As a future information professional, discovering StumbleUpon has truly been a rewarding and learning experience. I have recommended to family and friends, as well as colleagues in the metadata office where I work. (Be careful not to Stumble too much, or you could like this:
http://www.marcofolio.net/images/stories/fun/imagedump/stumbleupon/stumble_image-6.png
The information professional specializes in finding accurate information utilizing a wide variety of different resources. With its ability to enhance professional development and community-building, StumbleUpon deserves a place in this paradigm as an innovative and dependable resource.
Sources:
Stumbleupon. (n.d.) Retrieved at http://www.marcofolio.net/images/stories
/fun/imagedump /stumbleupon/stumble_image-6.png
Thursday, December 17, 2009
8. Consistency Wins the Race
It's vital to Stumble on a regular basis. Use Stumble like you would a blog: be consistent, and you will gain a bigger following!
Failing to regularly post new and thought-provoking materials you have stumbled almost guarantees teens and young adults will lose interest fast and move onto something else. Opportunity wasted. It’s wasted from the standpoint of community-building. If the same YA librarian regularly posted fun ideas found while stumbling i.e.—a book club with pizza—there is a greater chance teens will get involved with the library. The second reason it is important to consistently stumble and leave user feedback on respective web-pages is that it actually refines the algorithm that calculates your interests to the extent that StumbleUpon will return content you like more often.
I discovered an article that addresses how information professionals should approach their 2.0's with regularity and discipline. The author, Marshall Breeding, insists that in the world of the information professional, consistency is vital in maximizing the effectiveness of Web 2.0’s: “The key to effective institutional use of Twitter involves a disciplined approach of regular, relevant messages that will be of interest to the organization's clientele. It's easy to set up a Twitter account and put out the first tweet or two on behalf of your library. It requires a commitment of resources to ensure a steady stream of interesting content over a sustained period.”
Sources:
Breeding, Marshall. (2009). Social Networking Strategies for Professionals. Computers in
Libraries, 29, 29-31. Retrieved from
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/hww/results/results_single.jhtml;hwwilsonid=CP04KOYP5TG4RQA3DILCFGGADUNGIIV0
Failing to regularly post new and thought-provoking materials you have stumbled almost guarantees teens and young adults will lose interest fast and move onto something else. Opportunity wasted. It’s wasted from the standpoint of community-building. If the same YA librarian regularly posted fun ideas found while stumbling i.e.—a book club with pizza—there is a greater chance teens will get involved with the library. The second reason it is important to consistently stumble and leave user feedback on respective web-pages is that it actually refines the algorithm that calculates your interests to the extent that StumbleUpon will return content you like more often.
I discovered an article that addresses how information professionals should approach their 2.0's with regularity and discipline. The author, Marshall Breeding, insists that in the world of the information professional, consistency is vital in maximizing the effectiveness of Web 2.0’s: “The key to effective institutional use of Twitter involves a disciplined approach of regular, relevant messages that will be of interest to the organization's clientele. It's easy to set up a Twitter account and put out the first tweet or two on behalf of your library. It requires a commitment of resources to ensure a steady stream of interesting content over a sustained period.”
Sources:
Breeding, Marshall. (2009). Social Networking Strategies for Professionals. Computers in
Libraries, 29, 29-31. Retrieved from
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/hww/results/results_single.jhtml;hwwilsonid=CP04KOYP5TG4RQA3DILCFGGADUNGIIV0
7. StumbleUpon in Special Libraries
StumbleUpon’s potential--indeed, 2.0’s in general--extends beyond the realm of public libraries. Special libraries in the areas of medical, law, science, and even insurance can stand to gain valuable resources from StumbleUpon. At last summer’s annual Medical Library Association’s annual conference (named, incidentally, MLA 2.0), President Mark Funk spoke at length about 2.0’s in the professional world: “Bureaucracies are changing, becoming less hierarchical and opening up through blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, and podcasts (Kniffel, 2009).”
As part of the conference’s 2.0 Panel, medical librarian Melissa Rethlefsen, (at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine) spoke about, “How librarians are using social networking applications to create online communities” (Kniffel, 2009). From a technical perspective, StumbleUpon offers many of the same features as Facebook and Twitter in that users are encouraged to add “friends” who have similar and professional interests. Thus, a law librarian with a Stumble account can receive updates and recommendations from fellow law librarians for new digital law-related resources and utilize them to strengthen the resources of their own library. Thanks to StumbleUpon, the law librarian posts quality resources to an institution’s homepage, where other workers can use them to improve job efficiency; therefore, StumbleUpon directly contributes to an organization’s overall efficiency.
