Thing #7: Finding Feeds
Add five more feeds to my reader? I already feel like I spend too much time reading the feeds I have! (Okay, I'll confess--I just scan the titles and headlines and read only those that interest me. I'd never get any work done if I actually read everything.)
Okay, let's start with Technorati, which I've never used before. I was all fired up to search "libraries" but I decided I already have several general library sites, so I searched "grammar and punctuation" in the hopes of finding an educational blog that will help me improve the quality of my writing.
The first thing I note is that Technorati is slow, and it locked up my browser. Maybe it's just the connection I have today, or maybe their server is bogged down, but if it's this bad on the library's super-speedy internet connection, I'll definitely pass on using this with dial-up at home. Part of the problem might be the "Snap" previews, which kill everything else when they fail. After restarting the browser, Technorati worked much better, though, so perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on it.
Okay, back to "grammar and punctuation." The first blog to come up is CuteWriting. I read a couple of the recent articles. Seems informative, so I'll add it.
Also up is Language is the Peoples. Their most recent article is about the addition of "meh" to the dictionary, which I had been pretty excited about myself. (Well, as excited as anyone can be about an expression of pure indifference.) So I'm adding them, too.
I also found Punctuality Rules, which had a recent article explaining the "nth cousin" and "so-and-so nth removed" family relationships, which have always baffled me. It's not grammar, but it is useful, so I've got my third new feed.
So, I'm done with grammar and punctuation for now, but not with Technorati. Now instead of searching a term, I'll browse through their directory. Under Technology, Web 2.0, I found 2 Cents Worth (actually, it uses the symbol for "cents," but I don't know how to type that). They're talking about technology applications for 21 century classrooms. Since I work at a university, I'll add it for now and see if I find it useful.
I figure, just because I'm adding these feeds now doesn't mean I'll have to keep them if they're not informative or useful on an ongoing basis. If after a week or so I find I'm just not interested in the articles from a particular feed, I can ditch it.
On to Syndic8. Under "feeds" they offer a list of site names and information about when they were created, last updated, etc., but not anything about the content/purpose of the sites. Backing out of that essentially useless list, I searched for "cataloging." I found Catalogablog, which I've heard of before and looked at in the past, but totally forgot about. I'm adding the feed so I don't forget it again.
And now, on to Topix. Something cool here--my first visit to the site, and without my having to input a zip code or anything, it recognizes that I'm in Omaha, Nebraska. I presume it is doing this based on IP address or some such. I wish more sites did that. In fact, this is one of the topics discussed in David S. Platt's Why Software Sucks, which I recommend to anyone who gets frustrated with user-unfriendly software and websites.
So I'm already impressed with Topix. Glancing at their news and newswire, I see a lot of articles about things that I don't hear about on the Omaha World-Herald's metro/regional news. So I snapped that up. In fact, looking around other parts of Topix, I like the presentation for non-local news, as well. Yahoo news recently became essentially unusable with dial-up and an old browser, so I've been looking for a new news source. I'll have to try this one at home to see if it works as smoothly as it does on the library's computer.
Okay, now I've added six new feeds to my Bloglines account. That's enough for now.
P.S. -- The most useful (note: not "most interesting" or "most informative" but "most useful" in the sense that I consider them absolutely essential for my day-to-day work) feed I already had before this exercise is Typo of the Day for Librarians. No cataloger should pass this by. If you want to improve the searchability of the items in your catalog, search and destroy those typos! And this is a handy way to do that just a tiny bit each day without taking too much time out of your schedule.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thing #6
Thing #6: Make life "really simple" with RSS & a newsreader.
Ah, here's another thing I already did on my own. Quite a long time ago, unrelated to work (obviously), I set up a Bloglines account to track (don't laugh) all of my favorite online comics. In fact, I'm now kind of offended when I come across a blog or a comic that don't offer an RSS feed. Checking them manually is such a bore!
