Blogs/Blog Readers

     About a year ago I got introduced to the world of blogging through some school work that I had to complete for some graduate courses that I am still knee deep in the middle of. I did not think much about the blogs that I was creating, and was truthfully just focused on following the specifications that my professor had laid our for me. Today I am challenged with a different assignment, but this time I am intrigued by BLOG READERS. This technology is new to me, and truthfully I was a little nervous prior to diving into this new world. When creating blogs in the past, I never realized the effort that went into keeping up with the bloggers one followed. I just always though that you typed in the url address and took a look at their new posts. Being a Digital Native myself, I am slowly discovering that there is so many things that make life easier when it come to technology that I am unaware of, one of them of course being the Awesomeness of BLOG READERS also known as RSS Reader Apps.

    RSS stands for Really Simple syndication, and I have come to discover that there are two kinds of RSS readers which are online RSS services and native RSS apps. Online RSS services run automatically finding new information as soon at it is published. Native RSS apps can sync feeds right to your device, and work with most RSS services. RSS readers help you by gathering all the different sites that you follow and puts them in one location. Through the blog reader you can access all the latest blog posts for your favorite bloggers without having to type in the url address for your desired websites. 

    The blog reader that I chose to explore and use was Feedly, which for a digital native like me seemed like a good choice. I did not choose a native RSS app, because I did not want to sync any feeds that I might get onto of my devices. I am content with using my personal computer to keep up with the blog posts that I have decided to follow. Another reason that I chose Feedly is because I really liked the layout.  It does not have an excess of information crammed into one place, and it has a simplistic layout that is very easy to read. One of the other things that I liked about Feedly is that it allows the user to group the sites into collections, which they can tag anything they want. For example I was looking at different library sites, so I chose to tag my collection for the various blogs library. There is no rocket science involved in the user interface, which is another reason that I love this site. As a future librarian, I have also become an advocate for library services, and I like that Feedly can connect with my facebook account which allows me to share important information that I might find with the world.

     Blog Readers are definelty something that I will continure to use, and I am glad that I got the opportunity to learn about them. I am so excited about being able to access all my favorites in one place. Being that I am currently taking graduate courses to acquire my Masters in Library Science Degree, I have provided a few links that anyone in this field might find helpful. Below I have included the url addresses for each, so please feel free to explore these sites and add them to your own Blog Reader accounts, God Bless.

BLOG SITE LINKS:

Annoyed Librarian http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/
On this site you will find that the posts are from the point of view of a very free spirited perspective. The Annoyed Librarian shares her views about the what is happening in the library wold, but adds a twist that makes her posts interesting to read. Her post are about copyright infingers, library advocates, and so much more. 

Abby the Librarian http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/

On this site you will find information provided to you by the blogger Abby Johnson. She has a wonderful site that provides the reader with story time activities, and even provides future librarians with a lot of use ful information  about the profession. I really enjoyed how creative she got with her story time presentations, and hope to recreate some of her lesson in my own library one day.

App Reviews School Library Journal http://www.slj.com/category/reviews/apps/#_
This site does exactly what its title entails, it reviews apps for the reader, and keeps them updated on the new and trending ones. I love that this site take a humanistic approach when explaining how to use the various apps, it puts newbies like me at ease when it comes to technology.

David Lee King https://www.davidleeking.com/

David Lee King is a blogger who's post focus on the social web, emerging trends, and libraries. You will even find some book review embedded throughout his posts. 

The Daring Librarian http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/

On this site you will find a plethora of information of all kinds. The Daring Libraian posts about gamefication, summer reading lists, social media, QR codes, and so much more. I really enjoyed exploring this site, I was on informatin overload as I read her posts. Loved it.

I have also included the link to my Tumblr site below, where I will be adding more UseFul Links, God Bless.

Tumblr: 
https://www.tumblr.com/customize/introspectivereader?redirect_to=/settings/blog/introspectivereader