Sources:
Kniffel, Leonard. (2008). Medical Librarians Get Healthy Dose of Social Networking.
American Libraries, 39, 32. Retrieved from
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e1186e01681fd1ff74efa001b8aa8d03a73d33ee33140d79f1eff1bb479b67d2f& fmt=H
As part of the conference’s 2.0 Panel, medical librarian Melissa Rethlefsen, (at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine) spoke about, “How librarians are using social networking applications to create online communities” (Kniffel, 2009). From a technical perspective, StumbleUpon offers many of the same features as Facebook and Twitter in that users are encouraged to add “friends” who have similar and professional interests. Thus, a law librarian with a Stumble account can receive updates and recommendations from fellow law librarians for new digital law-related resources and utilize them to strengthen the resources of their own library. Thanks to StumbleUpon, the law librarian posts quality resources to an institution’s homepage, where other workers can use them to improve job efficiency; therefore, StumbleUpon directly contributes to an organization’s overall efficiency.
Sources:
Kniffel, Leonard. (2008). Medical Librarians Get Healthy Dose of Social Networking.
American Libraries, 39, 32. Retrieved from
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e1186e01681fd1ff74efa001b8aa8d03a73d33ee33140d79f1eff1bb479b67d2f& fmt=H
6. Su.pr
As I mentioned before in passing, StumbleUpon has released a cool new add-on for its Stumblers called Su.pr (prounounced 'Super'). Su.pr is designed to allow StumbleUpon and Twitter to interface in the sense that you can tweet about an interesting web page, and Su.pr will allow you to view traffic of your treat in real-time. Su.pr even show you what the optimal times for tweeting are! Very cool.
Here is a list of features from one of the Su.pr developers:
-Submit my content to StumbleUpon’s 7.9 million users with each post
- Have my best content showcased in a right-hand sidebar for each page I link to
- Get suggestions for optimal posting times: get more traffic per post
- Schedule as many tweets or posts as I want, for any time
- See my click-throughs in real-time
- See retweets for each post, including the biggest influencers (ranking coming soon)
- Post to Twitter and Facebook at the same time, with more platforms in the pipeline
- Use my own short URL (i.e. www.fourhourblog.com/ab123) instead of someone else’s branding
The result of it all? More traffic. StumbleUpon has jumped to almost 10% of my total traffic per week, delivering as many as 24,000 unique visitors to a single post in less than 24 hours. In short, SU.PR totally kicks ass. It saves me headache, gets me better results through smarter analytics, and drives significant monetizable traffic.
From an information profession standpoint, I believe librarians need to be on top of the latest development like Su.pr in order to remain relevant and keep patrons interested in library services.
Sources:
Su.pr: StumbleUPon's New Traffic Builder. (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/06/09/stumble-upon-supr/
Here is a list of features from one of the Su.pr developers:
-Submit my content to StumbleUpon’s 7.9 million users with each post
- Have my best content showcased in a right-hand sidebar for each page I link to
- Get suggestions for optimal posting times: get more traffic per post
- Schedule as many tweets or posts as I want, for any time
- See my click-throughs in real-time
- See retweets for each post, including the biggest influencers (ranking coming soon)
- Post to Twitter and Facebook at the same time, with more platforms in the pipeline
- Use my own short URL (i.e. www.fourhourblog.com/ab123) instead of someone else’s branding
The result of it all? More traffic. StumbleUpon has jumped to almost 10% of my total traffic per week, delivering as many as 24,000 unique visitors to a single post in less than 24 hours. In short, SU.PR totally kicks ass. It saves me headache, gets me better results through smarter analytics, and drives significant monetizable traffic.
From an information profession standpoint, I believe librarians need to be on top of the latest development like Su.pr in order to remain relevant and keep patrons interested in library services.
