Thing 29 – Google Tools

I signed up for Google Alerts to track the serial I am writing for the MALL Newsletter and discovered someone who blogs under the name of Conan the Librarian. (I never claimed the play on words was original to me.) Another alert looks for references to my library. That one should not generate so much traffic. Finally, I am tracking an ongoing research interest in case I ever get back to finishing that book. So far, it is retrieving blog traffic and things for sale. This could be a really useful feature though. I have used the update features on ProQuest and WilsonWeb to help me keep research projects and a pathfinder up-to-date. It is nice to find something that works for the Web.

For the other tool, I decided to take a closer look at the Gmail account I had set up for the original 23 Things. After setting a theme (if it is prettier will I use it more?) I tried having my yahoo mail forwarded. Guess what: it doesn’t work with the base account. Figures. I did find some interesting things in the Labs. Under Who Thought That Was a Good Idea? is the Default Reply to All. I know too many people who have gotten themselves in trouble by accidentally replying to all with a message intended only for one. Needless to say, I didn’t pick that one. The forgotten attachment detector, on the other hand, seems like a really good idea. I also added a couple more, such as the task list. If GMail really doesn’t get spammed, I may have to start using it more.