Google MyMaps and GeoRSS

Casey Bisson — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:08:46 +0000

O’Reilly’s Where 2.0 Conference isn’t until the end of May, but Google just released two sweet new map-related features: GeoRSS support and MyMaps.

The GeoRSS support means that any application that can output it’s geocoding — as simple as 45.256 -71.92 — can now be linked to a live map with no more effort than it takes to paste the feed URL into Google Maps’ search box. Google holds this up as the exemplar, but I’m a fan of the cheese photo map here. (Here’s some notes about GeoRSS feed validation.)

And if that isn’t easy enough, the MyMaps feature that allows anybody to start marking up a map in their browser.

The really cool part, however, is Google is now indexing all this data and supposedly will be making them part of their local search. The result? Geo mashups have now gone from peculiar examples of the new technology to the loosely linked nuggets that made Google search and the web magical in the first place.

Expect more, way more.

(Also worth noting: with these announcements, the release of the 1.0 version of the Geo Mashup WordPress plugin, and Cliffy’s experience, I’m now formally throwing in the towel on my own bsuite_geocode plugin.) (Tip o’the hat to Ryan for telling me about the GeoRSS support.)

mashups, maps, mapping, loosely linked, local search, google, georss, geocoding, geo, mymaps

WPopac Gets Googled

Casey Bisson — Thu, 04 May 2006 15:50:00 +0000

A discussion on Web4Lib last month raised the issue of Google indexing our library catalogs. My answer spoke of the huge number of searches being done in search engines every day and the way that people increasingly expect that anything worth finding can be found in Google.

There were doubts about the effectiveness of such plans, and concerns about how frustrating it might be for a searcher in California to find books (that he or she can’t access) in New Hampshire.

My answer to the first point was that once we start participating in the Google Economy, we’ll find our records well represented within it, and my answer to the second point is that we already have good solutions to that problem: ILL and OpenWorldCat. Examples: a Google search for my favorite author/friend/example returns with WPopac among the top results. And if you view one of the resulting records, you’ll see a link to “find in WorldCat Libraries.”

Thing is, it’s not just the stuff I’ve been linking to as examples that’s getting found in search engines. Listed below are the top 100 incoming search terms to WPopac from major search engines in the last week. The list is generated by bsuite, my multipurpose WordPress plugin, and the links lead to the item found with the search terms.

Some links will leave you scratching your head, others are clearly misdirected. But, I’m especially proud of this link, from a person who was especially happy to get a new book. Making our collections indexable also makes them linkable, and that means people can make libraries part of their lives — wherever their lives take them.

And this doesn’t just help Angie, it means faculty and students can link to library resources from class blogs or share them in AIM.

google economy, google in the catalog, lib20, libraries, library, library 20, library catalog, linking, links, loosely linked, opac, remix, search engines, wpopac

MaisonBisson.com » loosely linked

Google MyMaps and GeoRSS

WPopac Gets Googled