1. Bhupesh Shah, B.Sc., MBA Professor bhupesh.shah@senecacollege.ca
Session Title:
Let the news & views come to you… using online tools & social media to keep current.
Session Description:
How do you stay on top of the latest news and developments in your professional discipline? How can you utilize personal learning environments, such as Blackboard, or tools like iGoogle, Feedly, or Pulse to bring you the information you want? How can you utilize social media, such as Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to not only connect with people, but to also broadcast current events and topics of interest to your community? Where do you find   alerts and RSS feeds and why are they useful, particularly if you want to find the latest published issue of your favourite journal? This session will explore how  these online tools (or research tools) can enhance teaching and learning by bringing useful and relevant content to you and your students.
Goals:
Participants will be introduced to RSS feeds (from web and library sources), and will explore news items and information sources using content curation tools and social media.
Location:
Computer lab
Mara Bordignon, B.Sc., M.I.St.
Information Services Librarian
Bhupesh Shah, B.Sc., MBA
Professor

2. Personalizers and Aggregators
Agenda
Problem
Solution
Research Tools
Personalizers and Aggregators
Q&A

3. Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. Mitchell Kapor
Bhupesh
Challenges from the viewpoint of a college professor:
it’s not the amount of information (there’s plenty out there) … it’s just how do we filter & find what is relevant
afraid we might miss something
Mara
Challenges from the viewpoint of an academic librarian:
Misconception that everything is available for free
Focus on evaluation (& filtering) because find (via powerful search engines & curation tools) has become easier
Student’s need to be exposed to these tools as a way to gather and discuss news, views, etc. BUT, evaluation of quality (who wrote it, why, credibility, etc.), also needs to be considered/conveyed to students
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4. There is so much that can be shared
Bhupesh challenges:
different types of info but also, different ways (avenues) of sharing this information with students, colleagues, friends, etc.
Mara’s challenges
it’s not just traditional formats: books and articles since this content is becoming enriched (embedded videos; recommended similar titles; references are linked)
libraries traditionally purchase rich content (videostreaming, photostock, etc.)
Library websites often place firewalls around subscription-based services so it can [sometimes] be challenging for faculty to easily access these valuable resources

5. Here’s what we do… Bhupesh
Within my discipline, it is vital to stay current and keep up-to-date with news (innovations, ideas, viewpoints, etc.) on a daily basis
By using some of the tools that will be shared with you later, I’m able to manage the flow of information and share it to various audiences (my peers on a private FB page, students, general public)
Mara
How do a create a bridge between what libraries own and what is freely accessible on the web?
I can do this in two ways:
(1) identify quality sources of information e.g. key journals within a discipline are extremely useful for daily news (free) and research (subscription), and;
(2) subscription-based & free information sources have commonalities that allows users to track them, e.g. RSS feeds.

6. Mara
We can PULL information to us with RSS feeds
Once subscribed to a feed, an aggregator is able to check for new content at user-determined intervals and retrieve the update
Aggregators reduce the time and effort needed to regularly check websites for updates, creating a unique information space or personal newspaper.
It’s easy to unsubscribe to a feed, simply by deleting it
or IM can be described as being PUSHED to us
Few more steps to unsubscribe – you may need to send an or visit the host site to unsubscribe
Set up your parameters so information is delivered to you automatically.
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7. October 2009
Mara:
What is RSS?:
Syndicated newsfeed from a variety of information sources, e.g. publishers, news organizations, blogs, etc.
when you see an RSS icon or logo, copy and paste it into your news aggregator (and/or your PLE, etc.)
once subscribed, all new items will automatically appear in your aggregator
RSS link or logo itself is freely available to copy … the content to which it leads you to may be subscription based (in which you may have to pay) BUT the big advantage here is you will get the title & summary notification, regardless of whether or not you pay
RSS: Really Simple Syndication - a syndicated news feed, in XML format, to which you can subscribe.
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©Seneca Libraries

8. Free news from subscription based sources
News, comments, editorials, brief communications, correspondence, article previews
= Free
Mara: Scholarly/Academic Science news example LIVE DEMO
Nature web feeds link:
Point: feeds will give you article title & brief summary; if you want to read entire article (which is usually 10-30page scientific research study), then you would need to consult with your library (website) to see if it is available in full-text
Research article link (Seneca access only):
Free news from subscription based sources

