Thing 4: RSS and Newsreaders

I love my bloglines account!!! I've currently got 44 feeds and it's a wonderfully easy way for me to stay current on all the things I would previously have gotten from a listserv.

I've primarily been using it for blog feeds but last week I added the St. Johns County Public Library feed for their website. This is cool because now I know if they update their website (they're using Drupal and it's really nice).

• What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
• that I don't have to go out and check everything. It all comes to me. That I can read them from wherever I am, not just on the computer where they are bookmarked. (One of the reasons I love delicious.com)
  


• How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your library or personal life?
• I think for the State Library I could envision their being an RSS feed for the blog I hope to create soon and if they update the website using drupal, perhaps people could also subscribe to get updates for the sites of use to them.
  


• What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
• I tend to read the news I want to read so didn't find this useful for me.
  


• Find any great sources we should all add to our feed reader?
• I think the blogs I read are pretty standard ones that most folks are reading. I like iLibrarian. I think I have a new favorite everyweek. I'm really fond of the ones my friends with kids write - it lets me watch them grow up even though we aren't anywhere near each other.
  

Thing 3: Blog Search Tools

I'm not sure about this one. I tried several of the search engines and just can't figure how I would use them in my normal life. I see how they work and it's good to know about them and the differences in features but hmmmm.....

Why would I want to search for a blog post? Maybe this is because I'm reading a billion blogs already (so that might be a slight exaggeration). I did try the google blog search and the bloglines search. I searched for apron collecting and came up with mostly junk in both of them. Probably not a really hot topic ;-)

I did however find the Apron Goddesses blog. As an avid apron collector I think I might actually add this to my bloglines so I can follow regularly. And she stumbled upon the Apron Book which I own (and was fortunate to meet the author of).

I'm being pretty excited I'm still caught up (though we're only on Thing 3). We'll see what happens after the first of February. Off to go read some other folks posts to see what I missed since I couldn't get my head into this.

Thing 1 - Set up a Blog

I did it!!! I like it when things work. I wish I was eligible to win a prize but I think the real prize is going to be what I learn from going through this process. I'll be a bit ahead of everyone else (since I get to write the Things) but I think reading the posts is going to be eye-opening.

1/15 - thought I would add a link to Chris Brogan's 27 Blogging Secrets to Power Your Community. Great ideas for folks looking to increase their readership.