Rich's ILS Conference Trip

More Cool Search Engines

2007-04-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

1. Simply Google
Excellent overview site of all of Googles Features, Download and Blogs
http://www.usabilityviews.com/simply_google.htm

2. AskX.com
New Interface for Ask.com
Good Clustering
Highlights Wikipedia
Images, news items, blogs, etc.
http://www.ask.com/?ax=5
http://www.AskX.com

3. Search The Web 2.0
Narrows search by popular or obscure terms (long tail)
Overlay on Google search engine.
http://www.searchtheweb2.com/

4. Google Search History
Limit your search to what you've searched before.
http://www.google.com/searchhistory

5. Q&A Services
answers.yahoo.com
qna.live.com
askville.ask.com
linkedin.com/answers

6. Quick Answers feature
Ask.com's smart Answers
Google's OneBox
Yahoo's Shortcuts
MSN's Instant Answers

7.Squidoo
Hybrid of a webpage, interactive poll, Flickr-like photos, notes from readers, and a blog
A great way to share resources with colleagues.
http://www.squidoo.com/

8. Customized search Engines
Rollyo.com
Yahoo Search Builder
Google Coop
Live.com's Macros
Gigablast's Custom Topic Search.

9. Yahoo's search subscriptions
Search Fee based resources without the fee
If you like what you see, then you can pay.

10. Kosmix.com **
Vertical Search Engine
Excellent Clustering
http://www.kosmix.com/

11. NationMaster.com
Great source for National Statistics
http://www.nationmaster.com/

12. Yahoo's Mindset Feature
Great way to limit search using a slider bar
http://mindset.research.yahoo.com/

13. MSN's synonym-suggestion tool
snurl.com/zqyd

14. MSN misspelling tool
snurl.com/zqyl

15. 37signals.com
Great Collaborative resource
http://37signals.com/

16. Ask Maps
Both Driving and Walking directions
maps.ask.com

17. Exalead's NEAR/n operator
Returns results on queries for keywords that are 'near' to other keywords
EG. (solar or sun) NEAR/3 power
This will return results based on Solar power
http://www.exalead.com/search

18. Live Academic search
Endlessly Scrolls results!
http://search.live.com/results.aspx?scope=academic&q=

19. Compare Search Engines
http://comparesearchengines.dogpile.com/
http://www.jux2.com/
http://ranking.thumbshots.com/
http://twingine.com/
http://yahoogooglemsn.com/

20. TouchGraph
Finds relationships among URL's
Data visualization
Very Cool site
http://www.touchgraph.com/

21. Gigblast
http://www.gigablast.com/

22. Snap Search
Very good visualization
Lets you Preview a page without leaving your site
Very Cool
http://www.snap.com/

23 GooFresh
Limits Google searches to Recently Added pages
http://www.researchbuzz.org/2003/09/goofresh.shtml

24. SearchMash
Very cool search engine because results can be sorted by webpage, images, Blogs, videos, and Wikipedia
http://www.searchmash.com/

25. Google's Topic Search
Also allows you to contribute to the search engine
http://www.google.com/coop/topics/?show=all

26. PageBull
Entirely Graphical
Very cool visually
http://www.pagebull.com/

What's Hot with RSS

2007-04-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

What's Hot with RSS
Computers in Libraries 2007
Steven M. Cohen
Law Library Management, Incorporated
Contact me at the above sites

RSS is still a very hot topic as new ways to use RSS are discovered.
Steven says that because of RSS, he doesn't go to web sites anymore, they come to him. He goes to his reader, to twitter, and to email.

He's hooked on Google Reader

Steven seems hooked on Google Reader for several reasons. In particular he really likes the "Shared Items" features. Also says that adding subscriptions is very easy.

Try it out at http://www.google.com/help/reader/tour.html

Other notables include:
University of Oklahoma Library http://libraries.ou.edu/rss/
RIT http://wally.rit.edu/feeds
These sites link newly acquired catalog items directly to an RSS Feed

For a full listing, please visit Steve Cohen's wiki at
http://stevenmcohen.pbwiki.com/CIL2007
Check out his Twitter at
http://twitter.com/stevencohen

Content Management with Joomla

2007-04-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

A great presentation for all ITS professionals to see.

Using a CMS to Build Community: Rhumba and Joomia

Session B201 — Using a CMS to Build Community: Rhumba with Joomla
10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.

Catherine Morgan, Director, Information Technology Services, &
Tao Gao, Web Administrator, South Carolina State Library (SCSL)

SCSL decided to use an open source content management system (CMS) to build a library community-focused Web site. The new design takes advantage of the latest technological advances in content management and social networking software. Built on the open source content management system Joomla, the Web site is a content–rich resource for the state’s librarians, government employees and citizens. Features include access to RSS feeds, blogs, calendars, forums, and more. This session highlights the development process, the challenges of using a CMS as well as its unique features, lessons learned, and practical advice for transforming a static Web site into a content-rich, dynamic, and interactive Web site.

