Vincent Tsao's Library tagged review →  View Popular

Yes, Diigo is far more useful than even I realized. I don’t usually rant over startups any more, but the best should get recognition.

Always,

Phil

Nice intro, Phil!

Just checked out their site, and I think Diigo organizes things in a much more elegant way and at the same time does more for users than most average social site by aggregating and utilizing information from everyone by everyone for everyone.

Rock on, Diigo!

Hi guys, thanks! Well, Diigo has really sold itself and has not been overly hyped by blogdom. I became aware of them after reviewing their beta some time back. A truly excellent startup, I use it all the time too.

Always,

Phil

Toys in the Sandbox




I can admit that streamlining isn’t the only reason for Diigo. There simply are some great toys built into this tool that I’m anxious to use at a great depth (something I can do by lessening the amount of tools I’m using).





1. Lists
2. Slideshow: A slideshow based upon a tag complete with screen-shot of the page and annotations
3. Watchlist: Add a tag that you want watched and it feeds in all bookmarks tagged with that term
4. Groups: Form social groups based upon common interests
5. Save Elsewhere: This tool posts all bookmarks from Diigo to other tools like Delicious. Great feature for those that want to maintain Delicious because a network has already formed there.
6. Blog: A really powerful way to blog about your Diigo work. A lot stronger than Delicious. I’m often annoyed by all the link posts (use to advocate for it) but this allows for a better post with the link.
7. Twitter Post: What can I say? I love anything that interacts this efficiently and effectively with Twitter. All you have to do is click Send > Twitter and you’ll get a popup to complete your Tweet. Very slick!
8. Enhanced Link Roll: This is really cool and a great feature for websites. Not only do you display your latest links, these links display your annotations!
9. Diigolet: A great way to use Diigo without having to download the toolbar. This helps in schools where the toolbar might be a bit of a struggle to get installed.

School Setting

For my personal learning environment, Diigo is the perfect way for me to streamline my tools without sacrificing quality. However, I’m not entirely convinced that Diigo is the best tool to implement within the schools.

For example, does Diigo distract more than it helps? It has a host of features and can function much like an extension of Facebook. While I have argued that Facebook and such are not bad things, I think it is worth discussing here what it does for classroom management and how sustainable is it if a teacher or librarian had to constantly monitor it, which given the features would be a reality. With a combination Delicious and Zotero, there is little to no concerns from the perspective of potential misuse of the tool as the social networking components are minimal — non-existent in Zotero.

This is one of those great conversations where educational technologists and librarians together will determine the best answer, and I know that the three outstanding librarians at GBN will have so much to add to all of this as we look to finding the best possible fit for our students and teachers.