9. When do you pay?! When you want to read the entire article from the latest issue.
Mara:
When do need to pay?!
To access and read an entire journal research article from:
The current (latest) issue released
Archives which usually go back several years
BUT check with your institution’s library first!
Why? They may already have [paid] for an online subscription and may have access to the latest issue plus back issues (archives which go back several years).
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10. Want to read the entire article?
Want to read the entire article?
Mara: Scholarly/Academic Business news example LIVE DEMO
Harvard Business review:
Website RSS – new releases & article previews; full-text access to articles for magazine subscribers
Mara
Visit your institution’s library to see if they provide full-text access to the journal, magazine or newspaper title.
Additional info [will explain only if asked]
Library’s usually set up two types of access points with subscription based products:
Vendor aggregators (e.g. EBSCO, ProQuest, Gale): which purchase titles from several products usually as bundles
Individual publishers (e.g. Nature Publishing Group, Elsevier, etc.): selective, individual eJournal subscriptions
Free access to ½ the article!
Subscription ($) or contact your library

11. Elsevier: articles released months before “official” publication date
Elsevier website:
Elsevier: articles released months before “official” publication date
Mara: Scholarly/Academic Health/Science/Sociology news example
Elsevier (database provider & publisher):
Seneca Libraries capture
Fee-based, subscription service
RSS feeds can be added so you can still get notification of new articles w/ brief; however, the links to those articles may break if they pass through the library firewall (again, it is best to note article info – title, author, vol, issue, date, etc. – and search for the full-text through your library’s website)
Applied Ergonomics (Journal link to Seneca subscription:

12. Access Points Higher Education News http://www.insidehighered.com/
Mara: Scholarly/Academic Higher Education news example
Educational news, views, articles, commentary (free, reputable):
Educause (free)
The Chronicle of Higher Education (free news, article previews, subscription based to research articles)
Academica (Canadian Higher Education)
Higher Education News

13. Ok, so now we found all these feeds, tweets, posts … how can I track all this stuff in one place?
Mara
has highlighted some information sources (with an emphasis on scholarly/academic)
Bhupesh
will provide an overview & selection of some neat tools you can use

14. Resources: http://bit.ly/content_curation
Bhupesh
Uses: in the classroom & professionally
“In the old days”, photocopy a newspaper article and share with class; now you can tweet an article (saves paper, time, and is more convenient)
Mara
Mostly an ‘iGoogle’r ; introduced to Feedly & Themeefy by Bhupesh

15. iGoogle Mara: Personal Learning Environments (e.g. iGoogle): LIVE DEMO
Customize content
Gadgets are content boxes which can range from from publisher websites, news sources, blogs, etc. to language translaters, weather forecasts, social media (twitter, FB, etc.)

16. iGoogle
Add Gadget
Mara: Personal Learning Environments (e.g. iGoogle) allow you to customize and add content: LIVE DEMO
Can add gadget – equivalent to “apps” on mobile devices
Syncs with social media (gadgets for twitter & Facebook)
Add, move, delete gadgets

17. Feedly Bhupesh: LIVE DEMO
multiplatform aggregator - iOS, Android, Chrome, Safari and Firefox
collect blogs, RSS feeds, websites
Synchronized across all platforms
Mara:
My feedly (library, elearning focused)

18. Tweetdeck Bhupesh LIVE DEMO Tweetdeck: various accounts
Windows/Mac/Chrome/iOS/Android
Synchronized across all platforms
Mara
Show: twitter to follow professional organizations, people of interest, of non-people: search tip services, publishers, news organizations

19. Pinterest
Bhupesh LIVE DEMO

20. But what about the students?
These tools allow you to easily, effortlessly and efficiently engage your students.
Bhupesh
2 uses: (1) keeping yourself up-to-date, and; (2) engaging your students via a new method of communication
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21. Your turn... Pick a tool and try it out.
For example, if someone needs a suggestion:
Feedly – create an account – add something of interest, e.g. (good example of a ‘non-traditional’ source – they can find the feed for new items uploaded to the site)

22. Mara Bordignon, B.Sc., M.I.St.,
Information Services Librarian, Seneca College | @marabordignon
Bhupesh Shah, B.Sc., MBA
Professor, Seneca College |
@ethnicomm
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