Clustering with clusty.com

I've been reacquainting myself with Vivisimo's web searching product, Clusty. Its claim to fame is the clustering feature on the left side of the screen, which organizes search results into folders containing similar items. Except for the lame name, Clusty is a pretty cool resource. Besides the clustering feature, users can select search tab categories, adding such tabs as blogs, gov, and even eBay. I find it amusing that one of the default tabs is gossip, which searches such highly touted publications as the National Enquirer. What this means is that you can use Clusty as your search engine for individual resources, whether the Enquirer or eBay.

I tested Clusty with a search on "gormangate," the latest controversy to erupt in tumultuous Library Land. Michael Gorman, the President-Elect of the American Library Association, has been getting a lot of flak lately for a piece he published criticizing bloggers and blogging. The web search results are quite amusing, as are the blog search results. But the gossip category produces zip, instead suggesting: View the latest gossip from several leading tabloids. Yes, in bold, in red.