Netvibes
From LIS 460 Summer 2007
Contents |
About Netvibes
Netvibes is a multi-lingual personalized start page which serves as an alternative to traditional web portals. Netvibes allows users to collect in one place all their favorite blogs, search engines, email, instant messengers, photos, videos, and social networks. The Netvibes page is divided up into modules which appear as boxes on the page. Users can easily customize their Netvibes page by moving, cutting, and pasting the boxes on the page. Users can access their Netvibes homepage from anywhere using any computer. Netvibes is a custom-made web 2.0 application which is free and which uses a very simple interface. It is similar to "My Yahoo" but is in some ways more flexible and more open. Other Netvibes competitors are Google IG and Windows Live.
Some of Netvibes built in modules include:
RSS/Atom feed reader
Local weather forecasts
Calendar supporting iCal
Bookmarks
Notes
To-do lists
Multiple searches
Support for various webmail providers
Podcast support with a built-in audio player
Flickr photos
Meebo
del.icio.us
A Netvibes page can be personalized by choosing an existing theme (there are many different options) or by creating a theme using a specific wallpaper. Netvibes was created by Tariq Krim in 2005. Today Netvibes has over 10 million users world-wide in more than 50 different languages.
Netvibes Ecosystem
A user’s modules, tabs, and feeds can be shared with others individually or via the Netvibes Ecosystem which is a collection of these user modules, feeds, podcasts, etc. Groups of these publicly viewable customized pages are called "universes." Netvibes doesn't contain any original material, but collects materials from all these other sources. Netvibes Ecosystem contains a list of all the modules available to Netvibes users, sorted by category. There are also list of all the avaiilable RSS feeds, podcasts, tabs created by users, and events that can be added to a user's personalized Netvibes calendar.
Netvibes in the school library
Netvibes could be really useful in school libraries, and classrooms, because it is a tool which allows librarians and teachers to collect all of their favorite educational resources onto one page that are then easily accessible to them and to their students.
Questions I still have
The cost of Netvibes for certain modules is unclear. Netvibes claims to be free, but some modules include a fee. For example, accessing Yahoo mail through Netvibes requires a POP3 account which must be purchased.
