Tag Archives: Google Reader

I Still Haven’t Switched My RSS Reader

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I’ve been following the news for months about the Google Reader shutdown…and Digg has being counting down the days. I suppose I have been in the mindset of “ignore it and it will go away.” Unfortunately not. Google Reader meets all my needs and I’m reluctant to change. Google Reader being shutdown in the first place is incomprehensible to me. I saw this post from MIT Technology Review about the usefulness of Google Reader in countering censorship in Iran. The service will leave somewhat of a vacuum and have consequences we may have not yet realized. I’m not sure the promotion of of social and moving users to Google+ will see significant dividends long-term and it certainly has not engendered good will towards the company. Personally, Google’s moves that past few years have been very off-putting.

I have also been waiting…and waiting…for the Digg replacement, which is now in beta. One of my issues with the switch is that I’m an organizing fiend. I have many folders and tags and hundreds of subscriptions. I don’t want to lose that data. I don’t care about colour  or fancy social sharing features. Functionality and a clean, simple interface, is of utmost importance. So RSS readers like Pulse and Flipboard are too image intensive for my needs as a RSS power user.

Occasionally I like to read posts on my iPad, so I use the mobile app Byline but there are synching issues (I dislike having to “Mark as Read” posts in both services for all new posts). Although there are many RSS iOS apps out there (and I have tried most), this one handles all those folders and tags the best and you can easily and quickly swipe through posts.

I will be choosing either Feedly or the Digg Reader as my new RSS reader. I’m leaning toward the Digg replacement, as it would be useful to combine my need for power RSS with Digg’s social bookmarking features. Those who need to still need to switch you may want to use Google Takeout to export your data for backup.

Here’s some news Google Reader alternatives that are worth reading if, like me, you still haven’t switched and are waiting to the bitter end:

GTA Technology Tips & Tricks: Why to Use a RSS Feed Reader?

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We all have busy, busy lives. Sometimes its hard to keep up to date with current news and events, posts on your favourite blog or website, and bits of information that maybe useful to you sometime in the future. Those who know me, know that I have this obsession with technology…but the thing about technology is that it changes so rapidly…so how do I “stay in the know” about what’s going on in the world (and seem smarter than I really am)?  I use a RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed aggregator. My one stop shop for everything I care to know about that gets posted on the Internet.

My idea for this Tips email is not to talk about RSS Feed Readers per se…but to give you some ideas of what you could use one for. I personally love Google Reader because I don’t have to create another account to access my feeds and its easy to use.  But you can key in “best RSS” or “best RSS Reader” in Google Search and browse for others. Alternatively, on your mobile device, go to your App Store and search for “RSS”. I’m sure you will have a wide selection of apps to choose from.
On any website you go to look for the below icon or look for the letters “RSS” somewhere on the page or even in the footer. You can click on this RSS link, then copy the web address of the page you are directed to or the RSS link that is noted and subscribe to the feed in your reader.
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Examples of feeds I have subscribed to and why:
  • Facebook Pages such as SLIS Social at the University of Alberta and Banana Republic to stay up to date with event announcements. (Hint: Look for the “Get Updates via RSS” link on any Facebook Page.)  feed://www.facebook.com/feeds/page.php?id=202217855995&format=rss20
  • A plethora of favourite author and blogging websites to keep up to date about books, book reviews and issues in bloglandia.
  • LIS Blogs such as iLibrarian and Library Journal RSS Feeds on new book releases. http://www.libraryjournal.com/csp/cms/sites/LJ/info/rss.csp
  • News feeds from content providers such as Huffington Post, Entertainment Weekly, Gizmodo, Lifehacker and Mashable, etc.
  • The FLA Jobline blog to keep up to date with LIS jobs in Western Canada. http://jobline.fla.org/
  • I subscribed to ~25 Cataloging blogs when I was taking LIS 532 Cataloging & Classification to gain a better understanding of this area of study and tosupport individual and group assignments.
  • NPR (National Public Radio) for current events and book reviews. http://www.npr.org/rss/
  • Conference proceedings.
  • Study Hacks for study tips when I was in my first year of the MLIS program. http://calnewport.com/blog/
I try to keep up with posts but sometimes I skip reading them (e.g. if I go on vacation) using a Mark All As Read feature. There may be a feature where you can Staryour favourites to read at a later date. Also, being organizationally obsessed, I tag and organize posts I want to keep for future use into folders.
I hope you try out a RSS feed reader. Its a tool that can be used to simplify your life but beware of subscribing to too many feeds!