[WEB4LIB] www.backflip.com service - NICE

[Jenny Levine]

On Mon, 16 Oct 2000, ernest perez wrote:
> "Backflip" is a handy free bookmark or URL menu utility service on the web. You may want to take a look at it. It is a little bit slower than using your native bookmarks, but there are some real advantages
> to using it 

	I just started using Backflip a few months ago because I saw a 
little "Backflip It" icon on a news story from SFGate on 
their Web site.  I wanted to bookmark the story, so I followed the icon 
and set up an account.  I was immediately impressed with this feature, as 
I often bookmark articles, but when I try to refer back to them down the 
road, the page is gone.  With Backflip, it stores the whole page, so I 
will always have the article available to me.  I also like that you can 
bookmark a selection of text, so when some statistics leap out at me from 
an article, I highlight and Backflip them.
	I was about to highlight this service to our member libraries 
because they, too, could let users Backflip their pages (especially local 
history pages, newsletter articles, etc.), but a privacy concern came up 
on another list I'm on.  The poster had noticed some tracking done once 
she accessed the Backflip service, so she stopped using it.  I share 
these concerns, but I haven't had a chance to follow up on it yet.  She 
thought that some of the new privacy software might help foil their 
tracking, and I tend to agree.  So that might be one caveat to using this 
type of service.
	Also, I've noticed that c|net has gone with the HotLinks service 
(http://www.hotlinks.com/) instead of Backflip.  It's the same idea, 
though I haven't had a chance to compare them yet.

----------------------------------------------------------------
Jenny Levine                                    125 Tower Drive
Internet Development Specialist                 Burr Ridge, IL 60521
Suburban Library System                         +1 (630) 734 5141
http://www.sls.lib.il.us/                       levinej at sls.lib.il.us