20 Cool Sites from CIL Conference

Thanks to PLAN, I had a great time at the CIL Conference and I wanted to share the joys of free, cool things the speakers showed me at the conference. Here were my top 20 favorites:

1. Yahoo! Pipes: http://pipes.yahoo.com/ This is a very cool RSS aggregator that can apply logical filters to your RSS feeds. It looks good too!
2. Google's My Maps: I'm sure you've used Google Maps, but now you can edit the maps right inside Google! You can insert images, tags, and draw lines between locations. This will be a great way to redo the the Bookmobile stops!
3. Yahoo! Design Pattern Library: Yahoo has recently released their entire knowledge base of website design. So whenever we want to add an RSS feed or a blog to one of the websites, we can look at all the research Yahoo has done on the subject. Wow!
4. Zamzar.com: A free website that allows you to convert files online. This will also allow you to download YouTube videos, which is otherwise impossible.
5. Gliffy.com: A free website that allows you to create flowcharts and mind maps. Very easy to use, as long as your charts aren't too big.
6. 2 Firefox extensions: 1.) Linkchecker: will allow you to check all the links on a page to make sure they work, and 2.) Firebug: allows you to debug a page.
7. Pixer.us: Ever wished you had a copy of Photoshop with you on vacation. I know I sure have! Now you have a free version wherever you are!
8. Trailfire.com : This nifty tool allows you to create a webtour by marking pages with a 'trail' mark which contains any comments or tags you put on the website, and then links your visitors to the next website on the tour. I know this is a bit difficult to conceptualize, but believe me: it's cool. (And free!)
   
9. Myxer.com: Another free site, but this one allows you to mix MP3's. Kids use this site a lot to create custom ringtones for their cell phones.
10. MyBlogLog.com: This site will give you statistics on the visitors to your blog. It's free up to a point, then I think it's $20 for a lifetime subscription.
11. CrazyEgg.com: Another statistics site, but with the very cool added power of 'heat maps.' These show you where people are going within a certain page of your site. I will be using this tool first when I get back. I can't wait!
12. "Many Eyes" by IBM: IBM has a free site that allows you to create imaginitive visualizations of data. There are a lot a very funny mind maps and flowcharts on this site of bizarre data, ranging from Monthy Python data to comparing the size of our Sun to other stars.
13. Google Webmaster Tools: Google has an entire section that allows you to check how well your site can be spidered, statistics on hits, page rank, page views, etc.
14. SiteMapBuilder.net: This should be used in conjuction with Google. This site allows you to create an XML file of your site map, which you can then send to Google, so Google has an easier time spidering your site. And that's important. :)
15. gVisit.com: This is an awesome 'mash-up' (the combination of two webware programs to create a new webware program) of a worldwide map and data from your website. It maps where all the visitors to your website are coming from! Isn't that cool? It requires a javascript plugin on your page, but then, voila! You've instantly got a satellite view of all your visitors!
16. One of the cool new freebies is AjaxWrite. It advertises itself by listing the price of MS Office 2007, then showing that AjaxWrite does the same thing for free and online from wherever you are.
17. LogMeIn is a free website that allows you to connect by Remote Desktop to another person's computer and provide instructional assistance.
18. EveryStockPhoto.com is a repository of free photographs.
19. Wink allows people to take video-like screen captures.
20. LibraryThing for Libraries: You know and love LibraryThing.com. Well, now Tim Spalding is working on LibraryThing for Libraries. This service (still in beta, but he's looking for libraries to help test!) will allow your patrons to add recommendations, tags, and comments to the content in your catalog. Patrons love and expect this sort of interactivity, and we love and respect LibraryThing. It's the perfect match!

And those are the winners! If you would like more information, or would just like to discuss some of these technologies, please feel free to comment or write me. :)

Thanks, PLAN!