In An introduction to mashups for health librarians, Alan Cho writes about mashups. "Originally a term used in pop music by artists and disc jockeys when two songs were remixed and played at the same time, Web experts have borrowed the term when two or more software tools are merged."Mashup between map data and (non-geographic) data-data can form a visual location aid for finding anything from ferry paths to coffee shops. Some of my favorite mashups lately have to do with exercising, particularly riding my bike around Seattle and running. Clock miles. Find a route. Check on the elevation of hills, even!
Exercise 1 - Pick a mashup… any mashup
There are a few mashups investigating for this assignment.
1. Lunchbox: http://lunchbox.allbusiness.com/
2. Dog Park USA: http://www.dog-park-usa.com/dog-park-usa
3. Flickr Sudoko: http://flickrsudoku.com/
4. Veloroutes: http://veloroutes.org/
I was compelled to check out each one for accuracy. For Lunchbox (and other restaurant map/ratings mashups browsed), there were some restaurants missing. One lunch mashup did not have a 'sushi' category. The dog park missed a couple of places in Seattle. It would be great to know how current some of these mashups are, whether their feeds come from static or dynamic sources. Was this created in 2006 and left to sit? One great mashup for Seattle taco trucks, Los Taco Trucks Unitos, has sadly gone this way.
Veloreoutes has a really in-depth "About" section that reveals how, when, why the mashup was created and includes candid information about data sources. This mashup wins out over the rest because it is *so* useful to me. I can create a cue sheet and that will help me get from Point B to Point A. Sure, finding sushi nearby is great, but using something that helps me go is tops.
Exercise 2 - Head over to Rollyo and search for librarian blogs & privacy.
So, I can pick where I want to search from a subset of domains I specify. Further, I can combine domains to find what I want from sites I already like. That's smart. I rolled my own search engine to create rugby-specific search. I wanted to shop for shoes and accessories from only a few vendors, but not necessarily compare prices across the board. Using Rollyo, I entered a few URLs to define my search domains, saved the search, then ran a test search. The results in context are great; the sponsored results interrupting my list are annoying. Still, the ads are not such a detraction that I'd skip over Rollyo all together.
As for other mashups, I've enjoyd watching Hubmed evolve. A few months ago, the Touchgraph visualization was basic. The API looks more user-friendly, the navigation and keys to help me know what Touchgraph is "about" have changed for the better. Has it always been in color? remeber gray. Lots of gray.
I have used the Facebook/photo identification mashup, but didn't know it came from Touchgraph as well.
What did I read about librarians and privacy on librarian blogs?- The DIY Librarian wrote about Web 2.0 and anonymity. "...Library 2.0 applications (e.g., those that encourage social interaction) should not necessarily use the same privacy standards as traditional library services."
- On The Law Librarain Blog, a blogger wrote about the privacy ranking of Internet Service Companies. "According to Privacy International, Google Inc.'s privacy practices are the worst among the Internet's top destinations."
- The Arizona State Univerity's blog, Technology for Law Libraries, includes a post about the availability of the 2007 OCLC report, Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World and provides some links to other blogs that comment about the report.
- In patronizing, the privacy of library patrons is discussed in reference to an article on slashdot, Library Chief Criticized for Requiring Subpoena. A librarian who protected the privacy of library patrons received public criticism in 2006.
