February 20, 2007, Vol 1, Issue 8

Some people might say that we’re passionate about research. And they’d be right. We think it’s fascinating! Whether you do the Tiger Woods arm-pump when you find a new way to mine information, or utter a barely audible “Yeah!,” we look forward to helping you find better places to get information.

We’ve been learning a lot about new ways to…well… search, these days. And While there have always been great vertical search solutions, we’re really excited about some of the new Web 2.0 search tools.

So sit back and enjoy this edition of research redux. Maybe you can even grab a sandwich and spend your lunch hour in? (Just don’t spill any mayo on your keyboard.) Happy searching!

Tag. You’re it.

Hanes came out with tagless shirts and they’re a big hit. But tags online are still a good thing – and they don’t itch!

You could spend countless hours searching for social items posted with specific tags. Or you could check out Keotag. Type in your keyword(s) and click on one of the cute little icons (Blogger, Reddit, etc.) and you’ll see the results.

Or, make a tag generator.
technorati tags: scherer cybrarian
Then you can track the tags. As you can see, nothing in Technorati about us. Bummer.

We see more of this sort of search coming down the pike. Don’t blink or you might miss it!

Intermission.

Let’s all go to the lobby, let’s all go to the lobby….

Thinking of buying a new gadget? Join the club! Sure, you’ll search CNET. And Froogle. But what if you could go one place and get shopping information, manufacturer information, reviews and articles, AND even forum and blog posts?

Enter Retrevo. Bad name. Great tool. (And check their blog for cool trends and such!)

What a vision!

We are suckers for visual search. A new one that is sucking up our time interesting to us is Quntura.

Click on the cloud-like words surrounding your search and see where it takes you and what you can find. Nice. Visual. Searching…

Stump the Researchers.

We know you have a question for us. You’re just too busy to type it out, right? So call and leave a message! Remember, that ancient technology called the phone? It’s probably feeling neglected, so why not give it some love and call us?

Your question could be answered here FA-REE next issue. If we like it.

Try us.
Okay, give it your best shot.

This issue’s Stump…

A reader asks: I was following a blog on Carepages where this guy had some pithy quote from pop culture almost every day. No one remembers all those lines! How can I be as cool as Steve?

Oh, reader. You probably can’t be quite as cool as he is. But here are some suggestions…
Click here for the answer. It’ll just take a minute.

So there you have it. Our search-y thoughts of the day.

We hope to hear from you soon. We’ll be here, searching and thinking and writing. As always….

Until we meet again (in two weeks),