Open Library is happy to report that the Lists feature is here, for your collection-building enjoyment! You can create and share lists that include authors, works (all editions of a specific title), specific editions, and subjects.

While browsing around, you can see when an item has been added to somebody’s list – just look underneath the Add to List button.  Here are some items that have been listed so far:

• Blink (work)
• Madame Bovary (edition)
• Monsters in Literature (subject)

Each item in your list appears as a “seed,” and references all editions of the books tied to that seed.  So, for example, if you added Anna Harriette Leonowens to your list, all of the Open Library records for different editions of her books would tag along with her.  This is great if you wanted to, say, use your list to track edits to records that are of interest to you.  Following these edits can be done manually (as in the image below), or by subscribing the list’s Atom feed.

What also makes the Lists feature great is that lists can be exported.  Available in JSON, HTML, and BibTex, your exports will include the records of the editions affiliated with the seeds in your list.

Be sure to take a look at some of the active lists…you never know what you’ll find!

And if you’re curious about the background of the development of the Lists feature, here is a blog post from several months ago, when Lists were just a glimmer in our eyes.