books at hand (fellow students could ask to borrow one for a class), but I can view other users with similar preferences in the field. One user, “Foundation Center,” also recommended one of my books, and after looking into the user profile, I learned that it lends books related to nonprofit management. That’s a perfect resource for someone still in school or for a nonprofit administrator who wishes to obtain a resource without purchasing it due to budgetary constraints.

Shelfari also allows users to post their bookshelves to a website or blog, as I have done. The advantage to this is that my classmates, who may have never heard of the website will stumble across it on my blog and have another access point to my bookshelf. I recognize that the tool is all about resource sharing, providing recommendations, and making connections among users. This would be particularly helpful for educators, students, academic professionals, organizations that promote literacy and learning, and even for organizations who engage in resource sharing.

My recommendation is to check out the site and explore the ways it can be used for your academic or organizational needs. Unfortunately, Shelfari won’t remove the dust from the bookshelf in your living room, but it will allow you to sort through the resources you own or hope to access for personal or professional use.