I must admit that although I am familiar with the term “feed
reader” and its function, I have not used one until now. But as I begin the transition from “library
science student” to practicing school librarian, it becomes clear that I need a systematic way
of organizing information in hopes of managing the plethora of information sources
that are necessary to remain current in the field. To help me decide which feed reader to
choose, I read Vicky Volvovski’s blog post “The 10 Best Free RSS Reader Apps”
posted on September 21, 2018. Her
article reviews ten free feed readers that are web apps, use the traditional chronological
order of content, allow access to full-text when available without additional
charge, and are easy to use. I chose
Feedly as my feed reader for its simplicity and ease of use. It seemed like the best choice for someone new
to feed readers. Plus, my husband, who
keeps up with all things technical, uses Feedly to manage his feeds. I like the clean, uncluttered appearance of
Feedly. On the left-hand side I can
arrange all of my websites by topic allowing me to keep personal and
professional websites in one place, yet separate from each other. In the center, my feeds for today show up in
a single line that can be scrolled through quickly and if I want to explore
other sources, I can click the “explore” tab and see a list of websites. I also have the option of marking articles
that I want to read later. There is an
option to create collections of articles to a board but I have not explored
this option yet. It seems like a great
way to keep up with articles that I might want to reread or share with others.
Once I decided on Feedly as my choice of feed reader, I had
to try it out. Here are five of the
library blogs I am following:
1.
Not So Distant Future by Carolyn Foote
https://futura.edublogs.org/
This blog is all about technology in schools and 21 century teaching and learning. Ms. Foote reviews technology, promotes advocacy and leadership, maker spaces, future ready libraries, just to name a few. I chose to follow her blog because she a Texas librarian who has won numerous awards, authored books, presented at conferences, and served on ALA committees. Her blog seems to be the perfect example of what a current library blog should be.
https://futura.edublogs.org/
This blog is all about technology in schools and 21 century teaching and learning. Ms. Foote reviews technology, promotes advocacy and leadership, maker spaces, future ready libraries, just to name a few. I chose to follow her blog because she a Texas librarian who has won numerous awards, authored books, presented at conferences, and served on ALA committees. Her blog seems to be the perfect example of what a current library blog should be.
2.
Librarian by Day by Bobbi Newman
https://librarianbyday.net/
Bobbi Newman, quite literally, covers all things librarian in her blog. I chose to follow her because of her extensive experience and work with the ALA. She is an author, international speaker, and has served on numerous ALA committees. I like that she has categorized all of the topics she has covered on the right-hand side of the page so that newcomers like me can quickly find articles to read.
https://librarianbyday.net/
Bobbi Newman, quite literally, covers all things librarian in her blog. I chose to follow her because of her extensive experience and work with the ALA. She is an author, international speaker, and has served on numerous ALA committees. I like that she has categorized all of the topics she has covered on the right-hand side of the page so that newcomers like me can quickly find articles to read.
3.
Abby the Librarian by Abby Johnson
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/
This blog is geared for the elementary school librarian with a focus on mentoring new librarians. Abby offers picture book reviews, activity ideas, information about digital learning, etc. New subscribers can search her blog for various past topics or use the past archive links, and she has a list of what she is reading right now. She has been blogging for well over a decade and is still posting. She was a contributor to the ALSC blog for several years and has served on numerous committees.
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/
This blog is geared for the elementary school librarian with a focus on mentoring new librarians. Abby offers picture book reviews, activity ideas, information about digital learning, etc. New subscribers can search her blog for various past topics or use the past archive links, and she has a list of what she is reading right now. She has been blogging for well over a decade and is still posting. She was a contributor to the ALSC blog for several years and has served on numerous committees.
4.
American Libraries Magazine ALA
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/
This is the ALA magazine and I chose to follow it because it is THE source of information for library professionals. It contains articles about growing trends, best practices, advocacy, conferences, and current news.
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/
This is the ALA magazine and I chose to follow it because it is THE source of information for library professionals. It contains articles about growing trends, best practices, advocacy, conferences, and current news.
5.
Super Library Marketing: All kinds of
marketing ideas for all kinds of libraries by Angela Hursh
https://superlibrarymarketing.com/librarymarketingshow/
This video blog is all about marketing the library. While this site is not school library specific, I chose it because marketing is an important part of the school librarian’s job and I am hoping to get some good ideas here. Subscribers are able to post questions that may be selected as a topic for one of the video blog posts.
https://superlibrarymarketing.com/librarymarketingshow/
This video blog is all about marketing the library. While this site is not school library specific, I chose it because marketing is an important part of the school librarian’s job and I am hoping to get some good ideas here. Subscribers are able to post questions that may be selected as a topic for one of the video blog posts.
Thank you for the blog recommendations! I am always looking for new blogs to follow, and I will definitely checkout your favorites. Feedly was also my ultimate choice when it comes to blog readers for its ease of use. I continue to receive email updates from them, and I'm still convinced I made the right choice. Thank you for sharing!
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