Twitter and Tumblr

Twitter seems like a superfluous little tool to me, but it's obviously useful/attractive to many people, or they wouldn't use it. Jeff Scott seems to have utilized the service quite well for his library system, providing updates on library programs and news--even new books added to the collection. Unfortunately, I'm not so tech-savvy as he, because I have no idea how to "dump" a feed. Perhaps the CS department has a better idea as to how to use Twitter for the library.

Tumblr on the other hand, is something I might use. However, I don't see how it is any different than a regular blog, like this one, where I could post pictures and links and quotes if I chose to. Apparently, Tumblr just makes it simpler to do this. The library-themed linkblog shown mostly provided links to longer articles...just like an rss newsreader. Only these include occasional pictures too, which is an attractive plus. I guess it's another way to inform patrons and library workers about what's going on in the library world.

Technorati

I think Technorati is a great tool for finding out what people are talking about and networking with different sources. It has a nice format for keeping track of your favorite blogs and is more visually appealing that Bloglines.

I noticed that the most popular topics and posts related directly to current events and the newest stories. No surprise there.

As far as the different searches, I couldn't find a way to search the blog directory under the advanced search options. The video showed it next to the main search bar, but maybe you have to log in to see that, because I didn't. I did try a "Learning 2.0" search in the main bar on the front page and that yielded different (and many more) results than the tag search. However, the results of the tag search were probably more precise and accurate to the subject I wanted.