Lobster Network Review
The basic idea behind Lobster Network is that it is an "item networking" site-you can do any of the things above for FREE...just by visiting and joining their site. Obviously, for homeschoolers, this means having a place, for free, to lend, borrow, sell or buy curriculum, books, or other learning related items. But it's so much bigger than that. You can use it personally to keep track of anything in your life you want to inventory-insurance items, collectibles, books, etc. Or use it to create a "community" where only community members can see the items listed-or open the community's items to the world-it' your choice. Joining is easy-create a user name and password and you are on your way.
The pros: I think the potential for Lobster Network is unlimited. I can remember when I was in La Leche League and we had a library of books available to borrow-but the person in charge of the library had to schlep the library around to every meeting so people could see what was available. And then they had to remember to get it back from that person when they were done. If we had had Lobster Network, the library books could have been entered and then anyone who wanted to check them out could have requested to borrow them and the librarian would have only had to bring a book or two each time instead of the whole bin. And Lobster Network is free-what's not to like about that?
The cons: Lobster Network is new, so right now there aren't a lot of items for sale/swap out there for the general membership, but that also means this is your chance to get in on the bottom floor before it becomes ridiculously popular.
The bottom line: What's not to love about a service that's free? Some local homeschool friends and I swap materials from time to time, and this will give u a place to keep track of that. And, between us, we have a good sized library of convention speaker audios that we could enter so they are easier to loan out and keep track of. And I know I have some used curriculum to sell, so I will have to try that this summer too!
To check out Lobster Network for yourself, go HERE. To see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say, go HERE.
Legal Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I was asked to take a look at Lobster Network. Because it is a free service, I received no compensation for my review beyond the free membership that is available to anyone else who visits their site.
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