RSS Feeds

This may all be old hat but I've never investigated this fully. My first attempt was when the State Library started issuing rss feeds but that’s a while ago.

Feedster is convenient to use but one needs to be quite specific when typing in a query. For example, just typing in the word “libraries” retrieves a lot of commercial websites. The advantage is that you can narrow down to specific types of feeds—blogs, news feeds, podcasts etc.

Topix has a very busy interface and works on a directory structure. Has an American bias but I guess so have the other 2. Of interest is a box on the front screen that allows you to search for local Australian news. The majority of results are from overseas sources though.

The google blog search works very well, presents an uncluttered screen and once you type in a subject of interest this search engine retrieves an overwhelming amount of blogs/feeds. The word “libraries” retrieves 73,830 results. Of course as with googling for any information you do have to sort through the dross and not all sites have rss feeds.

I hate to say it but I would use the google blog search. To target local Australian newsfeeds I simply type in the additional “site:.au”