Have you discovered MERLIN, our very own site just for Maryland library staff to learn about technology? Check it out. We have Calendars with statewide learning opportunities, Virtual Meeting setups, Forum and Group discussion areas, and Learning Links which has lots of additional Web 2.0 stuff. For example, check out the Social Networking learning link. Also, check out the Gaming, Avatars and Virtual Worlds link to have some fun. (Have you heard of Second Life? How about Site Pal? Geocaching?) Notice that the MERLIN site has an RSS feed.Other useful sites - Listen to this podcast -
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Now that you have a newsreader (your Bloglines account), you can begin adding other newsfeeds that interest you. There are several ways you can locate newsfeeds:
When visiting your favorite websites -- look for news feed icons that indicate the website provides it. Often a feed icon will be diplayed somewhere in the navigation of the site.
Use Blogline's Search tool - Bloglines recently expanded search tool lets you search for news feeds in addition to posts, citations and the web. Use the Search for Feeds option to locate RSS feeds you might be interested in. (For example, search on "Merlin Maryland libraries" to find the MERLIN site.
Other Search tools that can help you find feeds:
Feedster - One of the largest collections of RSS feeds, Feedster lets you search for feeds in three categories: news, blogs & podcasts
Topix.net - This search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed items based upon keyword or phrase searching. The tool focuses specifically on news and media outlets RSS feeds for information, not weblogs
Syndic8.com - Syndic8 is an open directory of RSS feeds that contains thousands of RSS feeds that users have submitted.
Technorati - Technorati is a popular blog finding tool that lets you search for blogs. Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging tools, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic specific blogs you may be interested in.
Additonal Resource: Technorati Tutorial on finding and adding your blog.
Discovery Exercise:
- Explore some of the search tools noted above that can help you locate some news feeds.
- Find the feed for our MERLIN site and subscribe so that you get the latest news. (Hint: It is located on the Home page)
- Create a blog post about your experience. Don't know what to blog about? Here some questions to think about ...Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? Which Search tool was the easiest for you? Which was more confusing? What kind of unuseful feeds did you find in your travels? Or what kind of unusual ones did you find? What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?
