Thing #8

The main thing I like about RSS and newsreaders is that the new information comes to you, you don’t have to search it out or go to the site and look for the latest info. I also like the fact that all this info is not stacking up in my inbox. I decided to use Google Reader as one of my RSS readers. I already had an account and it was pretty simple to use. I decided it would be a good idea to keep up with what is going on locally so I subscribed to the Dallas Morning News feed. Now maybe I’ll be able to make more informed decisions and just become a better all-around citizen. What do you think? Since the news is often so bleak I decided that one news feed was about all the news I could take. One other thing I would like to keep up with is the weather in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. We plan to go skiing there during spring break and since the snowfall has been a little sparse this year, I would like to have an update on the snow conditions so I also subscribed to the daily weather forecast. How exciting can that be! Oh well, at least I’ll know whether to take my skis or my walking shoes on our trip! Finally, I ran across some interesting “of the day” sites and thought that could be kind of fun. I subscribed to Fact of the Day. Now I have learned there was a post office on the Russian space station Mir and that the average person presses the snooze button on the alarm clock three times. Next I subscribed to How To of the Day. I can now make a shirt out of a dollar bill and a duct tape mini skirt. Finally, I subscribed to Quote of the Day. Now here’s something I can sink my teeth into. I’ll use these profound quotes to enrich the lives of those in my charge and as well as my colleagues!

I’m not certain as to how I will use RSS in my library. I suppose a library could use an RSS feed to let patrons know about new books, what’s happening in the library, and information in general. And we could provide our patrons access to feeds that might be of interest to them.

Thing #7

Thing # 7, using Google tools, was fun. I selected the Goggle calendar and the notebook as my 2 options. Google calendar was "so simple even a caveman could do it." I set up an original calendar to post my personal information then thought I would set up a second one to post library events. I posted items for November and sent out a few invitations from the calendar. The tutorial gave great step-by-step instructions. It was great. Google notebook however was not as great. I looked at the tutorial but really wasn't certain as to the best way to use it. I used it to look up and link/copy personal information related to health. I love reading about/studying nutrition. And I love using the Internet to find FREE, authoritative information the most current health-related issues. Hopefully I will be able to use the notebook more effectively as time goes by.