Workshop handout

1. Using Google Reader
Overview: Feeds & Feed Readers
Feeds 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 Reader
Go 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 Reader
Tip: 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 sources
2. Use search terms to find feeds and
then
3. Paste website URLs and Google
Reader will try to auto-discover the feed
URL
Finding Feeds
To 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 26/01/2010

2. Using Google Reader
Reading Feeds
In 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 Reader
If 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 26/01/2010