Exploring technorati

I found some of the advice and notes quite useful but following tags to find useful stuff for me was tedious. The layout is typical of most US sites - very cluttered, loads of pop ups and adverts - still, if I was starting from scratch and needing to find blogs I suppose it would be a start.....

For example; this had worried me - how to keep some blog entries in case the blogger doesn't put them in an archive.

What is a permalink?

The homepages of most weblogs have several entries, or posts, listed on them. Because blogs tend to be frequently updated, articles you find on a weblog's homepage one day may not be there the next. A permalink is the permanent identifier to a specific weblog post or article. Bloggers love permalinks — they provide an easy way to capture specific references to posts or articles about which bloggers are writing.

Not even halfway through the exercises and I am search weary/wary - oh not another way to troll/trawl!

Having searched by the different methods suggested ; tags, directory and blogs , I found blogs gave more results but were of varying levels of expertise or nerdiness - the others didn't seem satisfactory at all. Technorati may be useful in the US and certainly a trawling feature for blogs is needed but it wasn't particularly useful for me.

Thoughts on web 2.0 possibilities

It's amazing how some of the readings already look a little dated - we are already accepting that we are in the Web2.0 environment and thinking about moving on.
It may become a battle between innovators about which application serves us best, which can be readily adapted for library use, which can be combined to provide 'one site that can fit all needs.' Some heartening aspects are :
that most of the current facilities are being supplied free,
that people are looking to collaborate rather than compete.
that people are looking to provide a service rather than just a personal plaything.
I look forward to the day when there is one site to go to which comprehensively covers all possibilities for reference queries and deeper academic research.

I find it hard to comment further till I've finished the whole 23 things; there are already sections I've covered and posted and forgotten what I'd written!
I appreciate some of the following viewpoints:
that Web 2.0 is a marvellous opportunity to reach library customers and provide them with the kind of links and information that they need which are both interesting and reliable/well researched.
that libraries are all about community and this is a great way to enhance that.
But for many users the internet is still not a possibility or too hard.

This book has captured me:
Quiet Please: dispatches from a public librarian, Scott Douglas, Da Capo Press 2008
a lovely mix of humour and seriousness about his coming of age as a librarian and what his role is.


These readings I found intriguing:
Nicholas Carr: google making us glib and stupid, not deep thinking or contemplating, skimming for info , not knowledge.

Concentration low, looking for easy answer.
1st book discusses wider IT implications
The Big Switch
http://www.elgar.govt.nz/search/a?searchtype=t&searcharg=big+switch&SORT=D&searchscope=6&submit.x=12&submit.y=7&submit=Submit


Linked with libraries providing the link to everything - librarians making it easy for people to search for info they want
depends on
a] everyone having searchtime on the internet
b] librarians continually being able to enable their customers, over and over till everyone has a base level of skills on the web
c] customers having the willingness to take it on board
d] making relevant content available - we don't just need what technorati, google and EBSCO and Gale can provide. We need to be sure our local content is just as good.

del.icio.us

Although I am using this to store bookmarks with my own tags I find it a little tedious as it's another thing I have to sign in and out of.

I think I would rather attach links to my blog or facebook or Library thing or whatever site I was using the most. Certainly discovering what others with similar interests are accessing is good but Library thing and the Netvibe aggregator are probably enough.

If I was doing large amounts of research I think I would use it.