Really Simple Syndication has revolutionized the way people can keep up with the news. Instead of going to many different Web sites, newspapers, radio, and television programs, users can get all of their local, national, international and professional news in one place - their Newsreader, which regularly checks a user's subscriptions to see if something new has been published. They can also use this Newsreader to access alerts that their library books are due, get upcoming movie showtimes, and read their favorite comic strips.
EXERCISE by Tuesday - Set up a free Google Reader account for yourself. By the end of this exercise you will have discovered how Google Reader can help you manage your information, seen a list of newsreaders that are alternatives to Google, and added at least 10 feeds to your Google Reader account.
EXERCISE by Wednesday - Advertise the RSS feed of your blog. By the end of this exercise, you will have ensured that the RSS feed for your blog is displaying in your sidebar. You will have also learned about other simple ways libraries can make an RSS feed available for their users.
READING by Wednesday - Read at least one of the following:
5 Best Tips for Reducing RSS Information Overload - If this exercise left you feeling overwhelmed with the amount of information you'll be accessing with your newsreader, this article will give you some tips for managing this information.
"RSS Usage for Better Service in Libraries," Library Technology Reports - Ideas for how libraries can use RSS to reach out to users. This is an InfoTrac article, and the link will only work if you are sitting at an authenticated computer. If you have trouble, log into InfoTrac through your in-library access or home access, and search for it in Educator's Reference Complete.
DISCUSSION by Thursday - Post a comment to this page reflecting on the exercises you did this week. While posting, consider the following questions:
What do you think about RSS and newsreaders?
How do you think you might be able to use RSS in your life both professionally and personally?
How do you think libraries can take advantage of RSS?
DISCUSSION by Friday
Post at least one comment responding to the discussion on this page.
Be sure to add a post to your blog on any topic, remembering to add the semls20 tag. Need help thinking of a topic? Once you are done with RSS, you will be halfway through Learning 2.0. How is it going?
I read both articles and they were good. Actually reading them before completing the exercises helped quite a bit. Using filters makes using RSS and newsreaders much more streamlined - a definite time saver. I also liked the info on how librarians can use RSS to get the word out whether it be upcoming programs or new titles. It's true that we are all not good at marketing, mostly because we don't have enough time in our work day and sometimes the local media does not print our press releases. On a personal level, using RSS makes it so easy to stay in tune with one's favorite past times and interests.
TC
murphvanv, 150 - days ago
I'm not finding setting up the reader to be easy at all. I'll keep working....
kimlavoie, 150 - days ago
I found the articles very helpful. It just seems like too many accounts for too many services. I am feeling more and more stuck looking at a computer screen, every waking moment of the day. Maybe, I am old fashioned, but I prefer to receive my information from newspapers, magazines, and professional journals. Although, I do acknowledge the convenience and great uses for libraries. Again, at my school this would be hard to accomplish, because the sites keep getting blocked from the Internet administrators.
Kim
lfitz, 149 - days ago
This was an interesting week for RSS feeds. I created feeds for book reviews from Amazon and Library Journal and used them for my book order due next week. I limited the feeds to sports books for now but will add more subjects as needed. Looking at all the potential feeds was like being in a candy store but I'm starting slowly. I was relieved to read the tips on controlling RSS feed overload. I can see where that would become essential. I also read the article about providing an RSS feed on our library homepage. I think it would be an excellent idea. Our patrons do not talk RSS feeds to us on a regular basis but I'm realizing that there is more going on out there on the web than I was aware of a few weeks ago. The biggest issue for us would be having the time to prepare information that could be fed out to the community. The Social Software in Libraries program today was excellent and I knew what she was talking about!
tcoish, 148 - days ago
I, too, created a feed for book reviews from LJ. I'd like to subscribe to a few more. Today at a staff meeting, I talked about creating a blog so students could communicate with me about research assignments and I was encouraged to continue to stay on top of things. This is new ground and it is exciting. Like Kim, I also like doing hands on research, but I have enjoyed the news video clips I find online.
lfitz, 148 - days ago
The younger members of our staff are the ones pushing the social software in our library. They organized a tech night at a local restaurant this Saturday night. Everyone who would like to attend has been asked to bring their gadgets...laptops, blackberries, cell phones, ipods etc. I unfortunately can't go because of a previous commitment...I'm going dancing...but I hope this will be the first of many such evenings. It will be a discussion with no formal agenda. I see this as an easy introduction for other staff members and it will be exciting to see what ideas come out of this fun night.
ddelano, 147 - days ago
I'll be interested in what feedback you hear comes from the tech night Linda. I've been tossing a similar idea around in my head and I really wonder how something like that would work out.
My big accomplishment of the week was finally understanding how Feedburner works. I've seen it demonstrated at a bunch of workshops but until I finally did it myself, there's that hands on thing again, I didn't get it. We are hoping to do more podcasting this summer and though we have "podcasts" on our web site they do not have RSS feeds, which is technically what makes a podcast. I've been told Feedburner is good for that sort of thing so it's an area I'm going to be delving into more.
Daisy
murphvanv, 147 - days ago
Well, I'm going out for a fun evening, too, but I spent hours getting up to speed, and I feel like it's finally gelling! I got the feeds up on my Google Reader and still need to display them on the sidebar to advertise. I may need to tweak them some more. Changed the look of my blog quite a bit as well and fiddled with Flickr! The Delicious button thing seems resolved. It looks like the "post to delicious" that was on my toolbar did the same thing as the button anyway, so I have it on my Firefox browser both ways.
