So, while scouring the web for new tools that I might add to my librarian toolkit for the future, I came across LibWorm. It is a search engine that allows you to search among approximately 1,400 RSS feeds related to librarianship. This is very useful for professional development and remaining up-to-speed on news and happenings in the profession.
Throughout this semester I have encountered many different types of Web technology, through the 23 Things on a Stick program I've been co-developing at the USF Library (see About Me section) and for this class. It's astounding how many options Web 2.0 tools present to libraries when it comes to offering services, marketing, and much more. Blogs, wikis, social networking applications, podcasts, video...it's endless! All of these tools can benefit libraries and librarians in so many different ways.
Here is the first tool I decided to look into more, regarding the applications in the library profession.
Social Networking: Social networking sites such as Facebook can be used in several different ways in libraries. Librarians can create their own page on Facebook and use it to reach out to their patrons. The page can be structured in such a way that it is there for people to ask questions, perhaps look at the librarian's list of recommended books, find helpful links, and more. Or a library can have a Facebook page to reach younger patrons in an environment they spend a lot of time in. The page can have a link to the library's website, have basic information about the library's location, hours, services, helpful links, videos, and more.
Here are some examples of the application of social networking in libraries:
This week I decided to take a closer look at RSS Feeds, different methods of subscribing to them, and how they might be used for Information Literacy Instruction.
First, what is RSS? On the web site What is RSS? RSS Explained , they define RSS as "RSS (Rich Site Summary) is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it". As is also explained on this web site, RSS is extremely useful to those who want to stay informed on a particular topic. There are RSS feeds for a multitude of things. There are news aggregators, feeds for library science topics, for particular web sites, and much more. The following link has a list of the "Top 9 RSS Feed Readers and News Aggregators": http://email.about.com/od/rssreaderswin/tp/top_rss_windows.htm
Feed readers allow an individual to subscribe to RSS feeds and read them. These can be desktop-based, web-based, or mobile device-based. I have included instructions at the bottom of this post for subscribing to RSS Feeds using Microsoft Outlook.
Application for Information Literacy Instruction
As I mentioned before, there is a wide variety of RSS feeds out there. For instance, there are many blogs (web logs) out there that allow you to subscribe to updates via an RSS feed. These are applicable to both librarians engaged in instruction and can be recommended to students. For librarians, there are endless options when it comes to RSS feeds. For example, here is the link for the ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries) blog. The blogs includes an information literacy category that contains relevant and useful posts about information literacy that can be subscribed to using RSS.
A useful application of RSS feeds for students would be finding blogs/feeds that offer research help, cover a particular subject specialty, and more. Our science librarian at the USF Tampa Library, Megan Sheffield, offers a blog called the "SciBrarian" that can be subscribed to using RSS. Her blog offers tech tips for students, AAA style guide information, information about library resources, invites feedback, and more. There are a number of librarian blogs out there that that can be extremely useful for students. Librarians, especially those engaged in instruction, should always be sure that students know about these resources and understand how to access them. In this case, RSS is a great way of keeping informed regardless of whether you're a librarian or patron.
Subscribing to RSS using Microsoft Outlook
Here are some simple instructions I have put together for subscribing to RSS using MS Outlook. An online overview tutorial of RSS from W3schools.com can be accessed via the following link: http://www.w3schools.com/rss/default.asp
Subscribing to RSS Using MS Outlook
I will be explaining how RSS feeds can be subscribed to using Microsoft Outlook 2007. As you can see below, listed under "Mail Folders" on the left side of the Outlook screen is a folder labeled "RSS Feeds". You may already have a couple of default Microsoft RSS feeds listed here. You can either keep, move, or delete these depending on your preference. As you can see from the screen shot below, I have folders for personal as well as work-related RSS feeds. The blue numbers in parentheses next to each feed folder shows the number of unread listings I have for each feed.
(Click on the image to view a larger version.)
There are a couple of ways to subscribe to an RSS feed using Outlook. Before you do anything, it helps to have Outlook already open and running on your computer. The Microsoft Office web site also has an information page about how to subscribe to RSS using Outlook. Simply click on the main RSS Feed folder under your mail folder list. Here you will find a brief introduction on getting started. Click on the hyperlink called "Subsribe to an RSS Feed" to be directed to support page.
If you are adventurous and would like to attempt to subscribe to a feed without reading through all of the material I just mentioned, here are some brief instructions. First, simply click on the RSS icon (see orange icon at the top of this post) for whatever web site or item you wish to receive updates for. This will lead you to a screen that may look similar to the one below. (I apologize for the low-quality image!)
(Click on the image to view a larger version.)
Once you click on the RSS icon, you have the option to choose how you would like to subscribe to the feed. There should be a drop-down menu that allows you to choose from applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Live Bookmarks, Google, etc. If you have downloaded a particular application, you can select "Choose Application.." from the list. However, as I mentioned before, we are choosing Outlook as our application. Once you make your selection, Outlook will prompt you to accept the feed. By clicking on "Advanced" on the dialog box that appears, you can select what folder you would like the feed subscription to appear under. In addition, by right-clicking on the RSS Feeds folder in Outlook, you can add new folders and arrange them in whatever type of hierarchy you wish. For example, the first screen shot above shows two feeds filed under the "Work" folder that falls within my RSS Feeds folder. For detailed information and instructions about these features, you can refer to the Microsoft Office web site I mentioned above.
