Maryland Social Media

Social Media Monday (Vol. 5, No. 11)

April 13, 2015

Basic Search Tips

Most of us understand and apply the very basics of Boolean search but rarely utilize or understand the advanced functionality. As more and more information is loaded each and every second, understanding how to harness it in a practical and useful way is essential to listening to your social community and performing a web search. Joe Barker from the University of California, Berkeley has created a pdf with the most basic but useful search tips.

Take a few minutes to understand and apply the techniques found here: Basic Search Tips ad Advanced Boolean Explained

Your new app looks great, but does it work?

We have created quite a few apps in Maryland state government in recent years, all in an effort to better serve our neighbors and to make their interaction with THEIR government simple and convenient. It’s not an easy project. At times, we get so far in the development weeds that our analysis of its use and effectiveness can be skewed by our ownership ego. Let’s be honest, app creation is all consuming and fun but are the apps we have developed living up to the hype? Did you finish the project, introduce it to Maryland, dust your hands off and begin the next big project?

Take a minute and read the blog post in Government Technology by Victor Yocco linked above. His development suggestions are spot on but also remember to closely monitor your metrics after launch, update your app frequently to make it more functional and user-friendly then nominate them for an Appy Award!