For me the biggest advantage of social reading networks has nothing to do with the social aspect of the network, but with the fact that it's a quick and easy way to catalog your books. I used to use an Access database to manually enter information about all the books in my library. These online resources make it possible to access all the information about a book and incorporate it into an online database simply by entering the ISBN or using a barcode scanner. You can then access this information from any computer or even from your cell phone - which is very useful when you are rummaging through used book stores - (or export it to a CSV file).
Another advantage is that these networks make it possible to get in touch with others who have similar reading tastes or interests and share recommendations as well as opinions about the books you are reading. The hard part is finding those connections whose recommendations will prove to be the most useful. Although these programs suggest connections by showing you people whose libraries are similar to yours, these similarities may not reflect your current reading tastes or interests (e.g. you may share a lot of classic literature that you haven't read since high school, and also, people add a lot books that they haven't read, but think they should). In any case, what I have found is that the more obscure the book, author or topic you are reading or researching, the more useful these networks can be in helping you find others with similar interests.
For me, the biggest disadvantage of social reading networks is the huge amount of time it takes to keep your library up-to-date. I sometimes wonder whether that time wouldn't be more wisely spent doing other things .... like actually READING books! Although I am still an avid reader, and make a point of dedicating at least two hours a day to reading for pleasure (as Anamaria says, this is time we set aside for ourselves, not our professional selves but our innermost selves) I spend way too much time at my computer, and that takes time away from other things I could be doing. So for me the biggest disadvantage - not only of social reading networks, but of social networks and Web applications in general - is that they can be addictive and you can end up spending too much time on your virtual presence and not enough on simply living your life.
However, for those of us who live abroad, being able to get & stay in touch with others who share our interests can be especially important, since we are otherwise cut off from the culture we grew up in, a culture that is ultimately responsible for who and what we are. Similarly, on a professional level, we can contact others who are working on similar projects or carrying out research in our field and share our knowledge, ideas and recommendations for further reading. The more obscure the topic and specific the work we are doing, the more difficult it is to find other professionals to collaborate with in our vicinity and the more useful these social networks can be in helping us connect with people who share our professional interests.
As for students, I think a social reading network would be most useful in a class library project. That way students could read what their classmates have to say about the books they have read before deciding which book to read or buy themselves. In the case of language students, these recommendations could include information not only about how interesting they found the book but also about the difficulty of the language, the complexity of the narrative, and whether they would recommend the book to other learners of English. A selection of books (highest-rated or random) could be added to the class webpage using one of the widgets provided. This project could continue over the years in such a way that students would be writing recommendations not only for their classmates but for future students as well (which would give the project a permanency that should make students more careful about their writing). Students could also use recommendations from former students to select class readers.
Social reading networks can also create a sense of community. I would therefore allow students to introduce books that they have read in languages other than English - that way they can discover classmates with similar reading interests. Another advantage of allowing students to introduce books they have read in L1 is that you can ask them to write reviews in English of these books. If you ask students to write about a recent or more obscure book by a writer in a language other than English, it is less likely that they will copy (ideas and/or sentences from) someone else's review. Also, as there are fewer - perhaps even no - reviews of the book on the website, the student's recommendation will be more useful to possible readers. And finally, if the students write about a book they really enjoyed, have strong opinions about, or one which deals with a topic within their field of expertise, it is much more likely that they will find something significant to say about it. In any case, writing for a real audience will give students a sense of purpose that can make them feel more motivated to write... and continue writing beyond what is merely the fulfillment of a class assignment.
And to finish, I just want to say that I'm not sure a social reading network is the best place to discuss and work on class readings - I find that wikis (and to a lesser extent blogs) allow you much more flexibility to set up projects and activities around the books you are reading as a class. But that's another story...
posted 1 year ago. ( reply )
