Are articles touting 10+ resources actually valuable?
I subscribe to quite a few RSS feeds and read them via Google Reader daily. All too often, about a third of the articles, usually coming from Doggdot.us have a title like “40 Best Design Blogs” or “100 Resources for Sharing Files”.
Personally, I rarely read these articles because I don’t find there’s much value in a large list of resources that usually lacks a per-item description. If I want a list of resources, I can perform a Google search. A long list of resources usually means the article’s author hasn’t actually reviewed anything.
I would find greater value in an article titled “Top 3 Recommended Design Blogs” with a subjective review of those three items, and perhaps a link to a larger list. I personally don’t have any need to read about more than 3-5 resources in the same category. Granted, there are situations when a large list is valuable, such as when you have a very specific need for a tool or website, but that’s a rare case, at least for me.
Of course, using “valuable” in the title of this post brings into question the value of this rant.
The exception to this rule is Smashing Magazine, which often has large lists of example design sites, etc. and usually includes good information too. Check out a recent list of examples of masterful lighting effects in web design: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/05/07/30-examples-of-masterful-lighting-effects-in-web-design/