FPL's 23 Things

Blog Readers (Thing 2) by EAChase

A reader, also known as an aggregator, is a tool that allows you to interact with blogs and other Internet sites. Instead of visiting each site individually, you create subscriptions for the sites you follow and then visit the reader to view new content. We’ll be using Google Reader.

To get started, let’s first view this video from Common Craft: Google Reader in Plain English

You don’t need a new user name and password to open a Google Reader account—-you can use your Blogger account credentials. You can use your Google Reader account on any computer or mobile device with Internet access. Let’s start by opening http://www.google.com/reader.

Enter the email address you use with Blogger and your password, and then click Sign in. The layout of Reader is similar to the program you use to read email: folders on the left and an item list in the middle.

The Getting Started guide (http://www.google.com/help/reader/help.html) is a great overview of Reader’s features. You’ll be ready to start adding subscriptions after you’ve read it.

The first subscription we need to add to your account is one for the FPL 23 Things blog: http://fpl23things.wordpress.com/

1. Copy the address (highlight it with your mouse, right click and select Copy)
2. Click on the + Add a subscription button in the upper-left corner of your screen
3. Right-click on the box that opens and select Paste
4. Click the Add button

Now, most librarians like to keep things organized—and you’ll need some organization to keep up with your feeds. You should see the FPL 23 Things Blog in the middle pane of your window. Click on the Feed settings button, and then the New folder link:

Enter FPL 23 Things as the name for the folder, and click OK.

Now we’re ready to repeat the process. Add subscription for your blog (use the URL for your blog), and add it to the FPL 23 Things folder. Add the blogs of a few of your coworkers as well. (You can find a list of participants on the FPL 23 Things blogroll.)

Now you’re ready to go exploring on your own. You’ve created your Reader account, and added two subscriptions. Play with this … and write about it in your blog.

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