Week 4, Thing #9 Exploring Merlin and other things

I got introduced to Merlin through the Maryland Library Association, at one of the Executive Board meetings. I think Merlin might provide a possible answer to a persistent problem in Maryland - how to involve library staff from all over the state in library activities as well as MLA meetings and programs, even if those staff people are working in the far reaches of the state. And you know how Maryland is - small but spread out. If you live on the Eastern Shore but want to attend an MLA program in Western Maryland, plan for a long drive. So Merlin might just be part of the answer, with its interactive tools for meetings and discussions.

Beyond that, I looked at the suggested newsfeeds search tools and thought they might be useful, particularly Technorati. I just kept following links for movie reviews or Hillary Clinton or other interesting topics and found it useful to an extent. I do think that with some exceptions, the blogs I found were not too impressive - mostly a bit on the boring side. Well, let's face it, most of us are just ordinary people and we just may not have that much to say that will spark interest. As I used to say to my students in my writing class, "Look, no one has to read what you write, except for me, because I'm paid to do it. Your parents will read your writings as well, because they love you, and anything you do is wonderful to them, so they will read your essays. But no one else has to read this. That's why you have to make what you write interesting." And so on and so forth...

The point is that blogging can serve a purpose - or many purposes - but if you are going to blog (beyond this exercise in 23 Things), be courteous enough to make your blog postings worth reading.

So what does that have to do with Technorati and other search tools? Like I said, if you have an urge to find out what others think of a particular movie or of a political figure, search on a site like this and read some blog postings. Otherwise, stick to the news.

I did find Technorati to be easy to use and I think the interface was cleaner or whatever the word is that would mean it's easiest to look at. Good layout, not too cluttered, easy to search...
Hey, but this is really just all for exploration of the new technologies, and I must admit, I've been learning a lot, and I've had a few good laughs as well. I hope you are having fun as well.