Quick Links

Managing Information with RSS & Twitter

Recommended RSS Feeds

Library-Related Feeds

LISNews - http://www.lisnews.org/ - a number of feeds to keep you up to date on the library profession.

American Libraries Online - http://www.ala.org/cfapps/xml/alonline.xml - Feed for articles in American Libraries.

School Library Journal headline and blog feeds - http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/learnRss - Get the buzz about libraries, learning and technology.

SEMLS Library Feeds - http://www.semls.org/community/feeds.html.

Massachusetts Performers & Programs Directory - http://feeds.feedburner.com/massperform - Find out when new performers are added to the directory.

MBLC Job vacancies - http://mblc.state.ma.us/cgi-bin/mpv/rss.pl - Be notified of new job openings across the state.

LISJobs - http://www.lisjobs.com/rss.asp - A national listing of library-related jobs.

Library Elf - http://www.libraryelf.com - Notifies you when your books are due and when your holds are available.

Feeds to Help Library Staff Keep Up with Technology

David Lee King - Blog of the Digital Branch & Services Manager from Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library.

Librarian.net - The blog of Vermont librarian Jessamyn West, who spends a lot of her time helping out small, rural libraries with their technology needs.

Library Stuff - http://www.librarystuff.net/index.rdf - From Steven Cohen, this blog is devoted to resources for keeping current and professional development.

Pew Internet and American Life Project Reports - http://www.pewinternet.org/rss-reports.asp - These reports will give you an idea of how your patrons are using technology.

Stephen's Lighthouse - http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/index.rdf - A blog where SirsiDynix's Vice President of Innovation Stephen Abram muses about all things pertaining to libraries.

Tame the Web Blog: Libraries and Technology Blog - http://tametheweb.com/index.xml

Customizing RSS Feeds

Topix - http://www.topix.net - Small, local papers don't always have an RSS feed, but Topix can help you fix that. Type in your zip code, click on the name of your town, and click on the small RSS link in the lower left corner of the page.

Google and Yahoo News searches - http://news.google.com and http://news.yahoo.com - Conduct a search in either of these news search engines and then click on the RSS button to add a feed for any new articles that match that search. Use your library as a search so that you can know immediately is a news story has been published about your library.

Technorati - http://www.technorati.com - Technorati searches blog postings. You can subscribe to feed with specific tags or, using the advanced search, you can subscribe to a feed matching certain search terms.

Amazon Feed Generator - http://www.onfocus.com/amafeed/ - Create a feed of new Amazon products matching certain keywords.

Library Thing - http://www.librarything.com - Create a feed of books matching a particular tag.

eBay - http://www.ebay.com - Do an eBay search and click on the RSS button to subscribe to a feed of new items matching your search terms.

RSS with Library Catalogs & Databases

SirsiDynix was the first major ILS vendor to incorporate RSS feeds in its Sirsi Rooms portal.

Scriblio is an OPAC using WordPress blogging software. Check out the Cook Memorial Library in Tamworth, NH

Koha is an Open Source ILS that includes RSS feeds that matches your search terms.

Aquabrowser, a visual OPAC used by OCLN, incorporates RSS feeds.

Ebsco, Gale and ProQuest have incorporated RSS feeds for searches into its products.

For Fun

Unshelved - http://www.overduemedia.com/rss.aspx - A comic strip about a library.

Weather Channel - http://www.weather.com/weather/rss/subscription

RSS Readers

Standalone Readers

RSS Ticker Tape – http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/rss-ticker-tape – RSS subscriptions run across the bottom of your screen as a ticker. This is a Yahoo widget, and you can import feeds from you’re My Yahoo page. You can also add feeds manually. (Windows & Mac)
Newsgator – www.newsgator.com – Free –Company offers several products, including FeedDemon for Windows, NetNewsWire for Mac and NewGator Inbox for Microsoft Outlook. These standalone products will also synchronize with Google Reader and with Newsgator’s mobile products.
Newz Crawler – www.newzcrawler.com - $25.95
NewsFire – http://www.newsfirerss.com/ - Free (Mac OS)
RSSOwl – http://www.rssowl.org – Free (Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris)
SharpReader – www.sharpreader.com – Free (Windows)

Web-based Readers

Bloglines – www.bloglines.com – Free
Google – Google Reader is available at www.google.com/reader, but you can also add feeds to your iGoogle page at www.google.com/ig
My Yahoo – http://my.yahoo.com – Free
Netvibes – www.netvibes.com – Free
Pageflakes – www.pageflakes.com – Free

Mobile Readers

Newsgator - www.newsgator.com – Provides NetNewsWire for the iPhone (free) and Newsgator Go! for other mobile devices (for Enterprise customers.)

Viigo – www.viigo.com – RSS for Blackberries

Twitter Applications

Desktop Applications
Tweetdeck – www.tweetdeck.com
Seesmic Desktop – www.seesmic.com
Twhirl - www.twhirl.org/
TwitterFox – twitterfox.net Firefox extension to access Twitter

Mobile Applications
Tweetdeck – www.tweetdeck.com
Tweetie - www.atebits.com/tweetie-iphone/
Twitterific - iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific