Thing 8 - RSS News Feeds and the Problem of "Getting the Scoop"

As long as I am quoting the Transcendentalists (see post #7), let me return to my friend Thoreau once again:

And I am sure that I never read any memorable news in a newspaper. If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter — we never need read of another. One is enough. If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad instances and applications? To a philosopher all news, as it is called, is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea. Yet not a few are greedy after this gossip.

So there you have it, friends: an intriguing view of the news. Even though Thoreau wrote these words over 100 years ago, it seems particularly apt today: Yet not a few are greedy after this gossip. It seems that modern society has a constant eye and ear for the "news." With scrolling bars and constantly updated windows, one will surely be abreast of the latest events and by extension better prepared for... for what? Aye, there's the rub!

I find that with the information glut, it becomes nearly impossible to determine who and what is truly important. Brittany Spears shares top billing with the upcoming presidential election and tsunami victims in the East. Huh! Paradoxically it seems that the wider availability of information often obscures one's knowledge of that which is truly important.

Perhaps that is why I found this particular "Thing" difficult. Not the application itself, but the question of to which news feeds I would subscribe. To subscribe is a very powerful word and has great implications, suggesting not only that I elect to receive something but more importantly that I endorse the material and way of thinking contained within. Yipes! I know, some of you are thinking I am waaaaay too serious about this stuff. It is called play, isn't it? I shall adopt a lighter tone as I move on from philosophy to application, I promise!

So, on to more practical matters. Our basic questions for this thing were as follows:

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your school or personal life?
How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

I think I have responded to the first question, although indirectly. We'll have to live with that type of answer. As for use in my school life, I can definitely see linking a couple of the RSS topics (book reviews, human interest stories and essays from NPR) to my school website, if that is possible. (Does anyone out there know the answer to that one?)

Also, as we are encouraging our AP students to become students of the world and to broaden their horizons beyond 77024, the newsfeeds seem a great way to encourage awareness of local, domestic, and international happenings. And even though she expressed a certain derision and scorn for news in her opening comments, the humble English teacher might learn something as well...