Rollyo and the Annoyed Librarian

Wow - I have been having the best time using rollyo.com and perusing the Annoyed Librarian postings about privacy. Such fun!

Rollyo is a great idea. You can "roll" or create your own customized search engine "using the websites you trust". Use web portals, blogs, whatever you like. And one of the best features is "Explore". If I could re-design their website, I would make this feature one of the highlights of the page. Right now it is on the black header with grey letters.

When get to the "Explore" page, you have some options. Do a search on any topic and you will likely find that someone else has create a rollyo on that topic. There is nothing I like better than benefitting from the work of others. Or you could check out one of the "Most Popular" Rollyo searches. If you like Wikipedia, "The Big Answer Deck" will be great fun for you.

Rollyo's search algorithms may need a bit of tweaking. When I searched the Rollyo called librarianblogs for "privacy", the results that showed up in the results pane were completely irrelevant. Luckily (or possibly by good design) Rollyo displays the websites that were searched in the column on the left. When I clicked individual blogs from the column on the left, I found the results I was looking for - lots of interesting articles on privacy related to libraries, librarians and the Bush Administration.

I then stumbled upon the Annoyed Librarian. She describes herself as, "possibly the most successful, respected, and desirable librarian of her generation." Along with making fun of librarian stereotypes, she makes intelligent comments about almost every aspect of librarianship. And to top it off it's fun to read. Well done!