Oh my Panting Pacemaker!

I don't think there has ever been a single week prior to this one in which so many applications that have incredible potential for the information sector have come to my attention.

Today, Mary Ellen Bates' latest newsletter drew my attention to LibraryThing. This is w-a-a-a-y more than an online catalogue. It includes the kind of tech elements we should now expect as a matter of course (eg cellphone accessibility), social networking (blogs, reader reviews, sharing info with similar interest groups/individuals), as well as the more expected auto-insertion of LC bibliographic info. Regardless of the physical environment in which we individually operate, virtual communities are becoming indispensable and this is one powerful utility to enable us to locate info and contacts relevant to our interests. Apparently it is envisaged that a variant for professional libraries will be available in due course.

An example of user feedback :
"When I visit someone's house for the first time, I sneak a look at their bookshelves as soon as politeness allows. Who knew that there was a virtual equivalent? ... Library Thing, my pick for high-concept website of the year."
Lorem Ipsum (Cambridge, MA Bookstore)

Instead of raving on, if this interests you, take the Tour and join the fan club.

My personal opinion : as far as developing a comprehensive international book catalogue goes, Google should keep a few eyeballs glued on this one.

Being a Google-fan-with-some-qualification, on Tuesday I was engrossed in Google Reader [which I prefer to Pluck at this stage because the latter did just that to the heartstrings of my hard-drive which is still fighting the pangs of unrequited uninstallation] and the revised Toolbar . . .

. . . and the day before that investigating IE7 which sadly had to be uninstalled because its current security settings aren't compatible with my lifestyle . . .

. . .and Firefox 1.5 has been installed but I have yet to spend time familiarising myself with its features

Then I read a rave write-up on one of the techie blogs about the latest version of Copernic Desktop Search - must check that out as I have been a fan of the earlier version for some time.

Can't wait to see what the coming week holds . . .