Finding Feeds

In her July 10, 2006 podcast, Helene B said there are better tools than simple Google search for finding feeds. For me, that is not true.

I do find Bloglines search easy to use and it gave useful results. I like Topix for news although its drop down pop ups can be annoyingly persistent. Technorati and Syndic8.com were overwhelming and Syndic8.com's graphic design was uninviting. I liked Syndic8's ten flags and quick links to country-specific stuff at first glance; however a brief exploration did not reveal anything riveting.

Google's simple web search is comfortable and useful for finding feeds. A straightforward search phrase "RSS feed ____ " [e.g. public library, library new DVDs, library blog, David Austin roses, etc.] got good results.

A Google simple web search for "blog about ____" also produced good results. Search term "blog ___" gives different but also good results. "blog about library" turned up good feeds in blogs including http://www.loc.gov/blog/ [Library of Congress blog]. "blog library new dvd" produced results including this sample I added to my bloglines: http://www.talkr.com/app/cast_pods.app?feed_id=26496.

Helpful for both beginner and intermediate searcher, Blogsearch.Google.com (beta) provides date/relevance sort and date published sort.

Viewer's Advisory

Our library circulation statistics show significant use of DVDs and our library website includes movie viewer's advisory in the form of annotated lists. I found something even more exciting on Bloglines. Some libraries offer Windows Media-formatted Previews. This is the feed URL for this Lee County Library System (Southwest Florida) website entry (graphics can only be seen on the feed): http://rss.librarywire.com/rss.php?feed=6481.CNL12.

No Reservations By Hicks, Scott

View Windows Media-formatted Preview

Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Kate, an emotionally fragile chef whose life is turned upside down when she becomes guardian of her niece. Used to absolute control -- both in her kitchen (which she rules with an iron hand) and at home -- Kate now faces chaos on all fronts, as both the child and her new sous chef work their way into her heart.

2007/12 Warner Bros. BL12078 DVD Check Our Catalog

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library also provides movie previews (feed: http://rss.librarywire.com/rss.php?feed=5626,CNL12). Both libraries get previews from "Videodetective: the Movie Preview Search" http://www.videodetective.com/.

I shared this information with Aimee and she will investigate the feasibility of using this service for our library.