Moving Along, Nothing to See Here

English: This icon, known as the "feed icon" or the "RSS icon", (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Google Reader is going away

Where did I leave that panic button? I know it's around here somewhere...

I love to read. I love to read about current events and niche topics that hardly anyone really cares about. I use RSS feeds to deliver my content right to me. It is a librarian's dream to have information delivered to both my computer and my mobile device which makes information consumption and retrieval a smooth a ride as ever.

But alas, it was not meant to be. Google has announced that Reader (proper noun) is just not hacking it, so they've placed all the readers (common noun) on notice to find a new news (see what I did there?) delivery service by July 1.

Cue the Common Top 5 Post

This announcement has been a boon for techno-bloggers who suddenly have visions of writing THE post that helps people find their new RSS reader (while boosting their own subscription statistics). Guess what, look no further, because I have written that post a day late and a dollar short.

I searched high and low and decided that these RSS reader services are the best ones for you, fair reader, to investigate. Be sure to take these out for a test drive to see how they fit in to your personal preferences.

The Magazine Style

Most of those other (read: lesser) "Top Reader Replacement" posts promote these guys as THE GO-TO options when transitioning out of Google Reader. They all have mobile platforms that make the reading experience as mobile as it is beautiful. Without further ado, The Magazine Style Readers:

Image via CrunchBase

1) Feedly: This bad boy is number one on my list and number one overall. This is the only RSS reader alternative whose placement in this link is also a ranking. I have been somewhat transitioning to Feedly anyway. I like the social features that are baked right into it. Your standard Twitter, Facebook, G+ and email are all there, but it also includes Buffer, Evernote, Delicious and others. This spares me the need to use IFTTT to jury-rig a "seamless" share to other services based on a trigger. (What other blog dares to use jury-rig and seamless in the same sentence?)

In addition, there are browser plugins and a handy transition guide that promises to make the July 1 transition a painless process.

Pulse (Photo credit: Johan Larsson)

2) Pulse: I began using Pulse Reader when I owned a Motorola Cliq (author shudders with sudden sensations of sinister semesters with that cursed phone and inability to update to Android 2.0). So maybe my opinions are tainted from the lack of a quality device. If that's the case, then go out and use Pulse now!

I actually do not mind Pulse all that much as an RSS reader replacement. It certainly has a beautiful interface which can be customized to a certain extent. I mainly miss a list format (Pulse seems to only allow the magazine look) and the social options provided by others. Clearly, you can't really go wrong this this application.

Flipboard (Photo credit: netzkobold)

3) Flipboard: Another favorite in the visually stimulating category is Flipboard. This is a gorgeous reader for the mobile platform that presents news in an aesthetically pleasing manner. It can pull information from feeds and social networks (so can Pulse) and organize them in a sensible way.

The only downside is the lack of a web application for desktop use. Perhaps things will change with a ported view given the trajectory of the modern OS, but that is a major downside of this option if you consider yourself a power user. (I fancy myself a power in everything, even if it turns out to be only a fantasy.)

The Ugly Style

Please tell me you haven't forgotten The Ugly One...

Some people don't care about those fancy-schmaltzy user interfaces that come with these new-fangled interweb RSS readers, let me just have a basic view where I can jump from item to item with no problem. After all, Google Reader worked just fine under that principle. The few people who used it seem to like it. So there!

4) The Old Reader: This application claims to be just that, an old version of Google Reader! What better place to transition to than a downgraded version of what you love? All kidding aside, this little RSS Reader is a nice application for those who just want to read articles--images or video not so much. It is clean and straightforward.

As mentioned earlier, images were rendered strangely (everything was shoved to the right side, no wrapping  whatsoever) and videos didn't even appear (which may be a clue for bloggers to remember to always include a link to videos in addition to embedding them). The Old Reader also seems to be gaining in popularity, because they were unable to process my Google Reader feeds due to overload. I tested the application on my personal blogs: GARB & WTHT. Overall, if you want a nice reader that doesn't bother with images and stuff, this is probably the one you'll be happiest with.

5) NewsBlur: Newsblur is laid out very much like Outlook, complete with a folder structure and reading panes. This RSS reader also owns a mobile app, so you can take it on the road. Personally, I feel like I am staring at my work inbox when I look at this UI, so I'm not too hot for it. But I understand how some people would love the simplicity and versatility of this layout (so much for my power user status).

The worst critique of NewsBlur--from what I've read-- is that they limit the number of subscriptions available to users. If this is true, then shame on them. Can't you see we're used to getting whatever we want in whatever portions we want?

6) Twitter Lists: I am not going to link to Twitter. You should know this one by now. And yes, people are actually suggesting that Twitter can be used to aggregate content because anyone who publishes stuff on the web should have a twitter feed by now and should be posting links to their articles straight to their feeds.

This option is decidedly more cumbersome, but still a great idea with some great benefits. For one thing, you can receive a text notification that your favorite writer has published a new post. Once you have opened the link in your browser, you can also share it with whatever application you'd like. It is mobile, a web application and can be customized using client software.

No, Twitter was not developed specifically as a feed reader. But it can serve admirably as a patch for the RSS service.

Related articles

• Google Reader Is Being Shut Down - Here Are Some Alternatives
• The Best Google Reader Alternatives
• 10 Google Reader alternatives
• Google Reader is dead: Here are five alternatives
• State of RSS Readers
• R.I.P. Google Reader: 2005-2013

Blimey! Are we going metric?

Think Metric! By Franklin M. Branley [c1972]

Weeding

USF mug, FIU sweater. (Photo credit: CMJimenez)

Every librarian should have some experience with the term. As a library student, I just turned in an assignment where I was to de-select 10% of a library's collection and then spend $3,000 on new materials for the collection (I had to drive from Miami to Tampa for a class in order to turn it in. See image to the right for proof of caffeine). I must say, it was fun to do traditional librarian duties in a real-world setting.

