book recommendation toolThe New York Public Library has introduced a book recommendation tool for its online catalog.

The recommendations will factor in searches by the user using tags and keywords, according to Gigaom.

The NYPL has partnered with Zola Books’ Bookish. The recommendations will be based on book data instead of user data. If a user searches for a specific book, they will get a list of recommendations based on factors of that book (not the user)

The NYPL had offered recommendations based on titles other users were interested in. This change will gear books more toward the individual user rather than what’s popular now.

This tool could be useful in a many ways. The NYPL has a large customer base, and often books are on hold for a long time. Popular books get the long wait list and users were only sent toward other popular titles. With the new recommendation tool, users will go beyond what is popular and see books on the topics that interest them.

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