For this blog entry, I wanted to explore RSS feeds and feed readers. I admit I haven’t used them much. I remember I had to set us a feed reader for LIBR 203 semesters ago, but I think I neglected them ever since. So I wanted to change that, start using them and see how that worked out.
I stumbled upon this site( http://www.replacereader.com/) that is very interesting and helpful, especially now in this time when many people are changing readers, since Google Reader is no more. One reason this site is neat is that it is a social based list of the best Reader replacements. Users can send in votes for their favorite reader by tweeting in their votes. Also, it is a pretty long list of a lot of Reader alternatives that shows a little blurb about the service, a link to it to sign up, and the number of votes each has.
I looked over the list and decided to try out a couple. The first one I decided to try was Feedly, since it is in first place, based on users tweet votes. Since it had so many votes, I wanted to see what it was all about. I liked that to sign up, I was given the option to use my Google account. Nice! Especially for those switching from Google Reader. Once logged in, you can search for a URL, a title or a topic very easily, and simply by clicking a plus sign next to what you want, you can add something to your Feedly. It is very easy. Within minute, I had built my feed, including things like News sites, blogs, websites I am interested in, even musicians I want to follow. Once you have things in your feed, you click “My Feedly” and you can see, all organized in one place very cleanly, little blurbs from all the different sites you added to your feed.
The second one I chose is one that was further down the list, called “Pulse”. The blurb describes it as “a fast and beautiful way to read your blogs, magazines, social networks and newspapers”. Pulse works in the same general way as most other feed readers such as Feedly. You can add content by browsing by topic, searching for a subject or keyword and by putting in a URL.
You can see your selected topics on the left toolbar, and can filter your results by topic just by clicking on it. One thing that really stands out about this reader is the visual format. I personally really like that. It is designed in a more visual way, with images and colored text boxes laid across the screen. It reminds me a lot of Windows 8, actually. Plus, it is less “boring” looking that some other feed readers. You can also get it as a neat looking app on your smartphone.
Besides the look, both feed readers I tried seem to function very similarly.
As far as ease of use, I’d say RSS feeds and feed readers are very easy to use. Feedly and Pulse were very intuitive and user friendly. It was easy to see on both readers I tried, where to go to add content, how to filter your results, etc. Instead of having to check each of a wide variety of websites to get updates and new information, you can see all that in one convenient place, and you can click on items to link to the full original page. While surfing the net, if you see the Feed Reader icons on a page, you can click them to initiate a process to add the feed to your reader. You can also copy the address of the coded web page and paste that into your reader. This process has become much easier over the past couple years especially once RSS icons were added to many pages.
I think it can be very helpful for internet users to use feed readers. It allows them to go to just one single webpage instead of multiple ones. It gathers all new posts from your favorite chosen sites, so you don’t have to look all over the web for the information you want. It is collected for you and presented to you in your Reader of choice. It is a much faster way to “read the web”, as said in the Common Craft video “RSS in plain English” and it can be very useful to users interested in saving time and getting all the information they are looking for in one place. That is convenient and convenience is a big seller with people.
One issue I observe with using Feed Readers is that they can end up overwhelming you just as much as the web does outside of your reader. There can be so much information and links to click on, and you can easily spend hours going through it. It sort of makes reading online more like a magazine, and it makes finding all the information I want, not only easier, but a bit more fun.
I do not yet know of something better that has a similar function. There seems to be so many options to choose from when choosing a Feed Reader, you can really choose any reader you like and customize it to your personal preferences so the possibilities are pretty great.
I think RSS feeds can fit into libraries in many ways. One example: the library where I work has RSS feed links built into their OPAC. Patrons can subscribe to the RSS feed of “New Arrivals” (or other lists) and hear about new books and other media right in your feed reader. Our library also has a blog that serves as our newsletter. We post news, information about displays, reading lists and other things. Users can subscribe to our Newsletter/Blog’s feed and receive information about all our new posts right where they want it.
I think one of the examples we saw in one of the week 3 class lectures/recordings was a particularly good example of how libraries can use RSS feeds. The Library of Congress has a page titled “RSS feeds and email subscriptions”. There, users can scroll down a long list of topics and feeds, such as “events”, “copyright”, “Science”, “Poetry & Literature” and more and can subscribe either to the RSS feed or to an email subscription. This is a great way for library followers to get updates and news about the library, and specific topics. More so, the users get that information where they want them, in one reader, instead of having to navigate over many different webpages. This is especially good because some users many not navigate to those sites on their own. Subscribing to the feed sends them the information even if they don’t visit the sight. This can help keep libraries visible and relevant to people.
I think it is good for libraries to offer convenient ways to connect to our users and even potential users. Anyway we can connect with people, and connect people to library resources is good, since that is one of the main principles of librarianship. Rss feeds are allowing users to connect with libraries in a way that is convenient for them. Building connections with people, especially through technologies that they are using, is a great thing!