Sources:
Su.pr: StumbleUPon's New Traffic Builder. (n.d.) Retrieved from
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/06/09/stumble-upon-supr/
5. Google Vs. StumbleUpon
The internet, quite simply, is vast in both size and content. A Google query, for instance, returns literally hundreds of thousands of hits. As an information professional, it is our job to locate accurate information, usually in a timely manner. Also, patrons expect us to point them toward useful, information-finding resources they can use on their own--even when, more and more, these resources lie beyond our own stacks. In the case of Google, the question becomes: How can the information professional turn hundreds of thousands of hits into a succinct, easily searchable resource?
Searching vs. Stumbling:
Using search engines to locate relevant content typically means hunting through pages of results. Rather than searching for quality web sites, StumbleUpon members are taken directly to web sites matching their personal interests and preferences.
Combats Information Overload:
Information on the Internet changes rapidly. StumbleUpon is a dynamic approach to keep on top of this ever-evolving pool of knowledge. StumbleUpon filters through the vast amount of information on the web to direct Stumblers to high quality web sites which are relevant to their personal interests. An obscure but interesting site can be immediately shared with other like-minded users. Old or low-quality sites can be removed if their ratings become too low. The participation of community members helps maintain a database of the most up-to-date and highest quality sites possible.
Sources:
About stumbleupon. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.stumbleupon.com/aboutus/
Searching vs. Stumbling:
Using search engines to locate relevant content typically means hunting through pages of results. Rather than searching for quality web sites, StumbleUpon members are taken directly to web sites matching their personal interests and preferences.
Combats Information Overload:
Information on the Internet changes rapidly. StumbleUpon is a dynamic approach to keep on top of this ever-evolving pool of knowledge. StumbleUpon filters through the vast amount of information on the web to direct Stumblers to high quality web sites which are relevant to their personal interests. An obscure but interesting site can be immediately shared with other like-minded users. Old or low-quality sites can be removed if their ratings become too low. The participation of community members helps maintain a database of the most up-to-date and highest quality sites possible.
Sources:
About stumbleupon. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.stumbleupon.com/aboutus/
4. Evolution
Web 2.0’s will inevitably change.
StumbleUpon has already launched StumbleVideo, which searches through predetermined sites like YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe, and MySpace Videos; StumbleThru, which searches sites such as The Onion, Public Broadcasting Service and Wikipedia; and, the aforementioned Su.pr (stumbleupon, 2009).
I think this evolution in StumbleUpon's searching parameters is rather interesting because it enhances a user's stumble results. Stumbling amongst sites like TheOnion, Public Broadcasting, and BBC ensures the content returned to you is vetted for accuracy. True, an an average Stumble can and will take you to vetted sites; however, you will come on sites that are not vetted near to the standards of BBC News--who stake their livelihood and reputation as a news source for accurate information.
StumbleUpon has already launched StumbleVideo, which searches through predetermined sites like YouTube, Google Video, Metacafe, and MySpace Videos; StumbleThru, which searches sites such as The Onion, Public Broadcasting Service and Wikipedia; and, the aforementioned Su.pr (stumbleupon, 2009).
I think this evolution in StumbleUpon's searching parameters is rather interesting because it enhances a user's stumble results. Stumbling amongst sites like TheOnion, Public Broadcasting, and BBC ensures the content returned to you is vetted for accuracy. True, an an average Stumble can and will take you to vetted sites; however, you will come on sites that are not vetted near to the standards of BBC News--who stake their livelihood and reputation as a news source for accurate information.
3. A Helpful How-to!
HelpMeRick.com is a widely used and well-respected site that has many tutorials related to social networking technologies. I found this tutorial helpful, particularly because it tipped me off to the potential PR and Advertising capabilities of StumbleUpon. Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MXXjPG7RWc
One of StumbleUpon’s more remarkable assets for the information profession is that it can vastly increase online exposure for any repository or library. For example, a librarian at any given (public, special, academic) kind of library has the ability to do a number of things in order to direct fellow Stumblers to their site: they can give a “thumbs up” to their own site; write detailed site feedback about their site (which goes into the cell-cloud) to increase the site’s chances of coming up in Stumbles; and, they can regularly invite all “friends” to their respective site. This PR aspect of StumbleUpon is truly something information professionals can and should take advantage of for community-building and bringing new patrons in.
