There’s a trend developing that some are calling “Everyone’s an Expert”. Some examples include Rollyo (guided search) and now Squidoo:

We have built an online platform that makes it easy for anyone to build lenses on topics they are passionate about. These lenses help you find a unique, human perspective on things that interest you... fast. Not only can Lensmasters spread their ideas, get recognized for their expertise, and send more traffic to their Web sites and blogs—they could also earn royalties.

From first glance, what I get is that this looks like a more open, community driven version of about.com. If that’s the case then I think it may well take off. As I’ve written over at LibDev, I believe something that emulates Rollyo could be the answer to some of the metasearch problems. Similarly I think something like Squidoo could also have it’s place in the library.

I’m going to use AADL as an example as usual, if only because they currently have a set-up that might support it. While many probably see parallels between Squidoo and subject guides, I’m going to talk about community involvement. An example of an applicable Squidoo would be this one for Harvard Square. Many local governments already have attractions, tourist and “why to move here” pages, but how many are community driven?

As you probably know AADL already has a community photo project. I think this could be extended to have pages about community locations or even pages by people about what you MUST SEE when you come there. Who do you trust more than the locals? They most likely already have community photos of many of the destinations. Again I picked AADL because I believe their Drupal backend will likely make this possible. Presuming the data is accessible in some sort of feed then local goverments or other community sites could pull them in. A great way of showcasing the community while getting people involved in your library.

Plenty of other ideas but I’ll leave this one where it stands. The maker of Squidoo has a PDF ebook available titled “Everyone’s An Expert (about something)” available for download.

Currently Listening: That’s when I reach for my revolver from the album “Animal Rights” by Moby <p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: , , , , , </p>