Blogs and RSS in 2009

BLOGS AND RSS IN 2009

How to tailor your information needs

WHAT IS A BLOG?

Blog is short for “weblog”

It is a free online tool

It is an online journal

It is great for social

networking

It is a website

You do the writing and publishing

It is NOT a good place for your personal

diary

Nor for “stream of

consciousness” writing

WHY BLOG?

It is a perfect place to

create your profile

Join the conversation

Market yourself

Chronicle a project

Express your ideas

Express your creativity

Share stuff

For education and

professional development

For fun

WHAT IS RSS?

RSS is the vehicle for

delivering blog posts

Really Simple Syndication

See online definitions – try Wikipedia

http://www.wikipedia.org/

No need to visit individual blogs and websites

Blog updates sent directly to

you

Web surfing made easy

Absolute control of filtering to suit you

WHY RSS?

RSS is the vehicle for delivering blog posts

This is the key to tailoring your

information


You read and listen


You learn


You become more aware


You develop professionally

You tune in to the

conversation


It is easy and efficient

WALK BEFORE YOU RUN


Don’t dive straight into

creating your own

blog


Learn about the power of

RSS first


Set up an account with a free RSS

reader


It looks like email but it’s very different


Blogs are updated and

delivered directly to

you


No need to search or visit blog

sites

THINGS TO LEARN


Social – how to

converse


Etiquette – what is

acceptable


Technical – how to drive

the blog tools


Technology – keep up to date with

latest development

s


Literary – improve your own

writing skills


Originality – use your

own ideas, text, and images


Hear what the world is saying


Set it up using

Google Reader or Bloglines

or others

http://www.google.com/reader/


http://www.bloglines.com/

WHAT INTERESTS YOU?

Art

Art

Art

Art

ArtLiterature

Technology

Art

Social networking

Other cultures

Web design

News and current affairs

Gardening

Travel

READ REGULARLY

Regularly open your reader

Art

Art

Art

Star items for later reference

Visit blog sites occasionally

Follow links

Skim – no need to

read everything

Read in depth if it interests

you

Mark items as

read

FIND YOUR VOICE

Join the conversatio

n

What do you want to

say?Find a focus

for your blog

Use images to illustrate

Use images to illustrate

Wordpress is a great tool for blogs

Get consent to

use the work of others

Be original in every

way

http://www.wordpress.com/

BE ORIGINAL

Don’t steal

from others

especia

lly

images!!

Obey copyright

Get permission to use the work of others and cite itCredibility grows

because originality is obvious

It’s fun to be creative

How to set up a blog reader

Follow the steps in the next slides to set up your own blog reader with

Google Reader



Create an account with Google – if you

already have a Gmail account then just

sign in using those details

Familiarise yourself with the layout and

navigation

Visit your favourite websites to see if they offer an RSS

feed

Find the RSS URL or link and copy it.

Notice that it is NOT the same as the URL

of the website

Paste the RSS URL into the Add

subscription box in the Reader

The RSS feed is automatically added to your list of feeds

and you will automatically receive

updates

Manage the feeds using the functions

offered

Use Google Blogsearch to find blogs in your area of interest then

add them to your Google Reader

This presentation created by Susan Bentley©2009

http://suesbent.wordpress.com/http://frenchaccent.wordpress.com/

Permission granted to use this presentation freely but please cite the creator Susan Bentley – thank you and good luck

http://suesbent.wordpress.com/

http://frenchaccent.wordpress.com/

Education

Blogs and RSS in 2009