Unless you’ve had your head up your hindquarters for the past ten years you are well aware that the internet is a great resource. Most of us use the net as a way to gather information and share it with others. This process of information distribution has increasingly become more efficient. With web services and software cooperating with each other, the information seeker’s experience has become more enhanced as well.
In the past five years, the RSS (real simple syndication) feeds and clients have become a major way I process my information. Instead of browsing hundreds of websites, I have them coming to my RSS reader as the websites are updated. I don’t miss out on what I think is important, and I can utilize that information as I need to. After digesting these, I feel it necessary to share what I think may have value to someone else.
I have used a variety of feed readers both on the web and as software clients too. I have been a huge fan of FeedDemon which allows a sync of both for me. Recently FeedDemon has switched their online service to Google Reader, a service I have tried in the past but was not impressed with. Now, since I am more mobile and can access this information from my iPod Touch and not just from my computer, my information intake has again changed. I’ll explain how this has changed for me and what tools I have discovered for my information capture and management. Info workflow if you will. I am not suggesting these are must-haves or that you are doing it wrong. People have varying information needs and different cognitive predilections.
Google Reader, Mobile RSS App
I had just mentioned how I was not impressed initially with GReader but apparently over the years they had made some improvements in their functionality. It is faster than the software I downloaded, can be viewed offline and offers great sharing functions. GR will now allow me to create a shared article site with it’s own RSS feed. Basically, if you think I can share something of value, click here: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/chrisdenbow . There is now a much improved Send To function where I can forward articles to various distributors such as email, send as a .pdf file, Delicious and more that I have listed below. Neat! Not only can I do this on my laptop, but these can be done on my Touch too using the Mobile RSS app. It will set you back $3 but I find it very valuable when I am out and about.
Delicious is one of the best known social bookmarking websites. It amazes me though, that my IT Director father-in-law had never heard of it when it was mentioned in conversation. With Delicious you can bookmark any site on the internet and get it from anywhere you have access. Share your bookmarks or favorites and get some in return. See what websites are trends and what are useful. On the Touch, I use an app called Yummy that uses the Delicious software to view/share my bookmarks through Read It Later and Instapaper apps.
Read It Later & Instapaper are web services that essentially do the same thing. From the titles you can guess as to their function. If you see an article or a link that you want to save for later reading, tuck away with these guys. Both have excellent mobile apps as well.
Simplicity has played an important role in Twitter‘s success. People are eager to connect with other people and Twitter makes that simple. Twitter asks one question, "What’s happening?" Answers must be under 140 characters in length and can be sent via mobile texting, instant message, or the web. I use the mobile app, Tweetie. When someone adds a link to an article they enjoy, I use Tweetie to send it to either of these apps mentioned here. Handy!
Evernote is backup software for your brain. I am constantly sending voice notes to myself while driving down the road. This seems to be the optimal time I have a thought in my head. Of course there are multiple means of transferring your thoughts, web clips, links, tweets, .pdf’s and more.
Which of these tools are you using to filter information on a routine basis? Which ones have I failed to mention that you feel is worth our time?