Tagging and Technorati

Tag sale
Originally uploaded by doctorhectic

I just took a look at Technorati's site: http://www.technorati.com/ to discover how to tag blogs, as well as search for topics being discussed on blogs.

Technorati will be helpful to me to find out what people are saying and thinking about Howard County Library. However, I was dismayed to see that there were a large number of adult videos, disguised as blog topics, on Technorati - that could be an unpleasant surprise at work!

For me one of the best things about finding a new blog is to virtually connect with someone and know what he/she is thinking. When I looked at the most popular blogs according to Technorati, I was naively surprised to see how many of the top blogs on this site are commercial. Maybe I'll spot a great new find here, but I think that maybe I'll check out there least popular blogs. I wonder if there is a search I can do for that?

About this blog

Dr. Seuss National Memorial 8
Originally uploaded by weye.org

Hello. My name is Andrea and I work at Howard County Library. Howard County Library, as well as other Maryland Libraries, has a very cool initiative for its employees, called "23 Things." The purpose of 23 Things is to encourage us to learn about new and emerging technologies and to blog about our experiences. For anyone who is interested, here is a link to 23 Things (maybe you can learn something too!): http://marylandlibrarieslearning2.blogspot.com/

Initially, I thought that perhaps one poor soul who had made a seriously wrong turn on the internet would stumble upon this blog. Though I am fuzzy on the details, somehow it is now appearing on the list of Howard County Bloggers. So I thought I would properly introduce myself and tell you what I am doing here.

The Library has a November 26 deadline to complete 23 Things, so you can watch as I attempt a sprint-like finish of the marathon. Maybe someone will have a bottle of water for me at the end.

To learn more about Howard County Library: http://www.hclibrary.org/

Del.icio.us

Spicy Mini Chocolate Lava Cakes
Originally uploaded by desertculinary

I have heard alot about Del.icio.us and I was excited to learn about it. I am curious about the mix of the social and tagging elements together. I signed up and tagged a few sites. I'm going to keep going and see how it works out.

Thing 12: Rollyo

Cosy
Originally uploaded by tvossphotography

I really wanted to like Rollyo. And it got a such long list of praise from various tech sites and magazines that clearly I would be missing out on something if I didn't use it. But while I was reading the description of it, I have to admit that I just didn't get what made it so special. But I still wanted to like it.

For those of you who are not in the know, Rollyo lets you create a list of trusted sites to use when you do a search on the web. I signed up and created my list of local news organizations, and then I did a search on "Howard County Library." Then I went back to 23 Things and saw that I was supposed to include a link to my search roll. But I did not check the box to make it public. I couldn't find a way to retroactively make the search public.

So I thought I would just quickly and easily create a new search roll on a different topic that would be public. When I went to do that, I started having problems with the site and was in an eternal loop. I could only see the top half of the "create a searchroll" page. After I entered in my trusted sites, I couldn't get to the button to create the roll. So I would click on "create new searchroll" and it would clear the choices I had made, but I could still only see the top half of the page. Maybe that's why they call it rollyo?

I really wanted to like it. But I think I'm still a google gal.

LibraryThing

Bookshelf
Originally uploaded by Nyved

Today I joined LibraryThing (www.librarything.com) and added some books to my "bookshelf." As someone who is constantly battling clutter, it was much nicer to add books to a virtual bookshelf than to a real one, where there never seems to be enough room.

LibraryThing allows you to add favorite books and authors, join discussion groups, and get recommendations based on your preferences.

I do love reading and receiving recommendations on great books, but I think just looking at the web sites of Howard County Library and Amazon have been working fine for me. But who knows? Maybe the thought of a near empty bookshelf will draw me back.

The Virtual Me

WONDER WOMAN The Complete History
Originally uploaded by brancusi7

For thing 10, I created not 1, but 2 avatars. After I created the first one, I had to fill out some information about myself, including my email address. The avatar was supposed to be emailed to me, which never happened. The second avatar is up on my Yahoo! account. I am going to try to include it here, but I am not sure what will happen. So I am also including a pic of my childhood hero, Wonder Woman - just in case. Is that TMI?

I found this exercise milding entertaining, but not very relevant to my daily life. I couldn't help but think of Dwight Shrute from The Office, flying in Second Life. Not sure I want to go there...

http://lookup.avatars.yahoo.com/images?yid=lukkykatt&size=medium&type=jpg&pty=0

Thing 9: Explore Merlin

Book Stack
Originally uploaded by toxophilite

My "thing 9" got a little dicey because I used Yahoo! instead of Bloglines, and I added quite a few news sites already while I was doing "thing 8"

BUT, while I was looking at some of the sites listed to find RSS feeds, I came across topix.net. What a great resource! Topix makes it so easy to find news stories, with tons of sorting features! I will definately be using this site frequently.

All in all, this task was a little dangerous for me. I could search endlessly for useful and cool sites.