Using Bloglines

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Using Bloglines

• Walter L. Betts
• Spring 2007

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Definition Aggregator

• Software or services that collect syndicated
  content, such as RSS feeds
• Blogs
• News Sources
• Wikis
• No spam

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Definition RSS

• Stands for Real Simple Syndication
• Look for RSS Icons
• Publishes new content for blogs, news sources,
  wikis, etc.

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Bloglines

• A simple, web-based aggregator
• Go to one site to view new posts to your favorite
  RSS feeds (blogs, news sources wikis)
• Allows you to organize your feeds into folders
• Allows you to clip and save interesting posts

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Create Your Own Account

• Open http//www.bloglines.com in your browser
• Click on the SIGN UP NOW link in the middle of
  the page

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Create Your Own Account

• Type in a current/working email address that you
  can easily get to, and a password you will
  remember
• You can always change the email address and
  password later on, if necessary
• Change the time zone to Central (-0600)
• Click the Register button

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Validate Your Account

• Bloglines will now send a confirmation email to
  your email account
• Open the message from Bloglines Validation
• Click on the validation link in that message
• Your new Bloglines accounts welcome page will
  open in a browser

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Adding Feeds

• From the Directory tab, you can select any of the
  blogs listed
• We will import a blogroll
• A blogroll is a group of feeds, an an XML format
  called OPML
• Use the richardson.opml file that you can get
  from Julie
• Put the ompl file on your desktop

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Importing Feeds

• Go to your bloglines page, and click My Feeds
• In the left-hand column, scroll to the bottom of
  the screen, and click on Import Subscriptions

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Importing Feeds

• In the primary frame click the Browse button
• Navigate your desktop
• Select the richardson.opml file
• Click the Open button
• Click Import
• A list of imported feeds will be displayed
• Click on the My Feeds tab to see your feeds

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Before You Do Anything Else!

• Click Edit
• Click the top folder (51 feeds)
• Click the Choose Operation pulldown
• Click Sort Newest First
• Click Submit

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Whats in the Folder

• Click the Feeds tab
• Select a folder
• Click the
• Click on a blog
• New posts will appear
• If the folder is empty, you will see a drop down
  that allow you to display posts for a specified
  time period

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How do I keep the good stuff?

• Find a really good posting
• Click the Clip/BlogThis link at the bottom of the
  post
• Click the Save to button on the popup
• Make sure the pulldown has selected Clippings
  Folder

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The Good Stuff

• Items are saved in the clippings tab
• Alice Yucht recommends inserting a prefix before
  the title (e.g., CAT for Cataloging, or BUS for
  Business) for organization

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Sharing with a friend

• Find a really good posting
• Click the Email This link at the bottom of the
  post (next to the Clip/Blog This link)
• Enter the recipients email address and any
  message you want to include, and click the Send
  Mail button
• The email will appear to come from the account
  that is registered with Bloglines

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Creating a New Folder

• Click the Edit link
• Click the New Folder link
• In the popup, enter the folder name and click OK

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Add a Feed

• Locate a blog, news source, wiki or other
  resource that might have a feed
• look for the RSS Symbol
• If you see a add to Bloglines link or icon,
  click it
• If your using the latest version of Internet
  Explorer or Firefox, look for the
• Or, copy the URL of the blog (not the feed)

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Add a Feed

• Click on the Add link
• Paste the URL into the appropriate box
• Click Subscribe

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Completing the Add

• Select a feed
• From the pulldown, select the appropriate folder
  for this feed
• Check the remainder of the options
• Notice that you can use bloglines with mobile
  devices
• Click Subscribe
• Look for more interesting blogs, news sources
  wikis!

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Yuck! I dont want this!

• How do you delete a blog you decide that you
  dont want to read?
• Click Edit
• Open the folder and click on the blog you want to
  delete
• Click the trash can
• Click OK in the popup window
• Use the same method to delete folders

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Using Bloglines for Mail Lists

• Click on Feeds
• Click on Create Email Subscripions (left
  frameAdditional Features)
• Enter a name for the subscription (usually the
  list name), and assign the list to a folder
• Use the email address that Bloglines creates to
  subscribe to the list
• You can reply to posts, create new posts, and
  manage your subscription

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Getting articles from EBSCO

• Go to http//search.ebscohost.com and select a
  database
• Login to your MyEBSCOHost account
• Click the Publications link (underneath the
  Advanced Search tab)
• Select a journal

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Journal Alerts

• Select the appropriate Journal title from the
  list
• Click Journal Alert in the upper-right hand
  corner
• Complete the form, selecting no email (RSS only)
• Click Save at the bottom of the screen
• Either copy the feed URL from the results screen
  or from the email confirmation sent to you

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Search Alerts

• Create a query that you would like to run on a
  periodic basis
• Click the Search History/Alerts tab
• Select the search (click the box) and click the
  Save Searches / Alerts tab
• In the Save Search As section, click Alert
• Complete the form, selecting no email (RSS only)
• Click Save at the bottom of the screen
• Either copy the feed URL from the results screen
  or from the email confirmation sent to you

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EBSCO Feed URLs

• TCU uses a link resolver to help manage our
  resources
• Bloglines does not understand the resulting URL
• http//lib.tcu.edu/PURL/EZproxy_link.asp?urlhttp
  //rss.epnet.com/AlertSyndicationService/Syndicatio
  n.asmx/GetFeed?guid968424
• Cut and paste the middle section of this URL
  the part after url
• http//rss.epnet.com/AlertSyndicationService/Syndi
  cation.asmx/GetFeed?guid968424
• This URL will work with bloglines!

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Alices Advice on Blogs

• be forewarned...
• Reading blogs is like eating potato chips. One
  link leads to another, and another, and

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Thank You!

• Walter L. Betts
• w.betts_at_tcu.edu
• January 2007