I can't say that I was overwhelmingly impressed with any of the feed finding tools listed. Google Blog Search was probably the best, but its search function worked better for finding terms within individual blog posts than for finding blogs with a specific overall theme. Still, with carefully chosen search terms and a little sifting through search results, it's possible to find some worthwhile blogs.
I found the interfaces of the other tools cluttered and non-intuitive, though Topix.net should do nicely if general news blogs are what you're looking for.
There's no shortage of feeds out there to be found through conventional Web sites, though, if you keep an eye out for the usual feed icons while you're visiting sites of interest to you.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Nebraska Learns 2.0: RSS feeds
I added subscriptions to the "Music Ma'am", "TheCorey's Thoughts", and "Julie and Gertie OH NO!" blogs, and to feeds from the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World Herald. I already had a Bloglines account, so that part was already done (though I find I prefer Google Reader - the interface seems cleaner and more intuitive to me; I've also used Yahoo's RSS aggregator, but didn't find it as reliable as I would have liked). I use Google Reader to keep track of various blogs and podcasts. It's easy to add so many feeds that you can't keep track of them all, though! (The ability to group them into categories does help.)
Our library has RSS feeds for our blogs and podcasts, and some other things that are not obviously blogs such as our Programs and Events page.
Our library has RSS feeds for our blogs and podcasts, and some other things that are not obviously blogs such as our Programs and Events page.
About the Title
Perhaps a brief word about the title of this blog is in order, lest it be misunderstood: it's just a tongue-in-cheek allusion to the fact that for a good portion of my library career, my workplace has ended up being in the basement of the building.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Instant Messaging
Just got done with a brief IM conversation with Susan at NLC - making my completion of Thing #5 official. IM is nothing new to me; it's something I've done off and on over the years. But it's not something I do regularly for personal use. Usually at home I'm only at the computer if I have something specific I want to get done, and then I don't usually want to be interrupted by an IM.
I did the setup of Lincoln City Libraries' Meebo Widget (though I'm not one of the staff who does the day-to-day hands-on use of it). One thing about Meebo Widgets that Allana didn't mention in her post is that you can put them on multiple pages for the same Meebo account. So besides the one on the page linked above, we also have one on the front page of our site, scaled to fit the space available. (You'll probably have to scroll down a bit to find it; the exact placement of it varies depending on how much stuff is going on at the library at the time). Our original intention was to also have it show up on some of our OPAC pages as per David Lee King's suggestion. It turned out that this worked fine for off-site users, but it didn't work for our in-library patrons because the Widget didn't like the proxy server that our OPAC computers are behind.
I did the setup of Lincoln City Libraries' Meebo Widget (though I'm not one of the staff who does the day-to-day hands-on use of it). One thing about Meebo Widgets that Allana didn't mention in her post is that you can put them on multiple pages for the same Meebo account. So besides the one on the page linked above, we also have one on the front page of our site, scaled to fit the space available. (You'll probably have to scroll down a bit to find it; the exact placement of it varies depending on how much stuff is going on at the library at the time). Our original intention was to also have it show up on some of our OPAC pages as per David Lee King's suggestion. It turned out that this worked fine for off-site users, but it didn't work for our in-library patrons because the Widget didn't like the proxy server that our OPAC computers are behind.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
About Blogging
This is not my first blog, so I know from my own experience (as well as from observing others' blogs) that the hardest part about blogging is keeping it up on a regular basis. If you look at my profile, you'll see a link to another blog there, one that I've neglected (at this point) for about six months.
A blog such as this, however, which is kept up for a particular purpose (rather than just being a place to post things that no one else could possibly be interested in reading) , should be easier to maintain - at least for the duration of the Nebraska Learns 2.0 program.
A blog such as this, however, which is kept up for a particular purpose (rather than just being a place to post things that no one else could possibly be interested in reading) , should be easier to maintain - at least for the duration of the Nebraska Learns 2.0 program.
About Lifelong Learning
The concept of lifelong learning is an easy one for me. It was something I saw modeled while growing up, as my parents were constantly trying out new things and developing new interests. That being the case, accepting responsibility for my own learning is the easiest of the habits for me.
I ended up deciding that the hardest habit had to be a tie between number 1 and number 7.5. Number 1 ("Begin with the end in mind") because I sometimes have a hard time selecting a particular goal to focus on, and number 7.5 ("Play") because it so often falls victim to the "tyranny of the urgent." Both of these difficulties are things I will probably always have to make conscious efforts to overcome.
I ended up deciding that the hardest habit had to be a tie between number 1 and number 7.5. Number 1 ("Begin with the end in mind") because I sometimes have a hard time selecting a particular goal to focus on, and number 7.5 ("Play") because it so often falls victim to the "tyranny of the urgent." Both of these difficulties are things I will probably always have to make conscious efforts to overcome.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)