In Thing 11 we return to the theme of RSS feeds, which we discussed earlier in Things 5 and 6. However, this time we will be looking at podcasts which are a special type of RSS feed for audio and video content.

Podcasts are now common on the web and are often audio files (for example recordings of radio programmes, lectures, readings, drama, interviews, audio diaries or music). However, Podcasts may also include video content as well.

When you come across a podcast on the web you can usually listen to it or view it, simply by clicking "play" or "listen". However, because podcasts use RSS, you can also subscribe to them using a feed reader such as Google Reader. This means that when ever there is a new episode of the podcast you will receive it in your feed reader. In fact. subscribing to a podcast is a bit like subscribing to a blog - except that the information you receive is in audio or video format rather than text and pictures.

There are some RSS feed readers which have been designed specifically for podcasts. These are called Podcatchers and often facilitate the transfer of podcasts to MP3 players. Probably the most well known podcatcher is iTunes. However, you can susbscribe to podcasts using an ordinary RSS feed reader such as Google Reader just as easily and effectively.

The fact that Podcasts use RSS makes them popular with broadcasters who want to create a whole series of recordings which are broadcast periodically or in episodes. However, as you explore Podcasts you'll find that many end up consisting of one single file or episode only!

To find out more about podcasts and podcasting view "Podcasting in Plain English" on the Commoncraft Show.

What do you need to listen to a podcast (and for thing 12)?

To listen to a podcast you need a computer with speakers or headphones.

If you are working in a quiet area (or if you do not have speakers on your computer) you will need to use headphones for "Thing 11" and "Thing 12". If your library doesn't have any headphones, please bring some in from home if at all possible. If this isn't possible, we do have a small number of headphones for loan from the User Education Office - e email usered@bodleian.ox.ac.uk to borrow a set.

Its a podcast, don't I need an iPod? - No, although you can listen to podcasts using an iPod (or any other MP3 player), using a computer is just as good.

Thing 11

1. Find some podcasts which interest you using one of sites listed below.

2. Subscribe to the feed for your favourite podcast in Google Reader. If you need a refresher on subscribing to RSS feeds please see "Thing 6". There are some tips and hints below as well.

3. Blog about your experience of podcasts. Don't forget to include "Thing 11" as one of your tags.



BBC Podcasts - Podcasts of BBC radio programmes.
This is probably the easiest site to use. Search or browse to find something of interest. If you'd like to listen to a podcast (before subscribing) find "Play Recent Episodes" on the right. You can also download or save the BBC's podcasts to your computer but this takes a long time.
When you're reader to set up your RSS subscription, find "Subscribe for free" (top right) and click "Google Reader"


Podcast.com - Podcasts on every conceivable subject! "
Podcast.com is easy to use too. To listen to a podcast simply click "Play" next to an individual episode.
When you come to subscribe, avoid clicking the large yellow "Subscribe now" button as this takes you off to a page where you are invited to sign up for a Podcast.com account (which you do not need for this thing). Instead choose the "Show Advanced" option. This will open up a list of RSS feed readers lower down the page where you can choose Google.

Podcast Alley - Like Podcast.com covers a huge range of topics.
Podcast.com is set up to facilitate subscribing to podcasts using a feed reader and does not encourage you to listen to episodes before subscribing. However, it is possible to listen first. To do so, find a podcast and then choose "More Details", followed by "Listen".
Once you're ready to subsribe click "Get Podcast". A pop up window will appear containing a URL and some other information. Copy the URL (and ignore the information).
Then open up Google Reader, choose "+ Add a subscription" and paste in the URL.

Podcasts from the University of Oxford - Academic lectures and talks from University of Oxford
Listening to one of the University's podcasts without setting up an RSS subscription is problematic. It is possible, simply by clicking on the title of a particular lecture. This will download it to your computer which can be extremely time consuming.
To avoid downloading, subscribe to a podcast straight away by right clicking on the orange RSS icon. and choosing "copy shortcut" or "copy link location". Then open up Google Reader, choose "+Add a subscription" and paste in the URL.
What about iTunesU? iTunesU brings together podcasts from Universities around the World. However, it is part of the Apple family and can only be used if you have Apple's iTunes software installed on your computer. iTunes can be freely downloaded from Apple. However, you may not be able to install it on your work computer. If you do have iTunesU please feel free to use iTunesU for this exercise if wish.
Oxford's iTunesU content is replicated on http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/ (which does not require iTunes).

