As part of a class exercise, we were asked to find a blog with an RSS feed to subscribe to.
I have used a newsreader for some years now and I have to be honest, I don't particularly like them. I find Feedly on my IPad a little more user friendly than the old fashioned version of the newsreader, but do I visit it often to read the posts? Probably once every few months. Having said that, a feed on my own blog promoting the blogs I'm subscribed to, has me distracted and clicking on posts madly. I think that's why I tend to subscribe to Facebook or Twitter feeds, which I find way more convenient as they are part of what I'm already doing, not something separate. Maybe I need to find a desktop app that runs a feed that's right there in my face whenever I visit my desktop. Any recommendations are welcome :)
I'm distracted, however, as I'm supposed to be critically evaluating a blog of interest.
I love David Lee King's social web | emerging technologies | libraries blog. This guy speaks my language, and by that I mean, he writes in easy to understand language, not bogged down in techno speak, but I feel like he knows and understands the importance of technology in the world of libraries.
David is the Digital Services Director at Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library in Kansas, where it's his job to plan, implement, and experiment with emerging technology trends. And his blog is a fantastic place to explore hints, tips and information about everything from new trends to "how to's" on social media and blogging. I particularly liked the post on the social media skills that library staff need to work in this industry in the digital age, and what I've been learning in my Diploma classes does go a very long way to covering what we need.
Clicking on the categories drop down menu delivers an extensive array of choices to whet any library professional's appetite for technology, and it is written in a completely relevant, fun and useful way that I understand, agree with and take on board. I love his reviews about the book Platform: get noticed in a noisy world by Michael Hyatt. Apparently a blog post should never be about yourself. You mean nobody really cares about me and what I have to say? (now deleting every blog post I've ever created...)
The site does contain advertising, but David is upfront about this covering the costs of his web hosting and some other fun stuff. David also writes books about creating customer friendly social media and digital presences on the Web, which I was hoping I could find on the LINC catalogue, but to no avail. Looks like I'll be visiting Amazon soon :)
King, D. L. 2014. David Lee King - Social web, emerging trends, and libraries. [online] Available at: http://www.davidleeking.com [Accessed: 18 Mar 2014].
Author of this site, David Lee King, is the Digital Services Director at Topeka and Shawee County Public Library in Kansas, USA. David is the author of two books relating to social media and is a regular guest speaker at conferences and events exploring libraries and technology. His blog discusses and explores the gadgets, online opportunities and technologies that are and will be influencing change and providing challenges now and in the future. A very plain English site, which does contain some third party advertising, but this doesn't affect the bias or objectiveness of the content, which is fun, entertaining and very thought provoking.
Posts
Class exercise questions about RSS Feeds:
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned above, I am not a fan of newsreaders, although I can appreciate that they are time saving as they bring together as many RSS feeds as you like and organize them so that you only have to check the posts you want to know more about instead of needing to trawl through each site individually. For a basically lazy computer user such as myself, this is just another step and I prefer to subscribe to Facebook or Twitter feeds (which are just huge RSS feeds themselves) which send me a notification of a worthwhile post. I find newsreaders a little uninspiring in the way they present posts. I am a far more visual person that that, however, Feedly is a little more interesting in this regard and there are an increasing number of new apps being offered that offer different reading interfaces which are more magazine style.
However, this is purely on a personal basis. As a library professional, I can see that RSS feeds could be used in a huge number of ways in a library setting, such as:
Subscribing to RSS Feeds to add links to posts on Facebook or Twitter or organisational website.
A newsreader could be used in a similar way to a database for the purpose of bringing together blog posts relating to subjects that customers or staff can use like a magazine to stay informed.
RSS feeds can be used to advertise and promote programs, events, collections, newsletters etc.
RSS feeds could be used for networking purposes, keeping libraries in touch with the happenings in each other's services.
Feeds could also be set up to let customers / subscribers know that new titles have been added to the catalogue.
Positions vacant - paid and volunteer - could also be advertised this way.
Promotional opportunities are unlimited using this technology.
RSS feeds are definitely an effective means of staying up to date with websites and blogs that you like, but you may need to experiment with newsreaders to find an interface that suits.
very interesting and insightful post, Thanks Kim. I have also added a link on the RSS category for a site that discusses 10 different ways a library may use RSS.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking blog, Kim
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