I added two of the suggested ones from Google reader which were on design and architecture,
http://design-milk.com/
http://weburbanist.com/
two from the Powerhouse museum - object of the week and photo of the day (a great use of getting the collection out there to everyone in webland),
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/imageservices/
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/blog/
as well as a few others on museum and crafty themes
http://www.museummarketing.co.uk/
http://thecraftyminx.com.au/
I really like the idea that you don't have to keep on looking at your favourite websites, only to find that there's nothing new - I used to do this and get frustrated. So having the information come to me is great, its like getting mail everyday (or not depending on the website but that's ok)- good mail, not bills. Also as a test I decided to subscribe to a site which I get weekly emails from just to see how they are different. I'm glad I did because I was missing out on so much content which featured on the website that they didn't include on the email. Another good feature is that the info on the posts are included in the list of new items so if it doesn't sound interesting you can just skip over it.
So based on this test for a week I think I can extrapolate a result and say that RSS feeds are useful in my work life as a better way of letting people know what's happening or what's new and exciting in your library/museum/other than sending/producing newsletters. So with as much effort as writing an email (with a bit of thought to the content of course) all the people out there interested in your museum/library/place can get updates without the need to wait for enough information to put out a newsletter.
I can see the following benefits from RSS feeds:
- information comes to me and I don't get frustrated that I'm constantly checking sites which aren't updated as often as I look at them
- a mailing list doesn't need to be maintained by a workplace to send out newsletters
- depending on the workplace it may be easier to write a blog post than design/input information into a newsletter template
I'm glad you have found RSS useful. I was a bit scathing in my assessment, but I am still not a huge fan. I have been checking it from time to time (which is how I discovered your post, in fact), but I still have to come to your blog page to leave a comment, which in some ways, defeats the purpose.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I generally like traveling to different blog pages to see the colours and design each author has individually chosen, as well as seeing their other links and profile information. These are all things you can't see in Google Reader.
With some of the sites you have mentioned, however, I can see the benefit in having the information sent to you rather than going to look it up.
I guess it all comes down to how you use them, I found some of the feeds I subscribed had overwhelming volumes of info and did my head in, but others have turned out to be useful and I've kept my subscription.
ReplyDeleteYeah it is interesting to find out what new info you have on your blog everytime you log in.
ReplyDeleteIt is a lot of trial and error. There must be a set number of feeds that we can handle. If it is too much we turn off and don't read them. It really is like getting mail, gives you a good feeling to know that there is stuff out there that you may need/like to read
ReplyDeleteReal Simple Syndication! Simple maybe - but what's next? Guess RSS would be useful to libraries to check out what other libraries are blogging and what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteit would also be useful to let people know what new items a library had and any workshops eg what goes into the enewsletter
ReplyDeleteI think they are useful if you have a really clear idea of what you want to keep up to date with. Some people have found great feeds which were much more interesting than the ones I found mine were generally a bit overwhelming
ReplyDelete