One thing I've noticed, though, is that feeds are not always reliable. It's not uncommon for me to get an update, and from the content it is completely obvious that I've missed something. Sure enough, when I go to the site to check, I discover that I've missed out on sometimes as many as five updates. With equal frequency, I'll see one of my entries bolded to indicate a new update, only to find it's the exact same update I read the day before, like the feed is going out twice. And these don't happen to just one or two sites--one or both of these events have happened to more than half of my subscriptions at some point, not always infrequently.
Since Bloglines is one of the big players in the game, the problem most probably lies not with them but with the feeds set up by the individual sites. It's unfortunate, but it goes to show that if you're going to set up an RSS feed, you need to test it with several readers and several browsers, to make sure it works widely.
Even with the reliability problems I've encountered, RSS is absolutely invaluable. I would never want go back to checking all those sites manually. RSS is really the way to go.
The value of RSS for libraries is twofold. Internally, librarians and staff could use readers to keep up with various work related blogs. OCLC offers a lot of RSS feeds that you could subscribe to, and I'm sure you can find many other blogs or services that will feed you information to help you do your job better. Externally, libraries can provide RSS feeds to their users. If you don't already do this, look into offering a feed showcasing your new books and DVDs, or at least provide a feed with news about upcoming events and new services. Not everyone will visit your website every day, but a lot of people will toss your feed into their reader, and they'll find out about the cool stuff you're offering.
Oh, and a word of advice to those publishing feeds. Many of the feeds I subscribe to actually show me the content in the reader, but quite a few of them only tell me there's been an update and offer a link back to their site. This is annoying! If you push out a feed, put actual content in the feed!
Oh, again! One thing I had never done before was import an OMPL file to my reader, so I did grab the NLCrecommended.ompl. Looks like exporting an OMPL file is just as easy, too. Good to know, if I ever decide to switch readers. Thanks! I learned something new and useful.
Ah, here's another thing I already did on my own. Quite a long time ago, unrelated to work (obviously), I set up a Bloglines account to track (don't laugh) all of my favorite online comics. In fact, I'm now kind of offended when I come across a blog or a comic that don't offer an RSS feed. Checking them manually is such a bore!
One thing I've noticed, though, is that feeds are not always reliable. It's not uncommon for me to get an update, and from the content it is completely obvious that I've missed something. Sure enough, when I go to the site to check, I discover that I've missed out on sometimes as many as five updates. With equal frequency, I'll see one of my entries bolded to indicate a new update, only to find it's the exact same update I read the day before, like the feed is going out twice. And these don't happen to just one or two sites--one or both of these events have happened to more than half of my subscriptions at some point, not always infrequently.
Since Bloglines is one of the big players in the game, the problem most probably lies not with them but with the feeds set up by the individual sites. It's unfortunate, but it goes to show that if you're going to set up an RSS feed, you need to test it with several readers and several browsers, to make sure it works widely.
Even with the reliability problems I've encountered, RSS is absolutely invaluable. I would never want go back to checking all those sites manually. RSS is really the way to go.
The value of RSS for libraries is twofold. Internally, librarians and staff could use readers to keep up with various work related blogs. OCLC offers a lot of RSS feeds that you could subscribe to, and I'm sure you can find many other blogs or services that will feed you information to help you do your job better. Externally, libraries can provide RSS feeds to their users. If you don't already do this, look into offering a feed showcasing your new books and DVDs, or at least provide a feed with news about upcoming events and new services. Not everyone will visit your website every day, but a lot of people will toss your feed into their reader, and they'll find out about the cool stuff you're offering.
Oh, and a word of advice to those publishing feeds. Many of the feeds I subscribe to actually show me the content in the reader, but quite a few of them only tell me there's been an update and offer a link back to their site. This is annoying! If you push out a feed, put actual content in the feed!
