One web 2.0 tool that I am exploring and finding useful is the "box of links". Having had so many bits of new information come my way during these past few months of the Media, Design and Technology Course, I have often found myself on overload when trying to search and retrieve information. In the case of the box of links, I have already attached some of my classmates’ AR blog sites; so all I have to do is go to my iGoogle AR (Action Research) page, and I can open a link without having to look up the URL on a spreadsheet in one of my files on the desktop. This is a great feature, and it keeps my links organized.
I can add more boxes of links by category, if I choose to do so on any page that I set up in my iGoogle account. The AR page also has the Del.icio.us bookmarks box, which provides additional links to the web. These links are saved as my favorites. They are sites that I would have found while searching the web. If I were to find a site that is interesting and I would like to visit more often, I could save the link in my del.icio.us bookmarks and access it whenever I go to iGoogle. Even if I am on another person’s computer, the bookmarks are still available to me when I go into my iGoogle account.
With countless websites, searching the World Wide Web is mind-boggling. Being able to save and sort links that are relevant to one’s life is made a lot easier with the web 2.0 linking tools. Being able to organize a wealth of art resources for class lessons or art history and cultural facts would be very beneficial. Some features of the del.icio.us site that I have not yet configured include having the ability to…”Share favorites with friends, family, and colleagues” and “Discover new things with less work. Other del.icio.us users may have already found and posted exactly what you are looking for” ( Schrum, p. 199).
Interestingly, as a newbie to “searching the web” and “organizing links “ there is another side of the coin that I hadn’t considered. It’s “link baiting”! It may sound a bit negative, but it is a term used to describe how sites try to catch the attention of readers, so readers will link to them. Since there are so many sites out there, link baiting is a way to get your site to stand out. Rob Sullivan lays out the types of baiting that are available to help sites gain readership….”They are: News, Contrary, Attack, Resource and Humor”(2006). The article provides descriptions and examples of these baiting categories as advice for those trying to gain a broader audience. Though Sullivan wrote the article in 2006 the responses to the article are as current as August of 2009.
Resources:
Schrum, L. & SOlomon, G. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Wasington D.C.:ISTE.
Sullivan, R. (2006). Search Engine Journal (SEJ): Live Baiting & Effective Link Building. Retrieved October, 2009 from:
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/link-baiting-effective-link-building/2797/
The image is from Power Point Clip art and adjusted by Beckie Lamborn October 2009.
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