More Things
There are no more things on podcasts - take a rest!
However, podcasting is fun. If you'd like to have a go at it, you can find information and instruction on the OUCS site How to Podcast. The Library Service will also be running a training session on podcasting during the summer - look out for information in Outline and in the weekly courses email from Staff Development.

If you have completed Things 5 & 6 and are keen to explore further you might want to take a look at some of the additional features of Google Reader listed below:

Item options

At the bottom of every item in your reader you will see a toolbar of options which allow you to highlight and share the item. You can

• add a star to mark an item as a favourite


• share an item on your shared items page or email it to a friend


• mark an item as unread to indicate you want to return to it later


• add a tag to an item to group it with other items on the same topic

Manage subscriptions
Create folders to group your feeds into categories e.g. work, home

• Click 'Manage subscriptions' at the bottom of the left-hand navigation panel


• On the Subscriptions tab use the 'Change folders' drop-down menu to create new folders and add your feeds to them.

Change the settings on your shared items page
When you sign up for Google Reader a shared items page is automatically created. You can use this to share items with your friends or make it completely public.

• Click 'Shared items' in the left-hand navigation panel


• From the content that loads in the main section of the page click the 'Sharing settings' link


• On the settings page you can choose whether to make your shared items public or private, set who can comment on your shared items and customise your shared items page.

Your next step is to locate some more blogs and websites to subscribe to.

Be aware that not all website/blogs have buttons like the one on this blog which allow you to easily subscribe to feeds using Google Reader. In some cases you will have to copy and paste the feed's URL into your reader following the steps below:

• Once you have located the site's RSS feed right click on the link and choose 'Copy Shortcut'
• Open another tab or window and sign in to your Google Reader account
• Click the 'Add Subscription' button at the top of the left-hand navigation panel. Right click in the text box that appears and choose 'Paste'.
• Finally click 'Add' and you will see the site's feed added to your subscriptions.
  

You should aim to subscribe to at least another 5 feeds. Why not try subscribing to the feeds from

• the blogs of fellow 23 Things participants. A list can be found on the 23 Things blog
  
• the blogs of other UK libraries and librarians. A directory can be found on the UK Library Blogs wiki.
  

You can also use dedicated blog search engines such as Google Blog Search and Technorati to identify blogs and blog posts on specific topics of interest.

And finally don't forget to write a post on your blog to show how you got on this week!

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed format that provides the full text of web content together with links to the original source.

Many websites allow you to set up RSS feeds for their content. RSS feeds are also commonly available from databases which allow you to subscribe to feeds for journal articles on a specific topic. In this way you can be alerted whenever new content is added to your favourite websites or when a new issue of an e-journal is published.

To set up RSS feeds, you need a feed reader or aggregator - software that checks RSS feeds and displays updated content. Free web-based readers, e.g. Google Reader, let you check RSS feeds from any computer whereas downloadable desktop clients, e.g. FeedDemon, let you store them on your own computer.

Continue to Thing 5 to learn more about RSS feeds.

The first step you need to take when subscribing to RSS feeds is to sign up for a feed reader. There are many available but for the purposes of this programme we will use Google Reader as you have already created an account with Google.

• Go to Google Reader at www.google.com/reader
• Sign in with your Google account username and password

Once logged in you will see the homepage of your account. Down the left-hand side is a navigation panel and on the right is the main section of the page where you will see the content of your feeds. Automatically displayed are some posts from Google to help you get started. You can read through these now or come back to them later.

To show you how to receive updates from a site we will start by subscribing to the feed for the 23 Things blog.

• In the blog's sidebar you will see the heading 'Subscribe to this blog'. Underneath it are options to subscribe to the posts and the comments. For now we will just subscribe to the posts.
• Click the link to the posts RSS feed and a drop down menu will appear listing a number of feed readers. From the list choose 'Add to Google'.
• A new window will open giving you the option to either add the feed to your Google homepage or Google Reader. Add this feed to your Google Reader by clicking the blue 'Add to Google Reader' button.
• You will be taken into your Google Reader account. In the navigation panel on the left you will now see 23 Things Oxford under the Subscriptions heading. In the main section of the page you will see the latest update from the blog. To view previous updates scroll down the main section or you can use the 'N' and 'P' keys to move through the updates.

UPDATE FOR 2011 TRAINEES: As the 23 Things Oxford blog is not being updated regularly any more, you might want to consider subscribing to the Oxford Trainees blog instead.  Go to http://oxfordtrainees.wordpress.com/ and click on 'feeds: posts' in the top right-hand corner instead. Then follow the instructions above.

Let's move on to Thing 6...