Learn more about Joomla at these two links:

http://www.joomlainlibrary.com/home/

http://www.joomlainlibrary.com/docs/Rhumba_with_Joomla.ppt

NOTE: The power point as currently configured (11:20 a.m) is to be updated later today. Should be done by early this afternoon.

Social Networking in the Media with Andy Carvin from NPR

2007-04-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

I just saw a very interesting presentation that I think you'll enjoy. Dowload the power point at http://andycarvin.com/complibraries.ppt.

Its well worth watching.

-rich

Alternative and Customized Search Engines

2007-04-17T04:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick overview of the sites discussed in this lecture:

Exalead

Great Advance Search Tools
Excellent tool for complex searching
Customizable front page: add "shortcuts" to other finding tools
www.exalead.com

Quintura

Data viz with clustering
Useful for disambiguation, determining topics within a concept
Uses Yahoo search engin
www.quintura.com

Kosmix

Clusters by type and topic!
includes "overview" page - great summary
Still in Beta but very promising
www.kosmix.com

Clusty

Meta-search engine - "Details" tab shows what was searched
Builds clusters on the fly
Few advanced features
Can insert 'topic clouds' on your site TRY IT!! - http://cloud.clusty.com
http://clusty.com

CrossEngine

Easy comparison of search results
NOT a meta-search engine
Well organized finding tool
Useful if you don't know where to start
www.crossengine.com

SRCHR

Similar to CrossEngine, but creates RSS Feeds for search results
Mouseover for thumbnails
Can create your own page of search tools!
www.srchr.com

Scandoo

Searches Google, Yahoo, MSN or Ask
Checks for malware, phishing, offensive content, in Real Time
Powered by corporate web security company
www.scandoo.com

Also mentioned were the 'Do it yourself types"--Yahoo Search Builder, Google Co-op, Swicki, Rollyo and Gigablast CTS

Social Networking and Folksonomies: PennTaggs

2007-04-17T04:08:00.000-07:00

You'll want to take a look at this site: the URL is http://tags.library.upenn.edu

PennTags is an example of social bookmarking technology made into a research tool. PennTags can be used as a resource for storing, sharing, finding, and organizing research links.

Social networking sites like PennTags utilize the concept of a "Tag Cloud" to visually display tags that are used most often. Tags are not contolled, that is, people make up their own tags as descriptors of content that they find , but as the same tag is used by others, sites with related content become grouped together. Tags that are used most often are shown in larger font than those used less frequently.

If you would like to learn more about PennTags, questions or feedback, you can contact the PennTags group at penntags@pobox.upenn.edu.

Pimp your Firefox

2007-04-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

Firefox is a customizable, open source, web browser. Has been out of beta since for some time; currently in version 2.0 since October. One of its main features is the ability to make it look like your own.

Some Firefox Features such as 'tabbed browsing' are now available in Internet Explorer 7. It also happens to be my personal browser of choice.

Features of Firefox:

Tabbed browsing

Free of charge

Add-Ons - These are programs that can be downloaded to extend the functionality of Firefox. A couple of my favorites are the proxy switch tool and the RSS ticker

Nice thing about Add-Ons is they don't get installed without your knowledge and they are easy to uninstall---Unlike Internet Explorer

Add - On - Don't get installed without your knowledge
Easy to uninstall

A couple of the features I would suggest you look at are:

Greasemonkey scripts
Themes
Smart Keyword feature **very good**

For a full description of available Firefox Add-Ons, please vistit https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

Speakers talk can be viewed online at:
http://www.librarian.net/talks/cil2007/

Other mentions:
annoyances.org

Link evaluator...to make sure your links are live.

Firebug extension

Keynote Speaker - Lee Rainie Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project, April 16, 2007

2007-04-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

The Keynote Speech was primarily on Web 2.0, And what it means to libraries. He began by asking for a show of hands, that about half of the 2400 people at this conference had been to CIL before.

There were people from 48 of the 50 States, as well as from 12 countries,

He then "YouTubed" the video - "Ask a Ninja"

Starting Point for Web 2.0- Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle - September 2005

What's Different about Web 2.0?

Web as platform
Netscape vs Google
Doublclick vs Overture and AdSense
Akami vs. BitTorrent

Harnessing Collective Intelligence
Data is the Next "Intel inside"
Sofware above the level of a single device
Rich User experience and "Free"

Some Hallmarks of Web 2.0

The internet has become the computer

Broadband adoption and Growth in Wireless access means that the internet is much more attractive than it used to be. Many more people just hang out there for some part of their day.

Broadband makes video a big part of the internet experience, particularly among younger people.

85% of young broadband users have watched online video
62% have watched YouTube videos
19% have posted videos

Many more youths are blogging than older adults
Part of their social experience, sharing videos, gaming, etc..

Girls and young women are much more likely to post on a social networking site and boys and young men.

Even high educated people like to get at least part of their news from Colbert report and the Daily show as well as newspapers etc..

Some other hallmarks of Web 2.0 include the ability to Access content created by others, to customize others online content and make it your own, and to share knowhow and even the processing power of your computer in collaborative efforts such as "grid computing."