Thing #9: Useful Library-Related Blogs and News Feeds

Hahaha! You can tell I hadn't looked at Thing 9 when I posted about Thing 8, but what a great lead-in!

Well! I certainly found some "odd" blogs out there as I tried out the different blog and feed "finders." It makes the post at Cool Cat Teacher about choosing your circle of wise ones highly pertinent. Be sure to know what it is you're lookikng for in a blog, too!

I found bloglines and google blogs to be the most useful for me, perhaps because they both shot me directly to an uncluttered search page, whereas Topix and Technorati's home pages were filled with busy text and images. I felt as though I had to wade through all of that to find what I needed/wanted: the search function. It was a bit intimidating. Also, I think I have a form of ADD or something similiar (plain ole lack of focus, hmmm?)because if I end up at a page that showcases blogs or news sites, I'll get super side-tracked and forget what I was there for in the first place. I'm a marketer's dream. Hehe...

I also discovered that bloglines and google seemed better for finding blogs while Topix (I think...I'm a bit addlepated at this point) was better for finding individual blog entries that are relevant to your search.

I couldn't help but search for feeds related to my personal interests as well as my professonial ones, so I checked out some crochet blogs and even discovered The Crochet Dude! I don't mean to be sexist at all, but it IS unusual to find a man so dedicated to crochet and crafts that he'd have a blog.

I also searched my own name at these sites, and eek! Amazing what they brought up in the search results. I created several blogs as part of grad school classes, and posts from each of them, as well as this one, popped up. As you can tell from this blog, I'm not shy about putting my real name out there, especially since all my blogs have been a part of my professional realm, but bloggers who're more secretive, beware!