For Thing 19 I explored Craigslist, the 1st place winner in blogs and directories on the Web 2.0 list. I'd heard rave reviews for Craigs but had never looked at the site and was surprised at the wide variety of categories it contains. Everything you'd find in a newspaper's classified, personals, and employment sections combined is there. You can pick the geographic area you want to search; new city locations are added as interest is generated. The site can be informative, social, or both, with discussion forums running on many topics (I followed one of the strings under Gardening). The help page is comprehensive. Craigs is timely--a plus for anyone seeking tickets to a football game, for example. Posting an ad costs less than using Monster.com and similar sites, so Craigs is attractive financially as well. On the minus side, just like with print classifieds you usually have to call or e-mail to get the important details about postings; for instance, although a couple of entries I read under Childcare were informative--one potential nanny gave her entire resume--many in other categories were sparse indeed.
In a library setting, I can see Craigs fans visiting this site often. It could be especially helpful for people planning to relocate. Thinking of a young couple I know who recently moved west, I pulled up the San Diego listings and tried to get a feel for an unfamiliar city by searching Community, Housing, and Services.
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