Rollyo (thing 12)

I've added my customized Rollyo search to my blog; it seems like this tool would be useful for people who repeat the same search over and over and have specfic sites they trust over others.

As for my general search behavior, I achieve fairly decent results with Google and then start the winnowing process from there. Tangentially, where I'd really like a tool such as this (for searching within LiveJournal), the ability to search within journals can be disabled by account holders and the only available option is a third party engine - A6 doesn't provide a good tool even on the macro level.

Library Thing (thing 11)

Here is what I don't get about Library Thing... why wouldn't they suggest tags to you at the point of entering your books into your "library". Why are they making me re-create the wheel?

Del.icio.us hellpfully lists suggested tags, both the tags that I have used and tags that others who have tagged this very page used to describe it. After all, the value that accrues to tags happens when more and more "taggers" assign the same one to the same item and then use it again for similar items.

Even if I add a title from the Search screen, once I click on edit I loose the ability to see whowothers have tagged it. So basically, I have to have two windows or tabs open and perform the search twice. This is NOT intuitive and does NOT save me time.

CARL was at one time looking closely at Library Thing as an add-on to CARLWeb, but I would not thing it would add much value unless it could operate a lot more like Del.icio.us.

Oh... here is my "library".

Images, avatars (thing10)

So, here is the result of my playing around with the Meez avatar creator. Lots of really wild options, which I declined. I didn't think I needed elf ears, although they were tempting.



The Simpsons avatar maker was also very fun. With both sites you need to register in order to save and post your final masterpiece.

One last image, this one from the catalog card generator:

Library blogs (thing 9)

Although I'm guilty of being a lazy poster, luckily other librarians seem to love blogging. I've added several very interesting blogs to my Google RSS reader:

• Jill Stover's Library Marketing blog which is pretty clear about the topic covered
• Stephen M. Cohen's Library Stuff, which is a bit more eclectic (and covers both personal and professional concerns)
• Jenny Levine's The Shifted Librarian (of course)

Now I also have to admit that I usually just scan the snippets presented to me in my RSS reader; it takes a heck of a snippet to get me to the full post. (tl;dr)

This could also be due to the number of other feeds I have listed: CNN, BBC, Wired Magazine, Lifehacker (♥ ♥), Freakonomics (♥), The Beat (comics industry) and People.com

Del.icio.us at MIT Libraries (thing 13)

The MIT Libraries are using del.icio.us to re-create and update their Virtual Reference site. Del.icio.us users can add the Virtual Reference site to their network, or users can subscribe to an RSS feed to keep up with changes and updates.

The Librarians are also using a tool called "Feed Digest" to update their Virtual Reference Collection page. This tool allows them to add bookmarks onto their del.icio.us account and have the links sent via RSS feed to the webpage. Pretty nifty.

(via Library Stuff)

So... how could this be useful for BCPL?

Unofficial Google Advanced Search Tips
(via reddit)

Skip past the code info (unless of course that stuff is meaningful for you), and you'll find some handy tips on getting Google to do some pretty neat stuff:

I liked:

• Basic Operators
• ~ Similar Words
• Advanced Google Operators
• filetype: File Types
• site: Restrict To Site
• cache: Google Cache
• weather: Weather Forcast
• music: Music Search
• movie: Movie Search
• Flight Information
• SEO-Oriented Operators (yeah, I know - but that's the heading)
• allintitle: All Words In Title
• intitle: Word In Title
• allintext: All Words In Text
• allinurl: All Words In URL
• inurl: Word in URL

Although it looks like it, I haven't really reproduced all of the tips. Examples are given, so that you know how to structure a search.

RSS Readers (thing 8)

I took a look at Bloglines and also at Google's Blog reader and decided to set up my RSS subscriptions in Google - mostly for convenience. I didn't want to open one more account and password set, when I already had a Google account.

I do realize that I am contributing to the Googlization of the web, but that is a subject for another post.

Anyway... after madly adding all types of interesting RSS feeds, I've knocked them down to a more managable number.

Playing Catch-up (things 4 & 7)

So... just for the record, my blog has been registered with Technorati since I set it up. I did that as a part of searching out a unique name - separating the steps didn't make much sense to me. I used Technorati and Google's Blog Search to check name possibilities.

Currently, technology-wise, I am watching the iPhone phenomenon. I can't quite justify it to myself, but it really is shiny. I think that we are moving to a world where many people will be connected all the time (MT Anderson's Feed aside), and devices like this push us closer to that possibility. Plus, shiny.

Of course, all of the hype has attracted the hackers and reverse-engineers and over on Wired there is an interesting article about the similar applications that already exist. Of course, you need a bit of know-how to put all of that together and make it work without crashing - it is never as easy as they make it sound. My father, for example, is infamous in our family for downloading programs to his Palm and causing very inconvenient program conflicts. Me, not so much - mine is for tracking appointments, phone numbers and reading. Nothing fancy. This make me an atypical user, btw.


ETA: Beware the Magical iPhone... "This device, portrayed as a harmless product of science, is obviously designed to introduce our children to witchcraft and sorcery."

Bwahahaha!! I love Wired.

Eight Things Meme (Blog Tag)

MyServe tagged me.

So, I'll be a good sport and play along.

Rules are:

• List 8 facts/habits about yourself.
• Post the rules of the game at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
• At the end of the post, "tag" 8 people by posting their names.
• Then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

So...

One (fact): I have only once had a non-book related job

Two (fact): I have lived in five states, with Maryland being the southern-most

Three (fact): I am an oldest child/daughter

Four (habit): I'm kind of assertive about the topics in which I am interested

Five (fact): I don't like air-conditioning, but I tolerate it

Six (habit): I stay up too late to finish reading (just one more chapter)

Seven (habit): I overanalyze summer movies (but why would the dragons need thermal vision if they aren't really predators)

Eight (fact): I love post-apocalytic, urban fantasy (and science fiction)- a very small field

I tag : Animal Ness, Baby's Blog, Bahama Mama, Candid, Freaking Out, Library Diva, SkyBlueSnowball and TheLibraryLass

IYKWIM

Libraries certainly love our jargon and acronyms (although the one I used for my titles is a text message acronym). But why stop at six letter acronyms? We can do better!

Tune in to the Wheel of Confusion to view the episode on "the longest ALA acronym". (Link takes you to a different web page.) A very cute look at a very bad practice.