This week the BRAIN_blog takes a look into the exciting world of social bookmarking, one of the hottest trends online. Websites like the ones we�re about to explore ask the question, �Why keep your bookmarks to yourself when you can share them with others?� Bookmarking is useful, naturally, but it does have its limits � can you feel them? You�re tied to one computer when you bookmark a site � and out of luck if you need to find that site from anywhere else! Bookmarks can be organized it�s true � but can they be searched? Aha! Do I have you yet? For these and other fun features read on as we get social on this week�s edition of the BRAIN_blog!
1) Lookmarks is a fantastic site that helps you organize bookmarks � and so much more! Along the same lines as del.icio.us (which we blogged about way back in January) and Furl (brought to you in March) Lookmarks allows you to create links that are searchable AND � be still my heart � accessible from anywhere! When you add a link, you give it a �tag� � a keyword or phrase that helps describe it. Access your links from wherever you are (can you tell I�m excited by that?) and search on a tag to find the information you need. You can also see what other users have tagged with the same word or phrase � this is where the whole sociable thing comes in! These types of tools are excellent ways to not only organize your own stuff but to see what others are doing. Interact with other users and gain more resources and information � it�s too good to be true! Search by tag or search by user � the user name search feature is particularly handy for groups, teams and other collaborative types. Get started with Lookmarks by signing up for a free account. Once you do that, you can easily import the bookmarks from your browser. Just click on �Add Links� on the top left of the homepage, go to �Upload your bookmarks� and follow the instructions. Add the �Lookmark this!� link to your Favourites and new links can be added with a single click � tag your link, and you�re good to go! Oooooh there is even an RSS feed available for the site so you can keep up with the latest links and news from Lookmarks. You can also subscribe to your own list of links in an RSS feed so you always have them at your fingertips � it�s so easy to share them that way too. Are there any other features? You bet! With Lookmarks you can also save links to music and other audible files in order do some podcasting of your very own � talk about the ultimate in sociable! More features, details and information await at www.lookmarks.com!
2) So…you�re getting the hang of this collaboration thing and want to get even more interactive online? Well, great! In addition to Lookmarks, I also read about Connotea this week – yes, another way to save and share your resources with friends and colleagues! Created by Nature Publishing Group (the people who bring you Nature magazine), the ideas for Connotea come from the same ideas as del.icio.us with some special features added to make it more useful to scientists. One of these special features is the automatic addition of bibliographic information when you save a page from PubMed, HubMed, D-Lib Magazine, etc. So it�s social bookmarking with a bit of a twist! Connotea lets you keep links to the articles you read and the websites you use – and most importantly, find them again – crucial, no? Share your research with people doing similar research and discover new links and articles by checking out the resources that others are using. Like Lookmarks, Connotea supports the use of tags, so you can organize the related links, articles and electronic books, and have them accessible from anywhere (I cannot get enough of that!) There is a list of the most popular tags right on the Connotea homepage, which is really handy not only for the Connotea community, but for anyone looking for relevant, legitimate information in a particular subject area. Popular tags this week are �human evolution�, �Avian Flu� and �HIV�. Connotea users can also set up their own user groups for even more collaboration � the possibilities are limitless! Ready to get started? Connotea has a fantastic tutorial (available in Flash, Windows Media or Quick Time) that helps you do just that!
3) I�m also really digging CiteULike and the groovy things it can do. Designed with academics in mind (it was created by an academic after all) but accessible to everyone, it, like the other sites we�ve been discussing, lets you store and share information and connect with others sharing and storing this information. CiteULike has some added features that are worth mentioning, including the site�s ability to extract bibliographic information for the links (articles) you are saving. This certainly helps when it comes time for the bibliography, no? Also, the left sidebar has a heading �Journals�, and the subheading �Browse current issues� underneath. Through CiteULike you can access tables of contents and often full-text articles from 6499 journals in a wide variety of subject areas. [think of the party when they reach 6500!] CiteULike also lists its most popular tags on the right sidebar for easy searching, and allows the creation of groups (like Connotea) for like-minded researchers and individuals wanting to take the social aspect one step further.
4) Another site that is blowing my mind with its coolness is Yummy! And it�s not just the name that�s fun! Yummy! is another fab social bookmarking tool, but its specialty is organizing PDFs! Ooooooh you say, and I concur � this is a fantastic tool with lots of great potential. It�s still in alpha stage � pre-beta, therefore a little rougher than beta with more chance of bugs, etc. but it�s still got a lot of social bookmarking goodness at its heart. So why a social bookmarking site for PDFs? Well let�s stop and think � PDFs are documents � often lengthy, wordy, documents. Sometimes they are user manuals or books and reports on specific subjects � things that you may just want to keep separate from your bookmarks, Lookmarks or Favourites. For instance, let�s take Macromedia�s Flash, as an example. Chances are if you�re a Flash user, whether beginner or aficionado, you have the Macromedia site bookmarked or otherwise saved. Using Yummy! allows you to save the Flash user�s manual for easy finding � rather than having to search the site (or your bookmarks) each time you want to find something. So it�s definitely a timesaver. Also, because Yummy! has that social aspect to it, not only can you save your own documents here, you can search others� tags (tagging is just SO good) and find even more relevant information on your subject. So perhaps an updated manual, another version or even another publication that you had no idea existed, but could prove to be very useful. The mind reels. The only danger with Yummy! at this point in time is the disclaimer on the home page (remember � it�s still in alpha) �Warning! Anything you do here might not be here when I am done rebuilding Yummy.� It�s fair warning, and makes sense while they work on what will be the final product. But I say go for it -start tagging with Yummy! and see where it takes you!
Social bookmarking is definitely where it�s at. Join together and be part of a larger community. Delve into resources found and shared by others, share your own resources and interact with people with the same interests, or doing the same sort of research – it�s beyond exciting!!
June 3, 2005 at 4:40 pm |
Nice roundup, thanks e-Lizabeth!
March 22, 2007 at 3:26 pm |
[...] then perhaps diigo.com is for you. Diigo is like the other social bookmarking software sites we’ve discussed in the past, with the difference being that you can create private groups to share resources (think: class [...]