The Metric System is Coming!

We have all heard about some crazy books. This blog is no Awful Library Books, but this one has got to be the worst that I found in the collection. It warns that the metric system is about to invade the United States (kinda like the way the British Invasion influenced our music) and we should get used to measuring everything by the metric system.

Is the Metric System Superior?

Now, I'm not writing this to answer any question about the superiority of the metric system, this is a library blog after all. A better question for my purposes is: This book predicted that the metric system is taking over, has it?

Clearly, we still measure distance in miles and size in inches and feet. We are forty years removed from the publication of this title (making it older than I have been on this planet--yes, I will enjoy saying it every time I get the chance to) and we still have not seen the metric invasion.

Will we see it sometime in the future? Perhaps. However, I do not feel that the United States is on the verge of conversion. Therefore, we do not need to hold this outdated title in the collection.

Do you agree with my decision, or do you think the piece should have stayed? Let me know in the comments section!

Crash into WCAG: Web Design for Accessibility

web accessibility word cloud (Photo credit: itjil)

Why is accessibility so important?

As most of my avid readers know, I am simultaneously employed in the Division of IT for an academic institution and working towards a Masters Degree in Library and Information Science. A major component of the profession of Librarianship is to achieve a comfort level with emerging technologies and an ability to leverage the information potential of these technologies for maximum educational, recreational and informational impact.

Given the above precis of the occupation, I felt it necessary to take an introductory course in web design to develop and further my skills in the subject matter. While I have some prior experience in HTML and style sheets (CSS) and I am adept at conceptualizing design elements, I find my skills lacking in the execution of my vision.

As a result of my place of employment and current academic course load, I find myself evaluating the web pages used by my institution. This past week, I assisted a visually impaired student as she attempted to reset her account passwords. I could hear her screen reader delineate all the items on the page and I knew that one key element was missing. The page was directing her to a different web site in order to reset that password, but the web site was not a hot link and as a result, she would not be able to click on it to be redirected to the page.

How would WCAG have helped?

If the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) was followed more closely, the URL would have been coded as an active hyperlink and the user would have been able to tell their device to follow the link to the appropriate web page instead of having to dig deeper into the program. In other words, the web page's accessibility would have been vastly meliorated.

WCAG compiles the best practices for constructing web pages, which includes the proper use of links, headers and alt tags for images. Read the WCAG overview for more detailed information on the guidelines. For further reading and implementation assistance, one may consider looking into authoring tools as described in the ATAG Overview.

Accessibility in the real world

Unfortunately, there are a lot of things in the real world that remain inaccessible to individuals with physical disabilities. However, much like incorporating elements in construction design, web developers have the tools at their disposal to improve the accessibility of their web pages and are responsible to follow the 508 standards. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and aforementioned authoring tools are a great place to start.

More Reading

• Pressing Your Buttons
• Dreaming of Springtime

Super Sunday Set in Our House!

Fighting in the Stacks

Oreo cookie seems to have scored on their Super Bowl Commercial. A commercial which features my prospective profession quite prominently. I was alerted to this commercial on twitter & I must say, it is fabulous.

Enjoy!

Mugged for my Lunch

A Little Gardening

This weekend's class meeting has been riveting. We've been talking about weeding collections. Can I get a woot for weeding? Can I get a woot for user complaints about throwing away useless materials?

I thought so. The drama is not really what happens in class--it's what happens outside of the classroom that counts.

For instance, I wrote my paper last week. It was pretty stressful, I must say. Further, I wasn't able to print out my assignment before leaving Miami at 9.30 PM. I arrived in Tampa at about 2.30 AM and could not, for the life of me, figure out how to print my paper out. So my lovely wife and I went on a scavenger hunt for a printing facility that might be open at 3 in the morning. We ended up traveling 20 minutes away to downtown so I could print my assignment. Ya. Do the math. I got to bed at 4 AM. Fun. Glamorous. Oh ya!

Welcome to the Jungle

Want more stories? How 'bout getting mugged by a punk squirrel with an attitude problem? I was sitting, minding my own business, when this squirrel barrels into my lunch bag and demands I hand over my peanut butter and wheat bread sandwich. You'll be happy to hear that I fought him off successfully.

Don't worry. I left a peace offering of sammich crust behind when I finished.

Muggles Afoot

Now my fellow future librarians are discussing the intricacies of Harry Potter. Important things like allegiances to Slitherin or Griffindor, whether Huffinclaw or Ravenpuff is cooler and how Hagrid's parents pro created (the consensus is that a spell had to be involved).

Future Library and Information Science graduate studies beware: the drama is HOT.

Pressing Your Buttons

Web Design

The operative word here is "design," as in: Library Design. An early task in my Web Development for Librarian's class is to familiarize myself with the content management system known as Wordpress. The fruits of my labor revolve around that concept of Library Design.

I know, I know; I'm a Blogger guy. I chose to work with Blogger instead of Wordpress back in 2011 (actually before then with a previous blog). However, I must say that Wordpress is quite beautiful. I knew this before, but now I have tasted the forbidden nectar. You can now say I am experienced in the ways of Wordpress.

Either way you slice it, both Blogger and Wordpress allow you to do the same kinds of things. I have successfully customized Blogger's dynamic theme to accomplish my purposes & I have no doubt that Wordpress offers the exact same level of customization.

I look forward to more challenging exercises in Web Design as we continue through the semester.

Greener on Top of Us

This was an interesting quote from today's class meeting. It was in reference to libraries being a battle ground for Amazon & Publishers to duke it out over eBooks. I found it witty & sadly true.