Too much!!!

It is all well and good to have all these ways of contacting each other, but when do we live.  This is just getting out of hand.  In 1900, there were two means of communication, talking face to face and writing via the mail.  Today, we can talk, on the phone, over the radio, face to face... and write an email, a blog, a wiki, a letter... or maybe you just want to Skype.  I think we have gone overboard.  We are spending so much time worrying about Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 which while the might be "wonderful" probably will just take more time.  If we keep going at this rate, we will be communicating all the time with nothing to say.

Searching Blogs???

Blogs are about being trendy.  When people follow a particular blog, it is considered trendier than another.  This is not because it is a better authority but simply because more people like it.

The site http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/ directory categories only consist of trendy topics.  This leaves out a lot of subjects that relate to personal hobbies.  The directory’s large categories list nothing on history, education and interestingly crime, but lots on entertainment, living, technology, cars, sports, and environment – topics that are trendy.  It is particularly interesting that entertainment seems to be what people most look for in blogs, though politics and business are also evident.

I like the blog search in http://technorati.com/ better than the post search.  I chose two random subjects to search for blogs about.  The first search I did was a blog search on genealogy.  It brought up 705 blogs.  Then I did a postings search on genealogy and it only gave four results.  I did a second search to see if this made sense according to its search.  This time I search for model trains.  In the blog search I got 39 blogs.  In the posts search, I got seven.  I think the blogs search is a better option, but only if you are into this kind of thing.  Now, I wonder what http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com has to say…

Diigo

The idea that you can share bookmarks without having to copy and paste them is interesting.  Diigo is very interesting.  It seems like a good idea, but the cost issue will limit its use.  In exploring Diigo, I particularly liked how people could leave comments about the site.  Some of the comments are very nice, in that they tell one about cost or usefulness.

I can see that this would be very useful to librarians because it could be used to find connected information on a topic.  In a school, it would also be useful for subject research topics in that it gives you an easy place to get lists of websites for using in a custom search.  The connections with the comments can help one find good sites.

Rollyo Search and Google Custom Search

When I first read about Rollyo, it sounded so fun that I wanted to get several good sites.  I happily went about finding sites on space exploration, nativity sets and genealogy.  Then I went to Rollyo.com and was met with the message "Rollyo is Undergoing Maintenance.  We'll be back soon."  Over several days, I checked back with the site to see if soon had happened.  I do not know what their version of soon is but a week is not soon.  I find this very poor wording on their part.

Since I could not use Rollyo, I went searching to see if I could find another search engine which would do a similar type of thing.  I found out that Google Custom Search does something similar, so I tried it out.  I think it is great.

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In the library, I could see this type of multiple site search engines would be very useful, particularly in a situation where the cooperating teacher had a particular subject they wanted searched.  This would help with time constraints, since the students would not need to search, critique, and comprehend the sites for their assignment to be completed.

This type of search engine also allows for the same search to be preformed on multiple sites at the times.  Sometimes when I do research, half of my time is taken up with waiting for the computer to load various sites with search engines so that I can search them.  It is a real annoyance.  Having one search, if the search engine is good, speeds things up.

Also, this can allow a librarian, to make the library website more user friendly.  A website with a search function, allows users to pinpoint information without looking through the entire site.  Most users do not what to be looking for something for a longer time than it takes to use the thing.  This is definitely true of website patrons who want their information now.

I think these type of searches are very useful and a good addition for libraries and website creators alike.

Goodreads

 Out of curiosity, I also looked at Goodreads.  Of the two types of book "cataloging" sites, I prefer Goodreads.  I find it to be a little more user friendly.  You do not have to know the titles of the books - or even go find them to input them in.  Instead, you tell the site about the genres you think you read.  From a rubric, the site offers you possibilities.  As you rate the sites, a rubric determines possible recommendations and other book options you might have read.  It is very interesting to see what this rubric brings up.  This different format made it actually easier to identify books.

Goodreads also allows one to accept recommendations by 'friends'.  This 'friends' linking mechanism makes it easier to find librarians and follow subjects.  Similarly, Goodreads allows you to separate book shelves and organize books by a subject or genre.  This site I actually think is better for librarians because of the rubric and genre shelving.

Elizabeth's bookshelf: read



More of Elizabeth's books »

Library Thing

Library Thing is very interesting.  I have often wondered about it, since it is very helpful when doing subject assessments for the library.  I have used it frequently to help me find books, reviews and information concerning particular subjects areas.  It contains book relationships  that help one know when about book connections.  It was particularly helpful when I was requested to put back together a religious section.

I was surprised how easy it is to make a list of books.   It was kind of fun.   It is a lot easier than other cataloging systems I have worked with.  I wish library cataloging systems were so easy.  Admittedly, you can only get subject ideas from the tags people put on their items, so it would not work well unless tags were made.

I think it is ideal for small collections, like professional materials used by teachers in their classes.  Teachers are always collecting materials to use in their classes.  It would be nice, if all the teachers made logins, then their coworkers could then learn about their resources.  This would be very useful to a librarian, too.  It would allow them to know how to help them and where to send their coworkers when sources were needed.  It would be great.

Image Generator

It is such fun to create images on image generators.  It was a lot like working on a program like PhotoShop.  I was interested that so much could be done online, if one has rights to the picture.  The picture I used was one I took in San Diego last May.  Having looked at several of these generators, I think it would be very easy to run into difficulties with copyright.  I understand better now why graphic artists can infringe on each others copyright so easily like they did over an image of Steve Jobs.

Several days this last week, I used some freeware images to create "wanted" posters for 29 cub scouts.  I did it with Microsoft Word since I would not feel comfortable uploading pictures of cub scouts without their parents permission.  It is a lot of fun to do this and the boys loved it!