Blogs and Blog Readers

I’m so excited about being able to see all my favorite blogs in one place, by using a blog reader!  This is such a helpful tool!  There were so many enticing readers to choose from.  I wish I had more time to play with a few more, and I’m sure I will in the future.  As for now, I chose the reader, NewsBlur, mainly for two reasons: simplicity and price.  There were a few other readers that caught my eye, but they seemed a little out of my league (for the moment) or there was not a free version.  Since I’m just starting out using these readers, I want to be able to explore without commitment, just yet.  Other aspects of NewsBlur, that appeal to me, are the way that you can change the view of your feed, from a simple view or to where you actually see the site’s info that you are following.  In addition, although I haven’t had a whole lot of time to play with this feature, I like that it has smart filtering where you can highlight or hide stories, so that you see only what you are interested in.  I also like that you can share what you’re reading within the blog, and see what other’s are reading too.  Seems like a good way to be introduced to sites that I might not otherwise ever know about.  Since I got the free version, there were aspects that I couldn’t gain access to, that I think would prove beneficial, should I decide to stick with this blog reader.   

Blogs that I chose to follow in my blog reader:

http://cozyupandread.blogspot.com/

Cozy Up and Read

A blog about early childhood education and children’s literature.  The blog shares book recommendations and ideas on promoting literacy.  I chose to follow this blog because I want to be an elementary school librarian and I think this blog will greatly benefit me in that role.  I think I will learn a lot of great things to implement in my library and to share with teachers as well, as to how to promote literacy. 

http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/

Musings About Librarianship

This blog shares interesting and cool ideas for libraries.  Although it’s not strictly for school libraries, I feel like this blog would introduce me to ideas I might not know about and help me to stay current with technology or other current ideas. 

http://www.aasl.ala.org/aaslblog/

American Association of School Libraries

A blog that shares news and information about Libraries and Librarians.  I chose to follow this blog because it will help me as a professional.  I can stay up-to-date on important news, as well as current events in the school library world. 

http://www.alatechsource.org/blog

American Library Association TechSource

This blog lists reports on different technology.  I chose this blog to follow because it will help me to make informed choices about technology that I might want for my future library or school. 

http://infolitlib20.blogspot.com/

Information Literacy meets Library 2.0

A blog about the latest technology and tools for learning.  I chose this site because I want to stay up to date with technology.  This site introduces technology and shares ideas on how to use it in education. 

http://www.mrschureads.blogspot.com/

Watch. Connect. Read

Book trailers covering the best children’s literature.  Created by the librarian, Mr. Schu.  I chose this blog because I like book trailers and I think students do as well.  I think this would be a great blog to share with students.  It also introduces me to new books as well. 

A note about Tumblr…

Tumblr is a microblogging platform and social media website, similar to twitter.  In searching for school libraries, to see how schools are using tumblr, I found many similarities between how schools are using tumblr and what I found upon looking at how schools used facebook.  I saw a lot of book reviews and pictures of students in action in the library.  This isn’t my favorite platform to use, but probably because I’m not as familiar with it, as I am twitter or facebook.