Thursday, May 8, 2014

Thing 4

I created a Zite account for this task. It took me a couple of tries to create topics that actually interest me...clearly, I'm so eclectic that that the "ready to go" topics didn't really work. :) Once I was able to target the topics a bit more precisely, I found that Zite was finding things for me that I wouldn't have discovered on my own. The MotherEarth "How to grow cucumbers" article was very helpful! I don't like that there isn't a way (or I haven't discovered it yet) to add websites that I always want to read. For example, I was able to access the Unshelved comic strip via the "Librarianship" category, but I can't figure out how to get Unshelved directly. Because while I may want professional literature often, I want Unshelved *always*.

I think that Zite could be very helpful in helping find professional literature when I'm just trying to get a feel for trends, etc. If I was trying to get a thorough reading of professional literature, however, I think I would use it as a jumping off point. So often the very helpful literature isn't what is currently trending. But Zite seems great for just casual browsing.

The "Frugal Living" and "Organic Gardening" stuff, though? That's fantastic!