School Library Learning 2.0 Week 4, Exercise 8

Google Reader,
originally uploaded by Kyle Jones.

#8 (Week 4) Learn about RSS feeds and set up a blog reader account. I was worried about this week since I had no idea what RSS were. I kind of thought they were like little, ever changing reader boards that were at the bottom of a blog. Don’t know where I got that idea. I couldn’t find the blog posting that discusses the difference between the 2 feed readers, but I did find plenty of other information the differences including an interesting comparison from Lifehacker.

I created a Google Reader and put in several newsfeeds. They include:

o Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
o My other library friend in Washington State working on this with me
o Unshelved (the library comic) http://www.unshelved.com/blog.aspx?post=844
o A cross country bicycle trip my work friend’s sons are taking http://mccaffreyjoh07.blogspot.com/
o My Flickr Account – new photos and comments
o Lifehaker http://lifehacker.com/

There are other ones reflecting my hobbies and interests.

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders? I really like them, though I can see the number of hits can become overwhelming. But what a delightful way to be exposed to a variety of different thoughts & ideas.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life? I think that I could use this technology to stay on topic of trends in the library/information field. I wonder if I can get into my Google Reader at school, so many of the sites end up being blocked. Personally it will be a time saver to go to one spot to check out the most recent postings. It makes my bookmarking my favorite blogs look quaint.

How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology? I’m imaging them setting up different RSS on topics for Patrons. Maybe one on different aspects of a city.

Optional: If you're up to the challenge, you can provide the URL address to your public bloglines account (find where to find this below) Since I went with the Google Reader, I don’t have this option. Though I’m sure Google will have it soon.