Well I'm gobsmacked. All my pontificating about Twitter and Microblogging has not been in vain. I've been on Twitter since 2007 when there were about what seemed like 9 people on it, and now, well... @valdiskrebs (twitter persona) has made me think very differently...
If I'd have posted a link on there in 2007, there would have been little interest - you know why? Because NO GOOD SEARCH was available. And what's useful about the internet? THE SEARCH FACILITIES - I know I'm shouting, but my god has no-one realised yet? Whatever you do, whereever the next "big" thing is, its all about the search"!"!!!!!!!
If its 2 way communication or not, GET A GOOD SEARCH ENGINE ON YOUR INTRANET!!!!!!
Social media is lovely, giving people a voice is fantastic, but if they can't find what they're looking for, you've eff star star kayed it.......
So there. (and no Maxine, still no jokes...but does that make it boring?)
Showing posts with label searching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label searching. Show all posts
Friday, 15 May 2009
Friday, 23 November 2007
Searching - it's all about individual differences
I'm still convinced that the skills of librarians are paramount to the success of utilising web 2.0. I'm starting also to think that individual and social psychology have a role too (I KNEW there was a point to studying Humanities...)
This video from Mike Wesch (via Stephen Dale) illustrates the power of searching, removing the need for a pre-organised filing system, but with the underlying need for effective tagging.
Folksonomies are powerful, in that they are driven by the searcher, it's filing by a democracy, but searching is anarchic...anyone can use the term they think of to look for whatever they are thinking of.
Understanding individual differences, different spelling, interprettation, ways of thinking and being, can all help us to understand what language different people might use to find something. Searching is only as effective as the tagging behind it. The more people rely on searching to find information, the greater the need to understand we're all very different beasts. Information management is becoming as much about how information can be made accessible, as it is about the information itself. If you want your information to be discovered, used and appreciated, you need to put yourself in the shoes of the people you want to find it.
This video from Mike Wesch (via Stephen Dale) illustrates the power of searching, removing the need for a pre-organised filing system, but with the underlying need for effective tagging.
Folksonomies are powerful, in that they are driven by the searcher, it's filing by a democracy, but searching is anarchic...anyone can use the term they think of to look for whatever they are thinking of.
Understanding individual differences, different spelling, interprettation, ways of thinking and being, can all help us to understand what language different people might use to find something. Searching is only as effective as the tagging behind it. The more people rely on searching to find information, the greater the need to understand we're all very different beasts. Information management is becoming as much about how information can be made accessible, as it is about the information itself. If you want your information to be discovered, used and appreciated, you need to put yourself in the shoes of the people you want to find it.
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