23 Things: Part 2

8. Learn about RSS feeds and setup your own Bloglines newsreader account. Ok so I tried, I did. I registered for a bloglines account and imported (very slowly I might add) a few of the blogs I read, and I must say I did not like it very much at all. I am currently using Google Reader and I am accustomed to their formatting and such, and you know what, I like it. So I think I will continue using it! But I do love my RSS feeds and reader! 🙂 What I like most is keeping up to date on what’s happening in my field. I have several blogs I follow which deal with general library information, some that talk about conservation and preservation, and a few that deal with purely entertaining me. I think that as long as there are people around to blog, there will be a need for RSS feeds. As for their use in Libraries I think that depends on the person who is to use them. I think they are good for reference if you are following a blog that is acknowledged in the academic community for being accurate and appropriate. I don’t know that I would use them for ready reference or anything, but maybe more for networking and continuing education.

9. Locate a few useful library related blogs and/or news feeds. Actually last week I came across and starred a blog post from Hack Library School that was titled LIS Blogs to Read. How appropriate! They must have known I was looking for more! 🙂 Of the 10 suggested blogs posted I added…well, all 10 actually. But of all of the blogs I follow my favorites are Hack Library School, A Librarian’s Guide to Etiquette, Library Webinars, and The Travelin’ Librarian just to name a few. I like Hack Library School because they frequently have good tips on all things Library School like internships, jobs, and even some inspiration if you are feeling overwhelmed. A Librarian’s Guide to Etiquette is a great site to make you smile. They have some awesome jokes and sayings that will make your day when you are sick of reading journal articles and textbooks. Library Webinars is great for the simple reason that it is a site that puts webinars in all one place. It makes looking for a webinar simple. And Lastly The Travelin’ Librarian is awesome because Michael Sauers has fantastic content. He is a Librarian in Nebraska who loves Google as much as I do. (I know it isn’t always the best source but it is a great jumping off point.) So there they are! My favorite RSS feeds, I hope you get a chance to check them out and add them to your own.

10. Play around with an online image generator. So the two generators I picked were The Generator Blog and Big Huge Labs. At the Generator Blog I played around with the ifaketext.com option where I created this awesome screen capture. I think this would be cool for posters or signs to hang around the library or for other outreach. Big Huge Labs had motivational poster generator where this came to life!

11. Take a look at LibraryThing and catalog some of your favorite books. Ok, once again I feel like a snob because I prefer Goodreads over Library Thing. There isn’t really a huge difference but I already have all my books on Goodreads.

12. Roll your own search tool with Rollyo.  So basically with this site you register then are able to construct a search roll for any subject you want!!! How cool! This is great because you are able to search up to 25 sites that you trust and that you picked to search through. So I am able to search ALA, SAA, and who ever else I want. This is getting book marked for sure.

13. Learn about tagging and discover a Del.icio.us (a social bookmaking site). This is also a fantastic resource. You are able to bookmark the websites that you like ANYWHERE that you are! This is great! It will save me the trouble of emailing myself 10 websites a day to check out later. (lol am I the only one who does this?)

14. Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts. I think the best thing about Technorati is the tags page. This allows you to look through their top tags and see what people are looking at and writing about today. I think this is pretty nifty. I do think that I will come check the rest of this site out later when I have a bit more time as I feel they have more to offer than what I am currently able to discover.

That’s all I have for now. Keep a look out for the last bit of 23 things .