Thing #15: Rollyo

A FASCINATING CONCEPT

I found the idea of limiting a search to a select list of websites a wonderful one, since I am often frustrated by the deluge of results returned by search engines such as Google or HotBot that search the entire web.

On  the Public Domain e-Books Search serachroll, I was able to bring up eBooks for Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan without difficulty.

The Rare Book Library Search serachroll was a bit more problematical.  I couldn't find any listings for either William the Dragon by Polly Donnison or The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The first is quite rare, the second not rare at all, although I assume there are rare editions.  Perhaps the book dealers whose sites compose the list just don't have any copies of these items available right now.

The Quick Quotes serachroll easily brought up Shakespeare's "We are such stuff as dreams are made on."

Again, a good idea to search multiple quotation indexes in aggregate, while excluding those same quotes scattered across random websites.

JOINING UP

I routinely run searches for obscure items (such as 44-string pedal harps) with only limited success.

I can usually increase my odds of a relevant hit by searching promising sites individually rather than googling the Web as a whole.  But it's tedious having to search each site individually.

So I was eager to sign up for a Rollyo account and try my hand at creating a custom Rollyo list.

I registered for an account and created a list entitled Harps for Sale.  On it I placed 24 sites I regularly search for listings of folk harps and pedal harps (either new or used).

I entered 24 harp sites I search either regularly or occasionally for harps or related items (strings, sheet music, CDs, etc.).

My category was Arts & Humanities.  My tags were: harps, musical instruments, pedal harps, and folk harps.  I chose to make this list public.

HARPS FOR SALE

Now when I log into Rollyo, I see Harps for Sale as one of my searchrolls.  How cool!

I typed in Lyon Healy Style 85 GP (a type of 44-string pedal harp manufactured by Lyon & Healy) and clicked on Search.  The results were highly relevant.  Much more so than when I search the Web at large using Google.  Neat!

Here's the link:  Virtual Unicorn's Harps for Sale searchroll on Rollyo.

I suggest you try the following search term: Camac Clio, Salvi Daphne, Dusty Strings FH36B, and Thormahlen Swan.  These are all popular harp models.  The first two are pedal harps, the second two, folk harps.

Searching these will give you an idea of who on my list is currently carrying which models of harp.  Now you know the sort of things I look at on the Web for fun.  Happy searching!