2001: A Year in Review
Steven M. Cohen
Over the past year, I have visited at least 20,000 Web sites (this, of course is not an exact number; I just wanted to stress that it is large). Of this number, about half are new to me. Many of these new sites come up as results of searches that I have performed, ads that I have seen on other Web sites, or are sent via e-mail from the various mailing lists of which I am a member. Of these (approximately 10,000) sites, about one third are worth bookmarking for future use. There are a few Web sites, however, that, when visited, spark my interest enough that they are placed in my “sites to visit every day” folder. This narrows down that huge number to around twenty-five Web sites.
For space purposes, I have whittled this list down to seven of my favorite Web sites of the year. Some of these may not be new to the average reader of Public Libraries, as I am sometimes late in finding a crowd favorite, but many of them will be new, and I hope that you will find them as fun and useful as I have throughout the past year. Since I find Web sites dealing with librarianship of most value, the sites listed here lean towards professional librarian resources.
NewBreed Librarian (www.newbreedlibrarian.org) is a bi-monthly publication published by two librarians in Oregon, which intends to “foster a sense of community to those new to librarianship, whether in school or just out.” There are two distinct pieces to NewBreed Librarian. First, the actual electronic publication, which includes a feature article, an interview, an advice column, and a techie column titled Tech Talk. Past features include an interview with Jeffrey Zeldman, Web-authoring guru, and an article titled “Fourteen Days in Cuba: A Land of People Living In-between,” which discusses a tour group of thirty-five who traveled to Cuba. The second piece of NewBreed is the daily update of relevant library-related news, interesting Web sites to visit, and commentary from the two NewBreed librarians. This Web site is a must visit for librarians, new and old.
Libdex (www.libdex.com) is a shortened form of library index, which describes this site perfectly. There are five library-related indexes presented here: A listing of libraries by country, OPAC vendors, Friends of Libraries, library weblogs, and publishers. Also included in this site is a primer on library fundraising on the Web and a link to the libraries newly added to the site. This site also offers a search engine and a mailing list. Libdex is a no-nonsense library index.
One of my favorites, and definitely one of the most useful Web sites to pop up this year comes from Gary Price, creator of Direct Search (http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/direct.htm), an enormous listing of Web sites, whose information does not show up on the popular search engines. Gary has taken his Direct Search and placed it into weblog format titled The Virtual Acquisition Shelf (http://resourceshelf.blogspot.com), providing the reader with current news and Web sites that encompass search engines, the invisible Web, and much more. His links are annotated, and his comments are very informative. Gary’s other Web compilations, which include Price’s List of Lists and News Center, are listed on the left side of the site. Lastly, be sure to pick up a copy of his new book, The Invisible Web, written with Chris Sherman.
Speaking of Chris Sherman, he debuted a new portion of his famous Search Engine Watch this year. Titled Search Day (http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday), this Web site/newsletter discusses Sherman’s favorite topic: search engines. Past issues include “Information Wants to Be Valuable,” “Twelve Cool Sites and Tools for Searchers,” and “Searching on the Right Side of the Brain.” All of the back issues are available on the Web site. Included in each issue is a feature article as well as recent news relevant to search engines. For fans of Search Engine Watch, this is a wonderful resource.
Newpages (www.newpages.com) is another library-related Web site, put out by Casey Hill, that focuses on “news, information, and guides to independent bookstores, independent publishers, literary periodicals, alternative periodicals, independent record labels, alternative news weeklies, and more.” Also included in this wonderful resource are book reviews, an extensive annotated listing of relevant resources, feature articles by Grant Burns (a.k.a. Uncle Frank), and a weblog, which is updated daily. This site is definitely worth a bookmark.
I was floored when Human Spell Check (www.humanspellcheck.com) came across my e-mail via Yahoo!’s weekly newsletter of new sites. What a wonderful and fun idea—and quite addicting, I must say. Have you found spelling or grammar mistakes in newspaper or magazine articles? If so, submit them to the webmaster at Human Spell Check, and your name will be up in lights along with the mistake that you found. For librarians who feel that they must correct their coworker’s spelling and grammar, this will be a safe and stress-free outlet. At this time, Human Spell Check is updated on a weekly basis.
I am a big fan of human-indexed portals, such as About (www.about.com) and the Open Directory Project (ODP) (http://dmoz.org), so imagine how excited I was when I stumbled upon Suite 101 (www.suite101.com). Like ODP, the links are presented by editors who have knowledge of the field in which they write. Unlike ODP, the editors also write feature articles. Suite 101 is a favorite of mine because they catalog their sites by the Dewey classification system. The site can also be personalized and searched, making it a powerful tool. Check out the two sections on Library and Information Science; the first by Gillian Davis (www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/librarians_information_science) and the second by Mindy Grundmeier (www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/libraries).
I cannot get through a day at work without using Findlaw (www.findlaw.com). Findlaw was one of the first legal portals available on the Internet, and it has continued to become one of the most popular sites used by law librarians. I was not familiar with it until I moved from a public library setting to a law library. I do feel, however, that if I did know about it, I might have suggested the site to patrons who needed help in an area of law. Findlaw is set up similar to Yahoo! in that it is broken down into subjects within four distinct categories: legal professionals, students, business, and public. There is also a search engine attached to the site, but I find that using the directory is easier to find the information I want. Most of the Web sites that Findlaw points to are annotated. And finally, there is an option to sign up for the many free newsletters the site has to offer.
As I mentioned earlier, these are only a few of the many interesting
and useful Web sites that I have come across this year. There are three
nonlibrary-related sites that deserve special mention for their insight
and humor: Headline Haikus (www.headlinehaikus.com),
Weird News Online (www.weirdnewsonline.com),
and the hilarious Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers (www.menwholooklikekennyrogers.com).
So there you have it, my favorite sites for this year. I am looking forward
to another year of new discoveries. If I’ve left out any of your
favorite sites, feel free to e-mail me.
Resources Cited
New Breed Librarian, www.libdex.com
The Virtual Acquisitions Shelf, http://resourceshelf.blogspot.com
Search Day, http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday
Newpages, www.newpages.com
Human Spell Check, www.humanspellcheck.com
About, www.about.com
Open Directory Project (ODP), http://dmoz.org
Suite 101, www.suite101.com
Findlaw, www.findlaw.com
Headline Haikus, www.headlinehaikus.com
Weird News Online, www.weirdnewsonline.com
Men Who Look like Kenny Rogers, www.menwholooklikekennyrogers.com