Social Apps and Searching

The other day, I was listening to an NPR Science Friday podcast about how sites like Netflix and Pandora try to recommend other things you might be interested in. Netflix is giving away prizes for people who can improve their recommendation algorithm. While these companies focus on better marketing solutions, one person who called into the show made me very proud to be in the library science field!

She pointed out that while it's nice to have suggestions on these websites, she was disappointed that the sites do not have the same searching functionality as databases at her local library!! I concur! There should be more advanced searching and filtering options to group and sort and drill down the way you would in EBSCO. Sure, you can search by genre or title, but how about adding other fields like director, year, songwriter, etc.? It's only a matter of time before people start to demand more options when searching social applications of all types.

Speaking of social apps, here are a few cool lists from Mashable.com.

70+ Free iPhone Apps for Social Media Mavens

50+ Sites for Book Lovers

Top 30 iPhone Apps for Organization and Productivity