I think libraries will continue to use this technology, especially with kids, teens, and program/book club announcements. I guess the analogy is that we are now beyond LPs and 8 tracks and even CDs andnow we're well into the Ipod generation of the web. Did anyone every read Marge Piercy's unusual (for her) novel He, She and It? It had to do with the future and something called THE NET, and people had wires directly into their temples to connect....It was before we had Netscape and any of the graphical interfaces we're so accustomed to nowadays. Anyway, this feels like we're on the brink of the future!
So I must admit I enjoyed this week's exercises! Thanks Kathy! Jane
kathykeirstead, 141 - days ago
A little behind in posting to this page. Setting up the RSS feed wasfairly easy. I'm finding it useful personally in getting updates from the colleges my son has applied to. It was neat to know what that little symbol on the schools websites meant! I don't think we would use this application too much in our library, but who know what may evolve? I liked your ideas for a tech night to play with these technologies. It would be nice to have a chance to play around with all these technologies and just get familiar. My sons mean well, but they tend to think I'm so slow when I ask them for help, that they just say "Oh, Mom!", and do things for me, so fast that I can't follow.
Here is the public page to the RSS feeds:
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user/06705176319574050326/label/Learning 2.0
I read both articles and they were good. Actually reading them before completing the exercises helped quite a bit. Using filters makes using RSS and newsreaders much more streamlined - a definite time saver. I also liked the info on how librarians can use RSS to get the word out whether it be upcoming programs or new titles. It's true that we are all not good at marketing, mostly because we don't have enough time in our work day and sometimes the local media does not print our press releases. On a personal level, using RSS makes it so easy to stay in tune with one's favorite past times and interests.
TC
I'm not finding setting up the reader to be easy at all. I'll keep working....
I found the articles very helpful. It just seems like too many accounts for too many services. I am feeling more and more stuck looking at a computer screen, every waking moment of the day. Maybe, I am old fashioned, but I prefer to receive my information from newspapers, magazines, and professional journals. Although, I do acknowledge the convenience and great uses for libraries. Again, at my school this would be hard to accomplish, because the sites keep getting blocked from the Internet administrators.
Kim
This was an interesting week for RSS feeds. I created feeds for book reviews from Amazon and Library Journal and used them for my book order due next week. I limited the feeds to sports books for now but will add more subjects as needed. Looking at all the potential feeds was like being in a candy store but I'm starting slowly. I was relieved to read the tips on controlling RSS feed overload. I can see where that would become essential. I also read the article about providing an RSS feed on our library homepage. I think it would be an excellent idea. Our patrons do not talk RSS feeds to us on a regular basis but I'm realizing that there is more going on out there on the web than I was aware of a few weeks ago. The biggest issue for us would be having the time to prepare information that could be fed out to the community. The Social Software in Libraries program today was excellent and I knew what she was talking about!
I, too, created a feed for book reviews from LJ. I'd like to subscribe to a few more. Today at a staff meeting, I talked about creating a blog so students could communicate with me about research assignments and I was encouraged to continue to stay on top of things. This is new ground and it is exciting. Like Kim, I also like doing hands on research, but I have enjoyed the news video clips I find online.
The younger members of our staff are the ones pushing the social software in our library. They organized a tech night at a local restaurant this Saturday night. Everyone who would like to attend has been asked to bring their gadgets...laptops, blackberries, cell phones, ipods etc. I unfortunately can't go because of a previous commitment...I'm going dancing...but I hope this will be the first of many such evenings. It will be a discussion with no formal agenda. I see this as an easy introduction for other staff members and it will be exciting to see what ideas come out of this fun night.
I'll be interested in what feedback you hear comes from the tech night Linda. I've been tossing a similar idea around in my head and I really wonder how something like that would work out.
My big accomplishment of the week was finally understanding how Feedburner works. I've seen it demonstrated at a bunch of workshops but until I finally did it myself, there's that hands on thing again, I didn't get it. We are hoping to do more podcasting this summer and though we have "podcasts" on our web site they do not have RSS feeds, which is technically what makes a podcast. I've been told Feedburner is good for that sort of thing so it's an area I'm going to be delving into more.
Daisy
Well, I'm going out for a fun evening, too, but I spent hours getting up to speed, and I feel like it's finally gelling! I got the feeds up on my Google Reader and still need to display them on the sidebar to advertise. I may need to tweak them some more. Changed the look of my blog quite a bit as well and fiddled with Flickr! The Delicious button thing seems resolved. It looks like the "post to delicious" that was on my toolbar did the same thing as the button anyway, so I have it on my Firefox browser both ways.
I think libraries will continue to use this technology, especially with kids, teens, and program/book club announcements. I guess the analogy is that we are now beyond LPs and 8 tracks and even CDs andnow we're well into the Ipod generation of the web. Did anyone every read Marge Piercy's unusual (for her) novel He, She and It? It had to do with the future and something called THE NET, and people had wires directly into their temples to connect....It was before we had Netscape and any of the graphical interfaces we're so accustomed to nowadays. Anyway, this feels like we're on the brink of the future!
So I must admit I enjoyed this week's exercises! Thanks Kathy! Jane
A little behind in posting to this page. Setting up the RSS feed wasfairly easy. I'm finding it useful personally in getting updates from the colleges my son has applied to. It was neat to know what that little symbol on the schools websites meant! I don't think we would use this application too much in our library, but who know what may evolve? I liked your ideas for a tech night to play with these technologies. It would be nice to have a chance to play around with all these technologies and just get familiar. My sons mean well, but they tend to think I'm so slow when I ask them for help, that they just say "Oh, Mom!", and do things for me, so fast that I can't follow.