Thing #3 Blogging 2: Keeping track & more about blogging

I began to explore the various search engines presented in "Thing #3". I used the same two search queries, one with regards to academic library and one totally unrelated topic, so that I could easily compare the different search engines. Here is a brief rundown of my experiences.



Technorati - This being one of the larger search engines, I found that simply searching for key words was not sufficient. If you are searching for "academic libraries" or anything that is more than one word you are better off using the "exact phrase" search line. There are some pretty off topic blogs out there that may have the words "academic" and "library" some where in the body of the text.


Blogscope - This is search engine turned up more relevant searches than Technorati. Its interesting that when you search blogs for content relating to academic libraries, most of the results have to do with some sort of technology training similar to what we are doing with our "23 things". Blogscope turned up this interest power point presentation, http://elearnpracticeresearch.blogspot.com/2007/06/virtual-future-of-academic-libraries.html


Sphere - This one seemed to be a step below the search engines mentioned above. The results returned were not as relevant as as I had hoped.


Blog.ask.com - A good idea, I like the expansion of the original web searching tool ask.com to include an option for searching blogs.


I used to think that blogs were simply online journals. Some were entertaining to read, depending upon who authored them, but for the most part I thought that they borderline worthless. I mean really, who wants to read about the day to day life of your average web geek. However, my feelings toward blogs are rapidly changing for the better. I have recently started using blogs to help me troubleshoot various do it yourself projects around the house. I am in the middle of replacing the water pump on my boats engine, and I wasn't able to figure out how to disconnect the shift linkage in order to remove the lower unit. The repair manual for my engine didn't have proper instructions, but I was able to figure out how to do it by reading a blog written by some one who owns the same engine as me.

One of my other hobbies is cooking. I really enjoy experimenting with different types of food and recipes from around the world. I am always on the look-out for a new or exciting recipe. So I was very pleased to see the the Bloggies had a separate food category. So, to answer the question in the training, yes I will now be subscribing to two newly discovered blogs in hopes for inspiration in the kitchen. The two new blogs are Help! I Have a Fire In My Kitchen and 101 Cookbooks. Exploring Cookbooks, One Recipe at a Time.