[Web4lib] Lack of discussion of Google CSE and Libraries

[Jonathan Gorman]

> You are missing one major point.  It does not take a programmer to do
> anything with it.  The Google API and other APIs really require
> programming skills.


Bill,

I think you just answered your own question.  If I remember correctly, you 
started this thread by asking why there wasn't talk on the library tech 
blogs about Google CSE. You then say the wonderful thing about Google CSE 
is that it allows you to do things with the api without programming.  Of 
course, that's something that would appeal to people who aren't already 
programmers.

I don't think Ross is missing the point at all.  The reason the tech blogs 
haven't notice it is at least at first glance it just duplicates things 
they already have.  To make a bad analogy, would you expect a commerical 
brewer to get excited when someone points out that beer brewing kits 
exist?

True, some of the blogs you mentioned are more focused on outreach or 
education of what's happening in the tech community to the rest of the 
library community as a whole.  Have you thought of writing a longer post 
and trying to submit it to one of these?  Or even just asking them 
directly?

Speaking as a follower of several tech blogs, I'd rather see mention of 
work being done with things like MARC4J + lucene and solr being used to 
create new interfaces for our catalog.


Jonathan T. Gorman
Research Information Specialist
University of Illinois at Cham	paign-Urbana
216 Main Library - MC522
1408 West Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 244-4688