Week 11 - Yelp.com

For this second-to-last challenge I wanted to try something out other than Library Thing or Rollyo. I followed the Web 2.0 Awards link and tried out several of the different links.

First I tried the mashup Coverpop.com The site was billed as a montage which allows you to view different images from one main collage. After playing with the different montages and being absolutely intrigued mostly because I tried to do a similar collage effect with the pictures of the kids on the front of my blog. I decided against using it. Unfortunately I didn’t think this was going to help with this assignment.

Then I tried OneSentence.org, “true stories, told in one sentence.” I tend to ramble and repeat myself so I thought this would be helpful. It was interesting and entertaining, unfortunately not something that would be helpful to me.

I was hit and miss with a few others like CocktailBuilder.com, Guess-the-Google, Boxxet, Yahoo Answers (which was very promising), and Findory (which is now defunct). I finally settled on Yelp.com. Yelp.com is a city guide to help you decide on where to go, what to do, and most importantly, WHERE TO EAT! On a personal level, I was excited to stumble upon it to add as one of the tools I can use to try new things. I have had some success with Yahoo Local in finding new places to go so Yelp.com was an added bonus. I think if somebody were to take a trip, this can be a good tool in helping decide where to go and what to try. On the flip-side, if you are one to take pictures of everything you eat and everywhere you go (you know who you are), this is a great way to share your experiences. Next week, my family plans on taking a little vacation and I already have a small list of places to eat that I have all intentions of dragging my family to. Who knows, I might be one of those shutterbugs that’ll take pictures of the food and post on the internet.

From a library point of view, I can see using this tool to help patrons find places to go, see, and eat. I know this tool will come in handy if I want to share the local eateries with some workshop attendees. I don’t even have to give them a review of the food, they can go look it up themselves. So be adventurous, try one of the hole-in-the-wall places that Yelp.com might send you to. You just might be pleasantly surprised. Bon Appetit!