The newsletter is finally here!

Our first newsletter was released on December 20th. I hope that you have found it to be informative and useful.

January's newsletter will be released on January 20th. Subsequent newsletters will be published on or around the 20th of each month.

I'd like to include member input in the next newsletter, if possible. So if you have anything you want to say, let me know.

New Google Developments

The Googlers have been busy this week! So far they've announced several new services and tools: Google Music Search, the Google Homepage API, Blogger Web Comments, and Google Safe Browsing for Firefox.

I've toyed around with the Google Music search, and it works much in the same way as Google's Movie search. Right now they say that it works for most artists popular in the U.S. and some from abroad, and that they are working on adding more international artists to the search. Try it out with a Beatles search.

I haven't yet tried the Google Homepage API, Blogger Web Comments, or the Safe Browsing, but I hope to soon. I'll be creating new tutorials for these services by this weekend. Perhaps I will even create a customized module for the homepage that is helpful to Librarians!

Google Rocks (and so does Cleveland) !

As I sit here half frozen, I thought I'd share with you just a few reasons why I am a huge advocate of Google. So here they are, in no particular order:

1. Simplicity. Google clearly understands that less is sometimes more. I don't want to be distracted with flashing pictures, intrusive noise, and those oh-so-annoying pop-over ads. Give me white space and text ads any day of the week.

2. Relevant results. When I type in a search query, I find what I'm looking for fast. What I don't find is a porn site cloaking itself as something legit in search results. yay! They make my job easier.

3. Accountability. Google's company motto is "Don't be evil", and they take it very seriously. It's nice to see a company striving for something more than just the almightly dollar.

4. Humor. The Google people know how to have fun and give us (and themselves) a good laugh. For example, just take a look at Google Gulp, Google Mentalplex, PigeonRank, Google Lunar Jobs, Google Moon (zoom in all the way & check out the FAQs). And check out these special "languages": Klingon, Pig Latin, Leet, Bork Bork Bork, and Elmer Fudd. If you know of more Google Pranks, let me know.

5. Gmail. Google brought us the best e-mail service EVER. Following the philosophy of their website, Gmail is clean and easy on the eyes. You never, ever get those evil pop-overs sneaking up on you when you're trying to read your email (*cough* like yahoo *cough*). Plus, with all the storage space they give you, you never have to delete an email. You can rest assured that with Google search power you can find whatever email you need in a flash.

6. Google SMS. I lost my directions on the way to a meeting at another library just a few weeks ago. But I didn't have to worry. With my cell phone handy I just sent Google a text message asking for directions, and a few seconds later I was on my way in the right direction. Try it out
on the Google SMS page.

7. Google's founders are liberal, as are many of their employees. They believe in things like open source software and fair treatment of their employees. They have awesome benefits packages, free lunch and snacks, play time, and more. And overall, they believe in making the world a better place.

8. Constant innovation. They are always thinking of new ways to do things, and come up with some pretty cool stuff. Check out Google Labs to play with all the newest Google toys.

9. They are always striving for improvement, and understand that "great just isn't good enough".

Everyone wants to know!

It seems to be the question on everyone's minds - Who is the Google Librarian? And what makes him/her the Google Librarian? Wouldn't you like to know? ;)

The Google Librarian is half superhero, and half librarian. She has superpowers that makes others envious - she can search the web at lightning fast speeds, plucking out even the most obscure information with a few simple keystrokes. Unfortunately, the Google Librarian has one fatal flaw - she is rendered powerless without a a Blackbery or computer at hand. And so this is why the Google Librarian never leaves home without an internet connection, whether it be through her phone, a PDA, or a laptop.

Now, seriously... my name is Julie and I am employed by the Cleveland Public Library in Cleveland, Ohio. A lot of people have asked who made the website because I didn't include that information in the site. The reason the information wasn't included was because I wanted to make the information the focus of the site - not who I am. So there you go, mystery solved. :)

The reason I made the website is because I have seen a need for something like this. Internet search engines are becoming a huge part of our jobs, and not everyone understands the finer details of them yet. There are ways to fine-tune your results, and methods to employ that can help you find what you need faster. Plus there are also alot of really cool tools that Google offers that I think librarians would find interesting. My goal is to share my knowledge and expertise with fellow librarians and information professionals.

Tune in every day for more sneak peeks into the mind and life of the Google Librarian. And if you haven't done so already, get Mozilla Firefox. It will help you in your quest to become a Google Librarian yourself, and its available right on this blog or www.googlelibrarian.com. To read more about Firefox and the handy dandy Google Toolbar, visit the Google Librarian's guide to firefox.

Next up: What makes her the Google Librarian, A day in the life of the Google Librarian and An actual photograph of the amazing Google Librarian herself.