Sources:
How to stumble upon the internet. (2008). Retrieved November 24, 2009, from YouTube, personal user profile, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MXXjPG7RWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MXXjPG7RWc
One of StumbleUpon’s more remarkable assets for the information profession is that it can vastly increase online exposure for any repository or library. For example, a librarian at any given (public, special, academic) kind of library has the ability to do a number of things in order to direct fellow Stumblers to their site: they can give a “thumbs up” to their own site; write detailed site feedback about their site (which goes into the cell-cloud) to increase the site’s chances of coming up in Stumbles; and, they can regularly invite all “friends” to their respective site. This PR aspect of StumbleUpon is truly something information professionals can and should take advantage of for community-building and bringing new patrons in.
Sources:
How to stumble upon the internet. (2008). Retrieved November 24, 2009, from YouTube, personal user profile, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MXXjPG7RWc
2. Finding Your Way in the Ocean of 2.0
For those with internet access, Web 2.0 technologies are now a ubiquitous part of modern life. In fact, Facebook—the digital giant of 2.0 technologies—now boasts a staggering 350,000,000 users (facebook, 2009) with no signs of slowing down. New and different Web 2.0 applications proliferate, it seems, on an hourly basis (web applications index, 2009). Technology is a catalyst for rapid change in the information profession. But how does the librarian/information professional embrace this new frontier? Well, to begin, there are more intelligent ways to go about most things, and this is no different.
Carol Tenopir, an editor at Library Journal, offers some useful advice for library professionals:
“Focus not on the cachet of new technology but to improve service for staff and patrons” (Tenopir, 2009). Tenopir highlights an excellent point in that the information professional must embrace Web 2.0 not simply to go through the motions or appease patrons; rather, information professionals should seize on Web 2.0’s as an opportunity to assist patrons and engage them in the services and expertise your respective institution has to offer.
Sources:
Tenopir, Carol. (2007). Living the Virtual Library. Library Journal. 132, 24. Retrieved from
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/hww/jumpstart.jhtml? recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e1186e01681fd1ff735f819ddf39992873a65bdafaeb2ad086d3762577bd035f6& fmt=H
Carol Tenopir, an editor at Library Journal, offers some useful advice for library professionals:
“Focus not on the cachet of new technology but to improve service for staff and patrons” (Tenopir, 2009). Tenopir highlights an excellent point in that the information professional must embrace Web 2.0 not simply to go through the motions or appease patrons; rather, information professionals should seize on Web 2.0’s as an opportunity to assist patrons and engage them in the services and expertise your respective institution has to offer.
Sources:
Tenopir, Carol. (2007). Living the Virtual Library. Library Journal. 132, 24. Retrieved from
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/hww/jumpstart.jhtml? recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e1186e01681fd1ff735f819ddf39992873a65bdafaeb2ad086d3762577bd035f6& fmt=H
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
1. Stumble Upon
I have seriously been contemplating a topic switch from Vanilla for several weeks and have finally decided to do so. There are a number of reasons behind this but, namely, Vanilla didn't provide a visually representative enough tool without having to do intense configuring. Therefore, I am swtiching over to a super cool program called StumbleUpon.
StumbleUpon is a website and content discovery service enabled by a browser toolbar. StumbleUpon uses positive and negative user ratings to form collaborative opinions on website quality. When users stumble, they will only see pages which friends and like-minded stumblers have recommended. More often than not, it’s something almost serendipitously interesting to the reader. Apparently, the company expanded into video discovery in late 2006 (I'm exploring these capabilities right now).
As I've been looking around on different blogs (stumbling, as it were) people who are passionate about StumbleUpon say they like it because of the surprise factor in what they see next, and the fact that the product has such a high hit rate in delivering interesting new content. The StumbleUpon site says they have nearly 7.5 million users as of April, 2009, up from 1.7 million in December 2006. Over 15 million personalized recommendations (“stumbles”) are delivered daily.
StumbleUpon was acquired by Ebay in May 2007, and operated as an independent subsidiary for 2 years. In April 2009, StumbleUpon was bought back from Ebay by Garrett Camp, Geoff Smith, Ram Shriram, Accel Partners and August Capital.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
StumbleUpon, as I've discovered, is a cool place to discover content that matches your interests. It's important to remember, though, that all these cool and interesting sites you Stumble were actually submitted by users who share your common interests!
Just as you enjoy discovering new sites, you can also discover new people on StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon has features that make it easy to connect and share sites with others, learn more from them and ultimately find well-informed users and sources in your particualr areas of interest.
