BLOG JA:

Exploring Jane Austen blogs and how to make the most of them

with RSS

What are blogs?

• ‘Weblogs’ or ‘blogs’ are publicly available web pages, with personal views and links expressing news, opinions and observations, usually on a specific topic or theme.

http://www.laredogroup.com/glossresourc.asp

What are blogs?

• Updates are published regularly and appear in the form of “posts”.

• Each post is an individual news story, similar to an article in a journal

• Older posts are archived in reverse chronological order, and appear as “archives” in a side panel on the blog

MANY topics …

• Literature• Health • Sport• News• Professional – for many

professions• If you have an interest, there is

probably a blog….

New Post

New Post

Archives

Other typical features of blogs

• Blurb about the author

Other typical features of blogs

• Blogroll or ‘links’– to other blogs

Banner

Access to other

resources

Feeds

Search

Other typical features of blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Some great related blogs

Some great related Blogs

Some great related Blogs

Some great related blogs

Some great J.A blogs

Texts of Jane’s novels, juvenilia, works of contemporaries….

•Biography•Georgian era•Regency era•Victorian era•Art & Architecture•Much, much more…

Links to icons, screen captures from

movies, fan sites

Professional and amateur podcasts of all the novels,

and sources about the novels.

• English culture• Crime• Cookery • Fashion• Furnishings • Much, much more …

Resources for high school and

undergraduate college students

Jane’s novels as they are presented on websites and

other blogs

A wealth of literary resources about JA

and her contemporaries

Why I have not included certain sites….

• Pemberley.com and other mega-sites

• JASA• Jane Austen Centre• No feeds …..

To find blogs …

• Use a Blog Search• http://blogsearch.google.com/• MOSTLY use blogs to find other blogs

• Now lets introduce

•RSS

• The old way: visit many blogs or websitesevery day

• The new way: feed all the new posts to your RSS reader

RSS is like reading journals…

• Lots of them!

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication

From “Push” to “Pull”

My Google Reader

Google Reader

• http://www.google.com/reader

Google Reader

• Sign in with free account

RSS Feed: Subscribing

• 1. Find a blog.2. Copy the URL or link.

• 3. Go to Google Reader.• 4. Click on Add Subscription.• 5. Paste in the link. • 6. Organize the new feed into

your folders or subject structure.

Step 1 (Find a blog)

Step 2 (Copy RSS Link)

Step 3 (Go to Reader)

Step 4 (Add Feed)

• Click on Add subscription

• This expands to give you space to paste the URL.

Step 5 (Paste Link)

• Paste the URL in the box, then click ADD.

Step 7 (Sort Feed)

Manage subscriptions allow you to group feeds

under folders.

Step 6 (Sort Feed)

• Choose a topic folder or create a new folder.

• TIP: When you view a folder, you see the newest items for the topic all integrated together.

Subscribing

• Some pages offer buttons you can just click on to add a feed.

• This allows you to skip steps 3-6!

RSS Feed: Subscribing

• 1. Find a feed.• 2. Find RSS button, and click• 3. Select your RSS Reader.• 4. Organize the new feed into

your folders or subject structure.

Step 1 (Find Webpage)

Step 2 (RSS button)

Step 3 (Select your RSS Reader)

Step 4 (Organise feed into subject structure)

• Choose a topic folder or create a new folder.

Credits:

Kay Schneider with slides from

Britt Watwood, VCU

“Using RSS Personally and Professionally”Patricia F. Anderson, U. Mich

“RSS Demystified”Perter Bromberg, SJRLC

Ashwini, Social Media Evangelist