No. 30 (Summing up)

Following my colleagues’ blogs, I am astonished to find how little value some of them find in nearly ALL the Web 2.0 tools. Some people are eager to see tools as time-wasting toys, and will not have the imagination to see how a library might use them. C’est incredible!
For my money, what were [...]

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No. 29 (Rasmuson Web Resources)

I’m familiar with most of these already. But new to me was the Rasmuson DVD browser. How nice to have a tool that more closely matches the way people like to search for movies! Not good for the finer-grained subject searching that documentary, instructional, and other non-fiction videos should allow — but [...]

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No. 28 (New Browser): Mostly Playing with Konqueror

One of the drawbacks of using a non-mainstream browser is that it is often not supported. For example, I’ve just been rejected by the MyUA portal for using Konqueror, a web-browser/file-manager for the K Desktop Environment (KDE) on Linux systems.
Another disadvantage — though perhaps this is more a disadvantage of using Linux? — is [...]

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No. 27 (Grokker)

First thoughts:

Why can’t this thing get me more than 250 results? When you get only 250 hits on britney spears (vma OR “video music awards”), there’s clearly a problem. Who could be happy with only 250? I can’t figure out how to increase them.
I am distrustful of dynamic clustering, especially of web [...]

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No. 26 (MySpace)

On this one, I’m not going to spend a lot of time — because I’ve already spent more than I care to. If I’m going to be doing anything online with friends, they’re going to be friends — that is, flesh-and-blood people who, I know, already have something in common with me. There’s [...]

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No. 25 (Google Labs/Google Base)

Google Base: I appreciate that they’re giving people the chance to structure their information and their searches. However, its utility seems limited by the number of people who believe in it enough to post their … whatever. I suppose most of the Web 2.0 tools are limited by the number of “believers” who [...]

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No. 24 (Google Maps/Google Earth)

Google Maps
Okay, searching my physical address gets somebody in the neighborhood. But if I knew the hit-man were relying solely on Google Maps to stalk his target, I’d sleep pretty soundly.
Searching my name gets some text hits that associate me with KUAC (I gave money) and with the Rasmuson Library. Two “map tacks” [...]

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No. 23 (Library ELF)

Just opened a Library ELF account, knowing I have overdue items at the Borough library, waiting for the pestering e-mail and RSS feed that tell me what a BAD PATRON I am… and nothing.
Maybe it hasn’t reached that point in its cycle yet. Will I actually have to wait?

The next day…
Hmmm… The RSS feed [...]

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No. 22 (ListenAlaska & Gutenberg)

ListenAlaska is pretty nice — it’s about time we got access to downloadable audiobooks — except:

It operates only on Microsoft Windows machines. Granted, something like 85% of PC-using humans use Microsoft Windows, but that leaves 15% out in the cold. As a wannabe Linux Nerd, I object to software that won’t run on [...]

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No. 21 (Podcast Search Tools)

I approach library-related podcasts with some reservation: wouldn’t it be faster for us to read? And not only faster when we need speed, but more easily allowing pauses for consideration of the matter? (Audiovisual media barely allow us, though they do not invite us, to stop frequently, take in a sentence again, or [...]

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