Meeting similar Stumblers is fun and useful. From a librarians point of view, one can utilize StumbleUpon to conduct research, collect data for a project or presentation or look for experts in library-related topics that interest you. StumbleUpon just published a tutorial aimed toward helping users Discover Similar People on StumbleUpon.
Enjoy!
Sources:
StumbleUpon. (2009) About us. Retrieved from http://www.stumbleupon.com/aboutus/
StumbleUpon. (2009) Recommendation technology. Retrieved from
http://www.stumbleupon.com/technology/
StumbleUpon is a website and content discovery service enabled by a browser toolbar. StumbleUpon uses positive and negative user ratings to form collaborative opinions on website quality. When users stumble, they will only see pages which friends and like-minded stumblers have recommended. More often than not, it’s something almost serendipitously interesting to the reader. Apparently, the company expanded into video discovery in late 2006 (I'm exploring these capabilities right now).
As I've been looking around on different blogs (stumbling, as it were) people who are passionate about StumbleUpon say they like it because of the surprise factor in what they see next, and the fact that the product has such a high hit rate in delivering interesting new content. The StumbleUpon site says they have nearly 7.5 million users as of April, 2009, up from 1.7 million in December 2006. Over 15 million personalized recommendations (“stumbles”) are delivered daily.
StumbleUpon was acquired by Ebay in May 2007, and operated as an independent subsidiary for 2 years. In April 2009, StumbleUpon was bought back from Ebay by Garrett Camp, Geoff Smith, Ram Shriram, Accel Partners and August Capital.
http://www.stumbleupon.com/
StumbleUpon, as I've discovered, is a cool place to discover content that matches your interests. It's important to remember, though, that all these cool and interesting sites you Stumble were actually submitted by users who share your common interests!
Just as you enjoy discovering new sites, you can also discover new people on StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon has features that make it easy to connect and share sites with others, learn more from them and ultimately find well-informed users and sources in your particualr areas of interest.
Meeting similar Stumblers is fun and useful. From a librarians point of view, one can utilize StumbleUpon to conduct research, collect data for a project or presentation or look for experts in library-related topics that interest you. StumbleUpon just published a tutorial aimed toward helping users Discover Similar People on StumbleUpon.
Enjoy!
Sources:
StumbleUpon. (2009) About us. Retrieved from http://www.stumbleupon.com/aboutus/
StumbleUpon. (2009) Recommendation technology. Retrieved from
http://www.stumbleupon.com/technology/
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Pros Vs. Cons
This blog caught my eye. Someone originally posted the question of whether Vanilla 2.0 is superior to bbPress and other forums already in use. This question merits some thought when you consider this: the explosion of Web 2.0's has created a market in which users, I believe, can be picky about what 2.0's they use. If a user doesn't particularly care for certain attributes of a program, he/she can simply drop it and probably find a different one which suits their taste. The Web 2.0 market parallels the shopping industry in that a customer has a multitude of options of where to shop--Wal-Mart, Target, Pamida, etc. This makes for an environment where businesses must compete to stand apart and ultimately earn profit. The same thing exists in the Web 2.o arena now--this benefits the user.
http://bbpress.org/forums/topic/has-anyone-use-vanilla-lately-bbpress-vs-vanilla
Vanilla 2.0
Vanilla has announced the release of version 2.0. The new version claims to provide users with more linking capabilities between your webpage/ message board and other sites; links for archiving materials; and integrating advertising system where, potentially, librarians can feature new products or services offered in their library.
http://www.vanillatgp.com/
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Milli VANILLA 2.0
From the overwhelming number of 2.0's buzzing out there in the ether, I've chosen Vanilla. Vanilla is ostensibly a free discussion forum software featuring some bling: First off, it's open-source; standards compliant (which will be explored further in the semester, as I've yet to discover this potential); it's inclusive in the sense that it's designed for multi-lingual capabilities; and fully extensible (again, I believe this has to do with the flexibility of what users can do/add to Vanilla itself to personalize their use).
Here is the link to Vanilla: http://vanillaforums.org/
Coming up, I will explore the web space requirements, and the potential for Vanilla's rich Add-Ons--something which, from what I've initially seen, looks very attractive for those bored with static discussion boards and wish to strike out and take a more dynamic approach of their own.
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