#16 Technorati and blog tagging

One of the tasks we were to try on Technorati was to try searching for the term "Learning 2.0" on the three different search options there. The three are "Blog posts", "Tags" and "Blog directory". When I did the search, the first two rounds were different, but not significantly so. The third, "Blog directory" gave quite different results.
Looking around the site elsewhere, the tagging idea seemed good, but there was a lot of clicking on links to be done in order to get anywhere. It seemed as if I were looking down the wrong end of a telescope sometimes! Overall though this idea seems sound, though, as someone who actually likes and uses the LC subject headings, I would rather keep both than simply dump the "stuffy old LC terms" and have library patrons tag our records for us.

#15. Tagging

Delicious was very handy, though I only got a small taste of what it had to offer. Regarding the comments from people who had tagged particular sites--I didn't see 'em. However, I did click on some of the tags that acted as links to other lists, and this was interesting. I looked at several Top 50,or 10, etc. -type lists, and these were good. I found one from Paste, a magazine I like but that I only read when I'm at my in-laws house, since my brother-in-law gets it.

#14 Best of Web 2.0

For this assignment, I chose from the Books category and then looked at lulu.com. This is in the used-to-be-known-as "vanity press" listing, and in some ways it appears things haven't changed. I say that because many of the books there looked quite dubious. In the religion area, for example, there were a number of books for the budding Satanist on your Christmas (or Samhain, or whatever) list--all kinds of wonderful titles that would last about two days on a library shelf before it disappeared--stolen either by said Satanist teenager or somehow disposed of by an enraged library patron who doesn't like to see his or her money spent on such books. (I think the latter more often "hide" them, but I'm sure more extreme measures have been taken too...)
OK, there are some good titles too--it's just that the Satanic ones were the first I saw. What got my interest more was the service for the reprinting of old (copyright free) books. This seemed genuinely worthwhile, and could be useful both for libraries who might own a rare OP book that they want to keep on their shelf, or even for individuals who want to reintroduce a title they love. For the latter, I was thinking it's time to reissue that wonderful, late career Huysmans' book "The Crowds of Lourdes", which I read a couple years ago. My copy, purchased online, was a rare find then (2004?) and even rarer now. It's only available in hundred dollar print-on-demand versions through Bookfinder. But who knows how many copies I'd sell?