Library Stuff

For those that use the Radio aggregator, Matt has created a bookmarklet that will automatically toggle the checkmarks on or off. That was a big issue for me when I used Radio. Sometimes I would just want to check all the posts on the page and would have to go into properties, mark the “check all” button, then go back to my aggregator, do my business, then go back to the properties, unchecked the “check all” button, then go back to my aggregator. How annoying!! This would have been a tremendous time saver. If I ever go back to Radio, I’ll have to put this bad-boy bookmarklet in my links bar. Very cool!!

I’m going to have to buy this shirt for my wife…

We all need reminders that Google is not the only search engine out there. That’s why I installed Groowe. Groowe is a toolbar that searches up to 17 search engines. You can easily switch engines while searching. Now, only if we can get then to install the LII search. (link via Search Engine Lowdown)

BTW, has anyone used Dave’s Quick Search Deskbar Wizard to search any library catalogs, LII, or any other library-related databases? I’d love to see that in action.

Due to some issues (well, just one issue) we had over at LIS Blogsource, Greg and I have written up a mission statement.

One thought: If you want to keep a daily journal private, don’t publish it to the web!! Or at the very least, learn about robot.txt files. Don’t blame us if we point to your weblog, because you put it online. Geez!

Blake and I have been trying to figure out what to do with the right side of LISFeeds for a while. Blake came up with an incredible idea: A Daypop type page for the weblogs that we display on the site. Perfect. Now, how to build it?

Today while in the shower (I do my best thinking in the shower) I thought that Feedster might be able to help out, because they are behind the new John Kerry Aggregator. I didn’t have much time to spend online today, let alone send an IM to Scott re: my shower idea. Thus, when I read over at John Batelle’s weblog that anyone can build a Feedpaper, I did the patented Hip Hip Hooray, Suweeeeet, and Jenny’s Happy Dance all at once. After I picked myself off the floor and cared for my wounds, I IM’d Scott with another Suweeeeet!! and a virtual “I’m not worthy” and quickly started to create my own Feedpaper. The link should be live here soon (it takes a bit of time to create). A few features include:

1) You will get a simple code to place on your website which will display your Feedpaper (you can play with the colors too).

2) An RSS Feed for all the sources in your Feedpaper.

3) A search feature.

4) Up to ten feeds to put into your personalized Feedpaper.

While there hasn’t been an “official” announcement yet (They have been showing it off at Demo 2004), I do have a few suggestions for future releases of this product:

1) The ability to arrange the feeds in the Feedpaper according to popularity. The best way to measure this would probably be the number of times a specific post gets linked. This would be perfect for LISFeeds because we wanted the most popular posts on top.

2) Obviously, the ability to add more than 10 feeds (not that I’m complaining).

Update – Maybe I jumped the gun on this new service. My Feedpaper still hasn’t been created. I’m sure that they are just working out some of the kinks.

In an article entitled, Let’s Use the Technology We Live, Rachel Singer Gordon asks:

“Why aren’t more people moblogging (mobile web publishing) library conferences, for example? Instead of conference write-ups that association members receive in a printed paper months later, what about a cadre of mobloggers keeping us up-to-date and providing their impressions, photos, descriptions, and commentary as events unfold?”

Aaron was photoblogging at Internet Librarian in November. Also, I’m sure that Jenny, Aaron, and Michael will all be whipping out their various devices to give us their take on the Computers in Libraries conference next month. This time, I hope that they do some write-ups of sessions along with snapping photos. Of course they (and everyone else attending) should be pinging their reports to the Topic Exchange weblog (complete with an RSS Feed), so that we can get all of the posts about the conference in one place. I can’t wait to get to DC. Plus, Greg is coming!!. Hip Hip Hooray!!

The sub-title of this article is “Web logging expands horizons of aspiring writers”, but I could only find one useful quote related to it. Rebecca Blood:

“‘People who start to pay attention to what they write, and who care about really getting their point across always become better writers,’ Blood says. ‘And so some of those journal-style sites become very compelling reading over time.’”

True indeed. I have always told librarians who ask me about writing for the profession that they they should continue to write everyday (Rachel Singer Gordon, in her new book discusses this as well). Weblogs are a great way to write and get instant feedback from readers. For me, Library Stuff went from a list of links to library news to one that has become my daily writing tablet. Sure, the content may be raw, but I choose it to be that way. You don’t have to have a weblog to be a better writer, but you do have to write. Everyday.

Bloglines has released a new function that lets users find out who subscribes to any feed in the index. Here is a list of Bloglines users (whose feeds are public) that subscribe to Library Stuff. Now there are two ways to do this. Not a perfect system, but it’s a start.

Gary mentions that CNET has launched an e-mail alert service. Users can get articles on any keyword, company name, or topic.

After reading this, I immediately thought about syndication. Why not offer the same thing for RSS? Wired has been doing this for a few years now with their Cusomized Search Feeds (scroll down on the page). I wold love to read stories in my aggregators that only correspond to my specific keywords for CNET stories. That would cut down on my reading time. And, if all services did this, I could save close to a half hour of reading time. Guaranteed.

I’ve sent CNET an e-mail with my suggestion.

It’s image week on Library Stuff!!

Check out many more wearables at the Tease Catalog. Which reminds me, I have to order my RSS Shirt to receive it before CIL so I can wear it at the conference.