Using Google Reader

Overview: Feeds & Feed ReadersFeeds allow you to see when websites have added new content without having to visit the websites. Using a feed reader such as Google Reader you can collect multiple feeds in one place allowing you to keep up-to-date with the latest content from a variety of sources.

Feeds are usually labelled with this icon . They are sometimes called RSS, Atom or XML feeds.  A feed is simply a URL that you add to your feed reader. 

Setting up Google ReaderGo to http://www.google.co.uk/reader where you can login or create a Google Account if you don’t already have one (see the reverse of this handout for notes for new accounts).

Adding Feeds to Google ReaderTip: Use muliple tabs or additional Internet Explorer windows so that you can keep Google Reader open while locating feeds to add to it.

Feeds are available from a variety of sources: Websites with ‘news’ including traditional media and many organisations Blogs E-journals Library databases Podcasts Web 2.0 services – Twitter, Delicious etc

In Google Reader use to add feeds. You can:

1. Paste feed URLs copied from one of the above sources2. Use search terms to find feeds and

then 3. Paste website URLs and Google

Reader will try to auto-discover the feed URL

Finding FeedsTo find feeds on a particular website look for ‘Feeds’, ‘RSS’ or the fairly standard feed icon . On some websites you may find an ‘Add to Google (Reader)’ button.

Blogs – All blogs have feeds. Finding relevant blogs rather than the blog feed is the challenge! There are specialist blog search tools such as Technorati http://technorati.com and Google Blog Search http://blogsearch.google.co.uk The Intute Advanced search http://www.intute.ac.uk/search.html will limit your search to more academic blogs.

E-Journals & Databases – provision of feeds varies considerably between databases. Some e-journals provide feeds for their table of contents Look out for the feeds icon . Databases providing feeds include EconLit, the international Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS), IPSA & Psycinfo.

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© LSE Centre for Learning Technology 10/04/2023

Using Google Reader

Reading FeedsIn Google Reader the subscriptions (feeds) you have added are listed on the left and the recent items appear in the main panel. Click on the titles to see & read them. Many items will appear in full but some feeds only include part of the article and you will need to click on the (blue) title to visit the source website.

You can choose to view items as a List (titles only) or Expanded via links at the top-right. At the bottom of each article there are a set of icons including:

Add star Useful for marking posts for easy retrieval later Email (Googlemail users) Edit tags Tags are like folders except they apply to individual items rather than an

entire subscription

Managing Feeds in Google ReaderIf you subscribe to lots of feeds you might want to organise your subscriptions into Folders. At the bottom of the left-hand column there is a link to “Manage Subscriptions” This takes you to the Settings pages for Google Reader which includes:

Subscriptions – Rename, delete & create folders for your subscriptions Preferences – including display settings Folders & Tags – delete & share. (New folders are created in Subscriptions) Send To – Set up Reader to share items on other networks (e.g. Twitter &

Facebook)

Notes for Creating a Google Account Use an existing e-mail address that you can check immediately after registration. If you are using a shared / public computer ‘Stay signed in’ should be left blank. If you do not want your searches recorded to provide personalised searches then you

should disable ‘Web History’. After creating your account you will need to log in to your e-mail account and click on

the link in the e-mail from Google to verify your e-mail address.

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© LSE Centre for Learning Technology 10/04/2023