How Do Tag Clouds Work?

Library Journal interviewed Tim Spalding, creator of LibraryThing, for the January 15th edition. The interview includes Tim’s explanation of how tag clouds work. Tim talks about the relative size and bold-ness of the tags and how the software figures out what to display in very non-technical terms. It’s really interesting. He also tells about LT …

Signing up, Signing in, and Searching

I finally started cataloging my books on LibraryThing over the holiday break. Two things struck me immediately. 1. Library Thing is better than any other website I have ever used. Why? The sign-up process is identical to the sign-in process! What a concept! Reason enough to upgrade to a paid account and support them! No …

LibraryThing UnSuggester

I’m fascinated by LibraryThing’s new UnSuggester, unveiled Sunday along with their “real” recommender system. UnSuggester gives you opposites instead of similar titles. For example, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky overlaps least with Daughters of the Moon by Lynne Ewing. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins overlaps least with Wild at Heart: Discovering the Passionate …