I looked into Google Reader. It helps you find and keep track of things you’re interested in on the web. By using it, you no longer have to visit individual sites to find out if something new has been posted, because when new content is posted, it comes straight to your Google Reader. It also keeps track of which items you’ve viewed/read, so when you come back you don’t have to sift through those items again; instead you just see unread items. Reader lets you subscribe to your favorite websites and keep track of what’s popular. It is described as “a magazine you design.” The Reader gives you recommended sources and items. You can comment on items shared by friends. You can also star items and take notes on them. There’s a very interesting “Trends” tab which tracks how many subscriptions you have, how many you’ve read in the last thirty days, and how many you’ve clicked on, starred, shared, and emailed. It will also break it down to time of day and day of week for your viewing and activities. It also includes a mobile option, so you can see what items you’ve read on your mobile device—just visit Google Reader on your phone to try it. Reader shows frequently updated, inactive, and obscure subscription trends, as well as the most active and most popular “friend trends.” Tags allow you organize your items and subscriptions, enabling your items that are more heavily tagged to stand out more prominently.
Google Reader seems to be an excellent tool for managing news, subscriptions, blogs, etc. It is a handy one-stop information source that I can see as helpful in keeping track of my professional news and interests. In one visit, I can read up on the newest events, updates, and professional opinions and advice in my field. For example, my subscriptions include:
1. ALA Annual. This gives me updates on ALA’s Annual Conference & Exhibit.
2. ALA-APA. This gives me news on the APA’s advocacy for the professional interests of librarians.
3. ALAN Online. This delivers updates on the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents.
4. BleedingCool.com. A blogsite about the comic book/graphic novel industry.
5. BoingBoing.net. A webzine/blog with tons of neat information on tech gadgets, entertainment, art/design, culture, news, and more.
6. Copyright Advisory Network. The Network is sponsored by the ALA, and exists to encourage librarians to discuss copyright concerns with copyright specialists.
7. Heyjude blog. This is a blog at wordpress written by an educational consultant , specifically interested in library and web 2.0 and library and information services.
8. Flickr.com/photos/ala_members/. This is the American Library Association’s flickr photostream.
9. Ilovelibraries.org. This is the ALA’s website for the public, “designed to keep America informed about what's happening in today's libraries.”
10. Schoollibrarylearning2.csla.net/. I subscribed to this because of my pursuit of the “23 Things” activity for my own coursework. It is produced by the California School Library Association (CSLA) 2.0 Team and helps you learn the tools of the new Internet including social networking, wikis, video, podcasting, and gaming sites.
11. VOYA.com. This is the magazine of the Voice of Youth Advocates, serving those who serve young adults.
12. NCTE.org. This is the National Council of Teachers of English. I’m subscribed to the Middle Level Section of NCTE, which has tons of resources for educators at the middle school level.
13. Youngadultbookreviews.com. Self explanatory.
14. YALR Blog. This is the Young Adult Literature Review blog at blogspot. Also pretty self explanatory.
15. The ALA’s channel on YouTube. This has news and information from the ALA, and is especially helpful in following the ALA’s annual conference.
As one can imagine, visiting all of these sites daily, or regularly, and scouring the entire website to note new additions/news would be massively time consuming. That’s precisely where Google Reader comes in and is so useful. Google streams the new stuff strait to your Reader, making it a user-friendly time saver. It is true that with the Reader, you don’t get all of the “bells and whistles” of the individual sites, but you can always visit the sites directly at any time by clicking on their title on the Reader, and what’s really nice is that they open in a new window, so you do not lose your place and have to navigate back to the Reader. I think this will be an indispensable tool for keeping me up-to-date in my professional interests. It also keeps me focused, because when I’m reading the newest updates in Reader, I’m not distracted by those “bells and whistles” and tempted to get off-topic.
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