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Staying Current Using Blogs & RSS feeds
Amanda StoneSouth Carolina State
LibraryApril 19, 2007
Blogs A blog is a user-generated website
where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.
Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries.
A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic.
Most blogs are primarily textual although some focus on photographs (photoblog), videos (vlog), art (sketchblog), or audio (podcasting), and are part of a wider network of social media.
(Wikipedia, 3/2007)
What’s in a blog?
Blogs in every flavor
• Websites you already visit, newspapers, local, state, & national organizations, associations, government agencies, libraries, universities, churches, authors, companies, politicians, candidates, professionals in every field, the passionate gardener down the block, the cranky geezer with political views
RSS
• Really Simple Syndication (among other things)
• Type of XML• Link between blogs
and you• Need an RSS reader
RSS (part II)
• RSS in XML form
RSS readers-RSS or news aggregators allow
you to subscribe to RSS feeds and read them in one place.
• Web-based readers– Bloglines, Google Reader,
MyYahoo• Client-side readers
– FeedReader, NetNewsWire• Plug-ins
– Firefox, Safari (Mac), IE7
Advantages of RSS
• All-in-one reading source• Helps keep track of both
frequently –and-infrequently updated sites
• Few spam or ads• Information presented how
*you* want it
Disadvantages of RSS
• Sometimes feeds just have headlines, not full-text
• The information you need may not have an RSS feed yet
• Information overload!
What’s available via RSS?• Blogs• And a whole lot more:
– Table of contents of journals– Search engine results– Newspaper articles (The State)– News, press releases, current
information– Weather, hurricane info, coupons,
package tracking, price watching, recipes, stock updates, calendar of events (cities, associations, theaters, etc), comics, traffic conditions
How to find blogs/RSS content• Things you already read• Blogrolls
Search Engines for RSS feeds• Feedster
http://www.feedster.com• Technorati http://Technorati.com• Google
http://blogsearch.google.com
Government & RSS• USA.gov-RSS Library
– Business, Consumer, Defense, Education, Environment, Community, Health, Safety, Reference, Science
• South Carolina agency RSS feeds– SC.gov– SCPRT– Department of Education– State Library– University & Colleges
Bloglines• Web-based RSS aggregator
How to subscribe
• Button• Firefox
Podcasts/Vodcasts•Podcasts are audio content tied to an RSS feed. Think of them as radio shows straight to your computer. Often sent to iTunes for iPod or other mp3 players
•Vodcasts (Vidcasts) are video content tied to an RSS feed.
Government & Podcasts
• Federal Podcasts– USA.gov-Podcasts from the U.S.
Government – Free Government Info-Government
Podcsts• South Carolina
– Employment Security Commission-Jobcast
– ETV• Other
– NPR, Politicians (Jim DeMint), Candidates (Barack Obama)
References/Resources
• Del.icio.us-http://del.icio.us/astonesc
• Information Trapping: Real-Time Research on the Web (book)
• Handout with links
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