Feed Readers and Blogs

For years I have visited specific websites on a regular basis to read articles or blogs.  I bookmark the sites and use this as a short cut.  Recently, I was made aware of feed readers also known as RSS readers.  I had no idea they existed.  This makes navigating to my favorite websites so easy!  They are all organized right in the same spot.  My research just got easier. 



RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.  RSS readers or feed readers make it really simple to transfer, manage and organize specific websites to one spot rather than having to visit the individual websites from each individual web address.  You go to the one web address and all the other websites you frequent are all right there. 



I set out taking a closer look at feed readers and discovered that there are several. Apparently in the past one of the most popular ones was called Google Reader.  I am not surprised in this age of Google, but for some reason this app is no longer supported.  So, I had to look elsewhere.  There are various feed readers available that are slightly different.  The most important factor to me is cost.  If I can get an application for free that meets my needs that is the one that I want.   (Zapier, 2018) this article lists 10 of the best free RSS reader apps, this is where I started my search.  After examining the brief descriptions that the article gives of each of the 10, I narrow it down to three.  All three claim to be user friendly and safe.  I need an app that will make it easy to read and organize the content. Some of the other apps seemed to focus on things that I am not going to use it for like social feeds, marketing or lifestyle.  The three I chose seemed like they would fit my needs.  Those three are Feedreader, Feeder and Feedly.  I chose Feedly.  The reason why, it was more user friendly to me.  I was able to navigate through it and set it up easily without becoming frustrated.  The other two caused me a great deal of confusion so I moved on.   



 

I recently accepted my first school librarian position at an intermediate school.  The grades are 2nd-5th so I am looking for information about tips on being a new librarian and children’s literature.  I discovered several blogs that are helpful.  Here are five of my favorites that I added to my feed reader: 

1.        https://www.readerpants.net/  Posts a lot of information to help new librarians.

2.       https://wakingbraincells.com/  Posts reviews of Children’s books. 

3.       https://www.stayingcoolinthelibrary.us/  Helpful information for librarians 

4.       https://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/  Book reviews of fiction and nonfiction children and YA. 

5.      https://elementarylibrarian.com/blog/ a community of thousands of elementary librarians sharing lesson plans, resources, and ideas! 

 

Please feel free to follow me on Tumblr where I showcase books I am reading.   

http://superbookexplorer.tumblr.com/ 

 






References

Feeder – Your news manager. (n.d.). Retrieved June 13, 2020, from https://feeder.co/how-it-works

Zapier. (2018, September 21). The 10 Best Free RSS Reader Apps. Zapier. https://zapier.com/blog/best-rss-feed-reader-apps/



 

Comments

  1. Cassidy's Library ScienceJuly 2, 2020 at 12:47 PM

    Congratulations on your new job! What fun grades! You can select picture books as well as awesome chapter books. I also did not know that Feeders existed, and used the bookmarking the same way you did. I also like how you said that it will change the way you research. I know that your fifth graders might benefit from learning how to curate some important information on the web. Have you ever heard of Wakelet? It is a curating app that was one of 2019's best apps.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Greissy LJuly 8, 2020 at 8:34 AM

    Hi Lois,
    I do the same thing! I bookmark EVERYTHING! It makes for easy access but the list is getting so long, it's sometimes hard to find what I'm looking for! I didn't know a feed reader existed but it sure helps organize everything and keep it all in one place.

    ReplyDelete

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