RSS Feeds: Following the Literature

1.  To determine what publications/blogs/sites that you may want to follow consult these resources:

• Magazines for Libraries - Irwin Library Ref. Desk (Information Commons Room) Z6941 .K2  This book which is used mostly by libraries to determine what magazines and journals to subsribe to, can also serve as a "starting out" tool to identify the prominent, authoritative magazines and journals within a subject area.  Check out the "Ga" and "Ac" periodical designations sections for a subject category to determine the most popular sources.
  
  
  Magazines for Libraries 
  
  
  
  

• Ulrichsweb - An online directory of magazine and journals that are published.  Choose the 'Advanced Search' search option to limit your searches by subject area, Magazines for Libraries reviews, and
  

• Time:  Best Blogs of 2011 - Layperson-oriented list of blogs; does provide a subject categorization.

• Globe of Blogs:  The Blog Directory - Blog directory (and search engine) allowing users to browse registered blogs by name, birthday (of blogger), title, topic, location, and gender (of blogger). Most of the blogs are personal blogs.

2.  There are a number of RSS feed readers out there; take some time selecting the one that has been designed or offers the most flexibility depending on the device that you are using - an iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android-system, PC.

Sites that discuss available Readers:

• LifeHacker:  Five Best RSS Newsreaders
• WebTrafficROI:  10 Best RSS Reader Alternatives to Google Reader
• Android Authority:  Best RSS Reader Apps for Android
• imore:  Top 5 best RSS news feed readers for iphone
  

3.  Check to see if we have online access to the magazine or journal that you would like to follow.  Here are the steps:

• Off the Library's Homepage, select:  'Journals A-Z' and do a title look-up
• Follow the links until you reach the publication title landing page
• Note:  Not all of our magazine/journal databases generate RSS feeds.  Those that do include:  Ebsco databases, Proquest, ProjectMUSE, and JSTOR.
  
• Look for the RSS feed icon or a 'Save' button/link. 
  
• Copy the RSS feed URL, open your RSS feed Reader, and copy the link.

Here is an approximate visual representation of the steps:

Please note:  To draw in a feed from some of our subscription-based vendors (for example, Ebsco), you have to create an Ebsco or database account.  This is a one time process and is free; however, be sure to store your username and password for future reference!

Also, to read the full-text article, you will be authenticated through to Butler's proxy server to verify that you are indeed a Butler student, faculty, or staff.