“Only the man who crosses the river at night knows the value of the light of day” -- Chinese Proverb
Most research organizations of any size will employ a librarian to organize the information resources required to support innovative research. An online catalog of library resources is one of the ways that librarians add value to the books, journals, and databases an organization subscribes to.
For those organizations that choose not to employ a librarian, the next best thing is to use a free social cataloging service like LibraryThing.
One of the benefits of using LibraryThing is that you can easily add records of each book in your collection. Once added, the catalog can be viewed by your colleagues. Your colleagues can add their own records. The result of the collaborative effort will enable you to avoid buying a book that has already been purchased by someone else in the organization.
Visit my LibraryThing catalog to see an example of what you can do:
