Week The Third Part 1. RSS

After the terrible news from Google that they will be shutting down Google Reader in July, I did some research and decided on three new RSS readers to try: Feedly, The Old Reader and Bloglines. 

(In other news, I'm proud that I taught myself how to display links within my blog using text that I want instead of a long ugly link! Genius technology).

Feedly advertises itself cleverly: 'Seamless migration from Google Reader' and proclaims that it 'combines the visual appeal of a magazine with the efficiency and convenience of an RSS reader'. 

Feedly Start Page

As I use Chrome as a browser, the Feedly homepage prompted me straight to the Chrome Web Store where I could download Feedly for free. 

    

The Old Reader Welcome Screen

I then found The Old Reader site, which is more social in its focus at first glance. You can log in via your Facebook, Twitter, Blog or Google accounts. They mention they are still in 'Beta' mode and caution users to be patient while they are working on their platform. 

Unfortunately, upon logging in, The Old Reader displays a disconcerting message:

What?! I have to wait? Are you serious?!

Given my increasingly time-poor lifestyle, I don't want to spend time manually inputting each of the URL's from my Google Reader feeds, and I don't want to wait for my file to be imported to the site. This reader may improve with time, but I want to get my RSS world set up! Now!

So I moved on to try Bloglines. Bloglines is easy to set up and navigate, and it has different viewer, indexing and customisation options. So far, so good. 

Bloglines. Easy. Good.

In comparison with both of these, Feedly performs best of all, as it offers seamless integration with my existing Google reader feeds (all of my feeds appeared magically in the Feedly interface when I logged in with my Google account). 

Feedly has a pleasing and easy-to-use interface, and it is somewhat warmer and less technical-looking than Bloglines. Of course as with most things, I think the choice comes down to both ease of use and personal preference. 

For me, Feedly wins due to its functionality, design and ease of implementation. It really does borrow from the magazine design world.

Feedly. Best interface, good design, very customisable

I subscribed to the feeds of the ISYS1166 blogs, and then added my favourite library and news feeds. I have been checking my Feedly account regularly since setting it up, it really has enriched my understanding of RSS. 

Really Simple Syndication is an excellent tool for knowledge gathering. It started me thinking about libraries and the use of RSS and how simple yet effective a tool it can be. It is also low-cost and little technical expertise is required to use it in many different ways. 

The Guru says...

My Chandos guru guidebook describes an interesting way of combining RSS with community needs:

'Book clubs or gaming clubs, with the help of librarians, could create webpages on the main library websites including calendars of events, meetings, related links and news which then can be transformed into feeds to which members and other users can subscribe'.

This is just one interesting way to enrich library users' experiences in the Web 2.0 world and create and enhance community networking.