Surf the Web Smarter: Managing News with Google Reader  Tags: enewsletter google web  

Surf the Web Smarter is a monthly eNewsletter created by NASA Glenn Technical Library.

2008, vol. 1, issue 2

Index of eNewsletters 

Let the News find you! with Google Reader™

Drowning in Information? All you need is three simple letters: RSS

For a brief introduction to what RSS can do, watch the video below.

Wow! I want one!

Step 1: Get a Google Reader Account

Go to: www.google.com/reader to sign up If you have a Gmail account - you can sign up with your same username and password.

Step 2: Find News

Signing up to receive news at your Google Reader Account is called Subscribing.

<----- Images like these are your friends! Before you search for news, see if you favorite websites already have RSS.

 

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For example: Your job requires you to keep up with a wide array of data and the Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data is your Bible. Visiting the journal's website you notice the orange "rss" button and clicking on it allows you to subscribe to news on this topic.

Sometimes they make it a little more challenging to find their RSS. Government Executive doesn't use an image but if you scroll down to the very bottom of the page there is a link that says "News Feeds." This leads you to a page where you can view and subscribe to several different feeds.

If you are a Firefox user, an orange icon in you address bar will tell you if a site has an RSS feed. Click on the icon and it will add it to the Live Bookmarks in Firefox. Live Bookmarks are a way to view RSS feeds without a reader like Google Reader. Google Reader is more robust and easier to manage - but seeing this icon in Firefox tells you to keep looking on the website for that elusive RSS!

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Step 3: Subscribe

Once you find the RSS webpage (this web page may look like crazy code in your browser), copy the URL from the address bar.

Now paste this into the "Add Subscription" in Google Reader.

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Firefox users have an additional option! If you are using Greasemonkey you can install Jasper's Google Reader Subscriber script. This simple script shows an RSS icon in the right corner of any page with an RSS feed. Click on the icon and you can instantly subscribe in Google Reader without having to find, copy and paste the actual feed address. Need help? Call Paige Lucas-Stannard at 3-8499.

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That's it! Next month we will be talking about how Google Reader can help you share news with others.

Finding the Best News

NASA News

NASA RSS Feeds (visit the link or copy the URL directly to subscribe)

Breaking News (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/breaking_news.rss)

Image of the Day (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/image_of_the_day.rss)

Large Image of the Day (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/lg_image_of_the_day.rss)

Moon and Mars Exploration News (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/moon_mars.rss)

Shuttle and Station News (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/shuttle_station.rss)

Solar System News (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/solar_system.rss)

Universe News (http://www.nasa.govhttp://www.nasa.gov/rss/universe.rss)

Earth News (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/earth.rss)

Aeronautics News (http://www.nasa.gov/rss/aeronautics.rss)

Glenn Technical Library also produces a number of News Feeds and specialized news aggregation is available on any topic. Call the Library at 3-8499.

Government News Feeds:

Did you know the U.S. Government has a whole library of RSS feeds published by different Governmental Agencies and Departments?

Business and Economics RSS Feeds
Get updates for small business owners, economic news, and other business related information.

Consumer RSS Feeds
News on recalls and public safety...

Defense and International Relations RSS Feeds
News, press releases, speeches, contract announcements...

Education and Employment RSS Feeds
Department of Education, Office of Personnel Management, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission newsfeeds...

Environment, Energy, and Agriculture RSS Feeds
News on conservation, forests, farms, human nutrition, hazardous waste, toxic chemicals, trash...

Family, Home, and Community RSS Feeds
Housing, census information, weather...

Health RSS Feeds
News and press releases from the National Institutes of Health, drug recalls, research...

Public Safety and Law RSS Feeds
Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, FEMA, courts...

Reference and General Government RSS Feeds
Courts, culture, data, statistics, copyrights, White House news and speeches...

Science and Technology RSS Feeds
Weather, earthquakes, energy, cyber alert system documents, scientific research...

Custom News

You can create an RSS News feed that is so specific it stops you from having to search.

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For example: Say you want to keep up with news concerning Nanotechnology and its applications in Space. You can run a Google News search for "nanotechnology and space" (no quotes). On the left side of the page you will see a link that says RSS. Click this link and subscribe with Google Reader. Now, each time Google comes across a news story on your topic it will send it to your Google Reader - no more searching!

For example: Many databases now have RSS capabilities. Engineering Village - a multi-subject technical database subscribed to at NASA Glenn has search specific RSS. If we run the same search for "nanotechnology and space" you will see our friendly, orange RSS icon at the top of the page. Click on this to subscribe to the feed and everytime a new article is added to the database Engineering Village will send it to your Google Reader - never be the last to know!

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Customized news feeds is a service offered by Glenn Technical Library at NO CHARGE to Glenn employees. Call Paige Lucas-Stannard for more information at 3-8499.

Glenn Technical Library offers InterLibrary Loan.

This service allows the Glenn Library to borrow books for a short time from other libraries and vice versa.  If you are looking for an item that we don't own, fill out a Request (Glenn only) for the item.  And the best part?  In most cases borrowing the item will not cost you a penny!  We also take purchasing recommendations, so, if you like a book and think your colleagues would enjoy it also, fill out a Purchase Recommendation Request (Glenn only).

 For more time - and money - saving services, contact the Library.