This week we checked out various browsers and browser add-ons that could be useful. Using browsers other than the generic Internet Explorer or Netscape can sometimes be beneficial. For instance, there was a system issue a couple of months ago where the students had difficulties searching on the internet. One student informed me that she used Mozilla on the laptop she borrowed and it worked just fine. Anyhow, I checked out some of the add-ons for Firefox and found a couple of them interesting. I decided not to register on a few of the add-ons, therefore limited myself to quick and easy add-ons.
The first add-on I tried was “Answers” one of the recommended add-ons. I found it very helpful in that if you Alt clicked on any word on a webpage, “Answers” would provide a definition or explanation as to what the word means. In other words: a very helpful, quick and easy online dictionary. I will probably make great use of this tool at work 
The second add-on I looked at was Yoono. Although there was a section where it asked for you to register, it began working just fine without registration. One thing I liked about Yoono was the neat ticker line that appears bellow the url web address line. The ticker showed suggested sites that relate to the site you are searching. There was also a helpful sidebar that provided links to suggestions as well.
I then went on to try the Morris bookmarklets. Much like “Answers,” the bookmarklets allow you to highlight a particular word or phrase and quickly find McMaster library materials related to the word or phrase. This would definitely come in handy if one is researching journal articles and would like to find related library resources to terms within the article.
Finally, I would just like to ask one question about Firefox. One thing that I found a little annoying about installing the add-ons from Firefox was that you had to keep restarting Firefox after every installation of an add-on. Is there a way that you could install multiple Firefox add-ons without restarting every single time?
what i usually do when i’m adding a bunch of add-ons is install them all, then do a restart after I’m done. one restart is better than many
Yeah, I was going to suggest the same thing as Amanda. I think you can opt to restart Firefox later, then install more, opting to restart Firefox later each time. Then close down Firefox when you’re done, reload it and voila.
Thank you Amanda and Kelly. I’ve tried your suggestions and it worked just fine.