Evaluating websites

The first website I looked at was the Guardian Bookclub. The Guardian is a well-respected English newspaper, rather than a tabloid, which gave me confidence in the site's content (I wouldn't bother looking at book reviews in say, the Sun or Daily Mirror, even if they had them, snob that I am). On the first page is a reassuring bio of the host, John Mullan, Professor of English at UCL, so I checked his credentials through Google and all was correct. The sources of all content are clearly stated, the links work and are easily navigable, and the content is readable, informative, and up-to-date. I had just read in today's Herald about a scientist, Dr. Brooke Magnanti, who has admitted to being the author of Belle du Jour. The article in the Guardian Bookclub links to articles and discussions about pseudonyms, cyber-bullying and more. As an aside, I also looked at what podcasts were featured, and again found Lynne Truss, this time talking about Eats Shoots and Leaves, so thought I'd give her a second online chance. Sadly she proved to be equally disappointing, being totally eclipsed by the host, John Mullan, which gave me even more faith in him and the beyond-criticism Guardian bookclub.

The Book Seer was a little more tricky to investigate. I checked out Apt Labs, who created it, and was reassured as to their authority as their clients include Hachette, Pan MacMillan and HarperCollins. But because the site's function is merely to link to lists from LibraryThing and Amazon of "If you enjoyed x, you'll probably enjoy y" the other evaluating criteria don't apply. The LibraryThing and Amazon records themselves are very current and accessible.

Revish, and some of the other sites in this module, including BookBrowse, Revish and Open Books Radio seem to be in their infancy and would need to develop and expand considerably to be of much help to our patrons in suggesting what to read next. Given the limited amount of time staff have to help patrons with suggestions, they would certainly not be ones I would suggest. Instead I would point them towards some of the sites we covered in The Reading Experience, and Guardian Bookclub or Encompass.