Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Thing 14 (Wk 6 cont'd.)

So, what is it that Courtney (2007) points out that people really want when they search? End-users want to see good relevancy ranking in the results of their searches (p 15). Do all library catalogs provide this? NO! but as librarians, we can employ Library 2.0/Web 2.0 tools to help our users get closer to the Google-like results that they've come to expect of all searches.

The obsessive cataloger might cringe at the idea of library users being able to create their own means of personalized search strategies, but what better way for users to become comfortable searching for and finding what they want rather than what the LOC or a cataloger deems to be the correct subject heading for a particular item? I like tag clouds that show not only what people are tagging, but how frequently tags are used (it's the BIG ones!)

As for Technorati, I find it really cool to be able to search blogs. I played with searching for specific blogs, searching words and tags, etc. It is so much more effective than trying to search Google for a blog! I do have to say I haven't figured out how to "claim" my blog so it comes up as searchable by Technorati. I looked at the FAQs, but some of the terminoloy is a bit foreign to me and I'm not understanding fully what to do. What I have tried doesn't seem to be effective...

Courtney, N., (Ed.). (2007). Library 2.0 and beyond: Innovative technologies and tomorrow's user. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

2 comments:

  1. I think some of your peers figured out how to claim. As for cataloging, the 2.0 "shells" keep the integrity of the original cataloging but add on the user tags, resulting in the best of both worlds, I think (unless folks abuse tagging....)

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  2. When I log into Technorati I scroll down the page about half way. There is a green box on the right with a link to "manage your blogs". There is a box there to "start a blog claim". You should have that option on your profile page too. You just put in the URL of your blog and click through the directions. Hope that helps!

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