Google Blabs

Alert for family and friends: long boring work post ahead.

Today I looked at Google Docs. As I logged in to create a collaborative document, I was asked if I perhaps had an old Writely account? Well, I did! Last year my colleague Claire (South Seattle Community College) had introduced me to Writely. I was able to log in with my new Google account and painlessly transfer over my old Writely account. I created a new document, and talked a bit about how Microsoft so wishes it had managed to do this. My husband had been employed at MS about 7 years ago and was working on this project; in true MS form, they kept changing the goals, staff, department, names, and even physical locations so often nothing got accomplished.

It was very easy to create a document in Zoho. Hmmm! Surprisingly Google-like in appearance! Enough for a lawsuit, I'd say. At this point in time, they offer more collaborative services than does Google. I tried Zoho Writer for a comparison to Google Docs. The interface seems mush more Word-like than does Google as far as all of the toolbar options. Oddly enough, when I used spellcheck in my Zoho document, it did not recognize the word "zoho." This speaks to some major gaps in coding/programming on the part of the developers. Thoroughness is professional. Not being thorough is not professional. I also shared this with KCLS27Things for the learning experiment. I do not see an RSS option.

Next, I headed over to Google Labs. I love Google Labs! They have a lot of great ideas. Being a science nerd, I went straight for Google Mars. Cool! To the right is an image of Olympus Mons. If you've ever read Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars, this will be especially exciting for you. If you've never read them and you like hard science fiction, you must read them.

Google Video is another Lab item, and it's like searching YouTube, only you are searching the whole net. Wonderful!

Finally, I took a look at Google Scholar, which should be a wonderful research tool. However, I'm so used to being able to limit to full-text items in databases that I was perturbed at getting page after page of results that I couldn't actually access unless I paid for them.

My last learning task for this week was to take a look at some Web 20.0 Awards winners and Webware. These should be the cutting edge applications of web 2.0. I first took a look at the award winners and was surprised that several interesting categories (such as Books, Games, Travel, and Visual Arts) didn't have enough entries to generate winners. I looked at Music, but it was all about new popular music; I want old fogey music. I eventually settled on one of the Games category's honorable mentions: Arcaplay. It looks like a fabulous alternative to MSN Games. But of course, ahem, I can't play on work time.

Soooo, I headed over to Webware. At first glance, this just seems like more ways to waste your time. I actually like to read and go outside sometimes. I tried following the "digital photography" category link, and it crashed my browser along with my unsaved blogger window. Yay! I tried "widgets" next, and re-discovered the Morse Code RSS feeder. I love it! If only I knew Morse code. Still, I'm in love with Steampunk, and especially the Steampunk Workshop. If I was rich I would buy all of these things, or at least pay someone to make them.

People could remember that for my birthday and other important gift-giving occasions.

iSushi

Little tasty internet search rolls!

As an information scientist (imagine me in a white jacket), I really like the idea of creating specialized search tools. In the past librarians or specialists would create a page of links, and the patron would then need to try each link seperately to discover which one best served their needs. With a specialized search engine a patron can simply type in what they are looking for and search the all suggested web sites at once. Sort of like WebFeat for the internet. I like it, I like it!

In looking at Rollyo's list of specialized search engines, I'm really impressed to see that a String Theory searchroll is among the most popular! I only wish it was a little more transparent as to exactly what websites have been added to each specific searchroll. I see know that there is a link at the bottom of the searchroll which shows which web sites are being searched.

Google also offers the same service. I notice that Google's featured custom search engines seem to be more academic and/or professional than the ones featured on Rollyo.

I decided to create a searchroll through Google for free sheet music.

Try the search box above, or follow the free sheet music link.

As we head towards the end of our Learning 2.0 experience I looked at several articles on Web 2.0 and libraries. I reluctantly agree with Rick Anderson that we need to abandon our tight grasp on our print collections. I originally wanted to keep all these reference books "just in case" the power went out or the internet went down. But you know -- that rarely happens. And when it does, patrons understand that the info is not reachable, and even so we are able to use our own little brains and find them what they need. I heartily agree with Michael Stephens' caution to embrace Web 2.0 but avoid technolust: "Without a firm foundation in the mission and goals of the institution, new technologies are not implemented for the sake of coolness and status." I believe in John Riemer's statement that libraries should adopt collaborative web technologies to allow users to tag and comment in the library catalog.

One last observation: why were 4 out of 5 authors of these articles men? The library field is largely filled with women. Is it that the technology appeals more to men? Do men still rise to positions of CEO and "head" because they're more interested than women? I don't know, I just wonder. I thought it was odd.