Oh, again! One thing I had never done before was import an OMPL file to my reader, so I did grab the NLCrecommended.ompl. Looks like exporting an OMPL file is just as easy, too. Good to know, if I ever decide to switch readers. Thanks! I learned something new and useful.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Thing #5
Thing #5: Instant Messaging
Well, this one was easy too! We've already had instant messaging at work for quite a while. I've used my Google Talk account to visit with coworkers on occasion, and to resolve problems. It's a pretty handy tool. Of course, the hard part is remembering to change my status when I leave my desk.
Anyway, if you can catch me during the work day (if I remember to log in), my Google Talk username is: crisslibraryakroeger
For some reason, I don't seem to be able to log into my Google Talk account through Meebo. It tells me there's a problem with my login and password, although I'm using the same login have for my Google Talk. For that matter, I can't log into Google Talk via the web, either. It tells me it can't find any usernames associated with my e-mail address. However, I can log into Google Talk via the application on my hard drive, with the same username that Google Accounts can't find, and it works fine. I just used it to chat with Allana at the Nebraska Library Commission, so obviously my username exists and it works. I couldn't find a satisfactory explanation in the Google Help files. Anyone have any ideas?
For now, I'll keep using Google Talk from the app, since that still works. But someday I'll get a new computer here at work, and then I'll have to come up with a new solution.
Well, this one was easy too! We've already had instant messaging at work for quite a while. I've used my Google Talk account to visit with coworkers on occasion, and to resolve problems. It's a pretty handy tool. Of course, the hard part is remembering to change my status when I leave my desk.
Anyway, if you can catch me during the work day (if I remember to log in), my Google Talk username is: crisslibraryakroeger
For some reason, I don't seem to be able to log into my Google Talk account through Meebo. It tells me there's a problem with my login and password, although I'm using the same login have for my Google Talk. For that matter, I can't log into Google Talk via the web, either. It tells me it can't find any usernames associated with my e-mail address. However, I can log into Google Talk via the application on my hard drive, with the same username that Google Accounts can't find, and it works fine. I just used it to chat with Allana at the Nebraska Library Commission, so obviously my username exists and it works. I couldn't find a satisfactory explanation in the Google Help files. Anyone have any ideas?
For now, I'll keep using Google Talk from the app, since that still works. But someday I'll get a new computer here at work, and then I'll have to come up with a new solution.
Thing #4
Okay, time for Thing #4: Register your blog and join the party. Easy and done.
I did fill out my learning contract (part of Thing #2). My goal is simply to complete every one of the 23 Things by January 30, 2009. Some of them are things I've already done on my own, like blogging. Others, however, are things I've been actively avoiding, like YouTube , Flickr, and podcasts. Why have I been avoiding these things? Well, two reasons. One, at work, I don't generally have time to play with things that aren't directly related to my job. At home, I have a dial-up connection, so I avoid anything that takes a long time to load. So now is my opportunity to explore these things. I have the support and encouragement of my supervisor and my departmental director to participate in 23 Things. So the barrier is down, and I'll have a chance to explore and use these things. Who knows, I may come up with ways to make them useful to my job. At the very least, though, I'll know more about them if I have to help someone else use them.
The learning contract looks like a useful tool. I may modify it for use with other projects.
I did fill out my learning contract (part of Thing #2). My goal is simply to complete every one of the 23 Things by January 30, 2009. Some of them are things I've already done on my own, like blogging. Others, however, are things I've been actively avoiding, like YouTube , Flickr, and podcasts. Why have I been avoiding these things? Well, two reasons. One, at work, I don't generally have time to play with things that aren't directly related to my job. At home, I have a dial-up connection, so I avoid anything that takes a long time to load. So now is my opportunity to explore these things. I have the support and encouragement of my supervisor and my departmental director to participate in 23 Things. So the barrier is down, and I'll have a chance to explore and use these things. Who knows, I may come up with ways to make them useful to my job. At the very least, though, I'll know more about them if I have to help someone else use them.
The learning contract looks like a useful tool. I may modify it for use with other projects.
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