Q: What’s a list?
A: A list is a collection of titles related to a specific topic or idea of your choosing. Best Italian Cookbooks, 10 Books My Daughter Loves Best and Movies That Changed My Life are examples of lists you could create. A good list is a curated topic guide. A list shouldn’t be just a group of titles by an author, since you can do that just by searching, or a list of titles you want to borrow, since you have a For Later shelf for that.
Q: Who can create lists?
A: Anyone with a library card can create a list when they’re logged into their account. You don’t have to be a library staff member.
Q: How do I create a list?
A: On the menu, click Lists to go to your My Lists page, and then click the Add New List button. Once you’ve created the list, you can add titles to it.
Q: Can other people see my lists?
A: Yes. Part of the fun of creating lists is to share your expertise with others. When you create a list, you can choose who gets to see your list. By default, lists are visible to everyone. You can change that when you publish your list.
Q: Can I change the order of items on a list?
A: Yes. Each title you add to a list appears at the top. To move an item, use the up and down arrows next to the item to move it up or down one position. You can also drag and drop items up or down.
Q: How many titles can I put on a list?
A: Up to 100. However, to be truly effective, a list of no more than a dozen is probably a good idea, unless the list is just for your own use.
Q: Why is there a limit?
A: Lists are designed to focus attention on the essential titles in a given subject area, for the benefit of other library members. A list that is too big isn’t helpful. For example, a list of all of Stephen King’s books isn’t much more helpful than a search. But if you’ve read every Stephen King book, a list of what you consider the 10 best would be of great value to someone new to King’s work.
Q: Can I mix books and movies on a list?
A: Yes. A list can contain any combination of titles and formats. You can also add websites to a list.
Q: Why would I add a Web page to a list?
A: Add links to websites to complement titles on your list. For example, suppose you create a list of books that provide advice to new immigrants. You could add links to websites that provide government services and forms, legal advice, or community-based organizations for new immigrants. If you created a reading list for your book club, you could provide links to online resources or reviews of the books you’re planning to read.
Q: What does it mean to annotate a list?
A: Annotations are brief notes attached to items on a list, and are only visible when viewing the list. Unlike comments, they do not appear on a title’s details page. Annotations are especially useful to describe a Web page you’ve added to your list.
Q: Why can’t I publish my list of three titles?
A: A list needs to have 4 titles before you can publish it. This is to encourage thoughtful and useful lists. The system will always save a draft of your list before it is published, even if the list contains fewer than 4 items.
Q: How can I see another member’s lists?
A: Any time you see a comment on a title, you’ll see the name of the user who wrote the comment. Click their name to see titles on their shelves. When you’re viewing their shelves, you can see also see their lists by clicking the link near the top of the page.
New lists are also shown on the Recent Activity page. You can also search for lists on a particular subject.
Q: How do I save something from someone’s list?
A: Click the icon to the right of a title on a list to save it to your For Later shelf.
Q: What’s the difference between lists and shelves?
A: Shelves are a place to gather together all of the titles that you have read, watched or listened to (Completed), are currently borrowing (In Progress) or would like to borrow in the future (For Later). You can add as many items as you want, you can make all or some of them private, and you can filter a shelf using the categories in the left sidebar.
Lists are for more focused collection of items on a particular topic (for example, My Favorite Chicklit of 2017). Lists can also include links to Web pages. You can create as many lists as you want, but you are limited to adding 100 items per list. You can make the list public (viewable by others) or keep it private.
Q: What happens if the library discards an item I’ve put on a list?
A: Any item you add to a list remains there until you remove it, or delete the list, even if your library no longer owns the item.