As the blogosphere expands, search tools to help wade through it aren't far behind! Here are a few to try out:
www.sphere.com. "The best bits of the blogosphere." Change the search time frame to meet your needs for each search. See related books, photos and podcasts.
blogsearch.google.com. Google's Blog Search Beta. A familiar friend with a familiar search interface.
www.icerocket.com. "Every search is a direct hit." Search blogs, Web, MySpace, news, images, and Phone Pics (moblogs) in a Google-like interface.
www.feedster.com. Blogs, news, podcasts. Easy to sort results by date or relevance.
www.technorati.com. "Who's saying what right now." Ability to refine search results by a desired language.
Any others you've used? What features have been most helpful?
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Google Accessible Search
Google has launched a new type of search. "Accessible Web Search for the Visually Impaired" can be found at http://labs.google.com/accessible/. Search results are ranked on the ability of users to navigate and complete tasks without visual clues. Online shopping is particularly difficult for users with visual impairments. See Google's FAQs to find out more.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Flickr
Have you seen the library's photos on Flickr? Try some searches on Flickr and let us know what you discovered.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Search toolbars abound
First, there was the Google toolbar. Now Yahoo and Ask.com have their own too. Any other search toolbars you use at home? Any you like?
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Two new gadgets
Keeping up with all the new gadgets available is hard work! Here are two that caught my eye. You may find them in customers' hands ... or your own.
Motorola: Pebl or Razr?
Jim Wicks, VP and design guru at Motorola says, "If the Razr is a Ferrari, the Pebl is a Volkswagen bug: cute and curvy--a pet rock that makes calls, plays games, and records blurry video clips. It's black or red, with a smooth, rubbery surface and an understated external display. For a company churning out flashy thin phones, the Pebl is a dramatic departure. 'The Pebl is critical for us," says Wicks. "We're saying not every consumer has the Razr mind-set.'" See the whole article.
Family Locator from Sprint
Rob Pegoraro in today's Washington Post notes "Last week, Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced a new service called Family Locator that lets parents track their kids' whereabouts, using the GPS capabilities in each child's cellphone. For $9.99 a month, you can get a fix on your little ones' locations as long as they are on your Sprint account and carry one of the 30 Sprint or Nextel phones that allow this monitoring." See the whole article.
Lydia Patrick
Coordinator of Internet Services
Motorola: Pebl or Razr?
Jim Wicks, VP and design guru at Motorola says, "If the Razr is a Ferrari, the Pebl is a Volkswagen bug: cute and curvy--a pet rock that makes calls, plays games, and records blurry video clips. It's black or red, with a smooth, rubbery surface and an understated external display. For a company churning out flashy thin phones, the Pebl is a dramatic departure. 'The Pebl is critical for us," says Wicks. "We're saying not every consumer has the Razr mind-set.'" See the whole article.
Family Locator from Sprint
Rob Pegoraro in today's Washington Post notes "Last week, Sprint Nextel Corp. introduced a new service called Family Locator that lets parents track their kids' whereabouts, using the GPS capabilities in each child's cellphone. For $9.99 a month, you can get a fix on your little ones' locations as long as they are on your Sprint account and carry one of the 30 Sprint or Nextel phones that allow this monitoring." See the whole article.
Lydia Patrick
Coordinator of Internet Services
Friday, March 10, 2006
SirsiDynix SuperConference 2006
Sam Clay, Marianne Gearhart, Betsy Keefe, Dat Nguyen, Lydia Patrick, Elaine Price, and Julie Pringle attended this year's SirsiDynix SuperConference. Here's a bit from the conference Web site. We left inspired and prepared for future SirsiDynix developments.
"The SirsiDynix SuperConference 2006 was another huge success in Nashville, with a full house of more than 1,000 SirsiDynix users, library executives, and technology partners from 14 countries around the world and 44 states within the U.S.
The Users' Conference offered more than 120 informative breakout sessions, as well as a full slate of vendors at the Technology Partner exhibition, and lots of chances for mutual exploration and fun. In a stimulating, lively atmosphere, attendees further enhanced their understanding of how to better serve their communities of users with SirsiDynix technology.
Nearly 200 library leaders attending the executive conference have headed home inspired with new ideas about how to better engage their library's community after excellent presentations and discussions on this important topic."
"The SirsiDynix SuperConference 2006 was another huge success in Nashville, with a full house of more than 1,000 SirsiDynix users, library executives, and technology partners from 14 countries around the world and 44 states within the U.S.
The Users' Conference offered more than 120 informative breakout sessions, as well as a full slate of vendors at the Technology Partner exhibition, and lots of chances for mutual exploration and fun. In a stimulating, lively atmosphere, attendees further enhanced their understanding of how to better serve their communities of users with SirsiDynix technology.
Nearly 200 library leaders attending the executive conference have headed home inspired with new ideas about how to better engage their library's community after excellent presentations and discussions on this important topic."
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Jeeves Passe?
"Jeeves, You're Fired" is the headline in the Washington Post's Business section for February 28. Seems Ask.com acquired Ask Jeeves last year and yesterday relaunched it without a sign of the helpful butler anywhere.
I just tried a search of ask.com on the topic Mardi Gras and found a variety of helpful information -- Web sites, images, news, encyclopedia, and more with suggestions for both narrower and expanded search terms plus related names. Check it out!
What do you think? Was the character of Jeeves the butler passe? Will Ask.com be competitive with Google?
I just tried a search of ask.com on the topic Mardi Gras and found a variety of helpful information -- Web sites, images, news, encyclopedia, and more with suggestions for both narrower and expanded search terms plus related names. Check it out!
What do you think? Was the character of Jeeves the butler passe? Will Ask.com be competitive with Google?
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
More uses for RFID
Not only will RFID chips help with tracking library materials, they'll soon be in your passport as well.
RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is "A wireless data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. Like bar codes, they are used to identify items. Unlike bar codes, which must be brought close to the scanner for reading, RFID tags are read when they are within the proximity of a transmitted radio signal." according to the TechEncyclopedia.
According to Laurie Sullivan's article DHS Tests RFID Passports At San Francisco Airport in the December 30th InternetWeek, "Department of Homeland Security will begin testing passports embedded with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at the San Francisco International Airport mid-January ... the U.S. State Department issued final regulations on passports issued after October 2006, stating all would have embedded RFID chips that carry the holder's personal data and digital photo."
RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is "A wireless data collection technology that uses electronic tags for storing data. Like bar codes, they are used to identify items. Unlike bar codes, which must be brought close to the scanner for reading, RFID tags are read when they are within the proximity of a transmitted radio signal." according to the TechEncyclopedia.
According to Laurie Sullivan's article DHS Tests RFID Passports At San Francisco Airport in the December 30th InternetWeek, "Department of Homeland Security will begin testing passports embedded with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at the San Francisco International Airport mid-January ... the U.S. State Department issued final regulations on passports issued after October 2006, stating all would have embedded RFID chips that carry the holder's personal data and digital photo."
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