#8 & #9 RSS Feeds

Hi,

# 8 I've spent parts of the last several days exploring RSS feeds. I began by reading several of the suggested articles (though I couldn't get one of them to work) and then set up a Google Reader account. After trying several feeds I discovered very quickly that I really didn't want some of them, so quickly unsubscribed. I found Reader to be very easy to use, with the keyboard shortcuts easily visible on your left. I especially like the ease with which you can mark a group of articles from one feed as read or, if necessary, pull them up again to reread something you misssed. I also liked the star feature, where you can add a star to something you want to save. After a couple of days of using Google Reader I then tried Bloglines. It didn't seem so easy to use, but maybe that was because I'd already gotten used to Reader. I did like the way you can see at a glance how many subscribers there are for a feed and how you can click on a title and start reading the whole article/blog, rather than finding the little arrows in the gray circle on the far right and clicking on them. I didn't like the way you have to have look at all the aticles in all your feeds or you'll lose them if you click on "read all". Or the way I had to do a search when I'd accidentally marked articles as read that I hadn't had a chance to look at first. I also didn't like having the keyboard shortcuts listed at the end of the feed, or the extra steps to save an item in clippings.

I can see how using feeds would help me to keep up on breaking news, as well as what's new in the field. But I can also see that it eats up time without my even realizing it. I will need to be very selective about the feeds I use and/or very conscious about how much time I spend on them. I seem to remember Alice Yucht mentioning a timer??

At this point, I can see trying out some of the ideas mentioned in blogs in our elementary school library, but will enjoy reading others' comments as to how I might use this technology in other ways.

I believe the last point was to share my public URL. It is:
http://www.bloglines.com./myblogs/public/Sherry

#9 I would have to say that for me the easiest way to find feeds was looking on some favorite sites for the RSS icons and then clicking. It was easy to do and I already knew that I liked those writers. SLJ has some great ones.
I tried all the different feed searches suggested.
Google Blog search-easy
Feedster-slow
Syndic8.com-confusing
Blog Pulse-not much use right now and a time waster for me
Technorati-interesting (I'd seen the symbol and heard a lot about it so it was fun to play with it.)

Some of my library favorites include:
LISZEN, a library and information services blog search engine where I found Christopher Harris's blog
Alice in Infoland, Alice Yucht's blog
Neverending Search, one of Joyce Valenza's blogs
Hey Jude, Judy O'Connell's blog
Unshelved, especially last week's takeoffs on the the PC vs. MAC commercials

There were some interesting ideas, such as using XTimeline in the library/classroom (Joyce valenza), and checking out the Video toolbox (Judy O'Connell). Alice Yucht's blog about cleaning out home clutter really hit home, too.
The discussions on the OPAC transparency and possible challenges by non-community members and the usefulness of OPACs as they are now were thought-provoking.