Google News Alerts — It’s how you know!
Oct 6th 2007TracyLibrary Related & Reference
My Internet dependence has reached a new level. I am addicted to my customized Google News Alerts. Not only do I use them for work, I set up this free push technology to keep me abreast of news items that interest me. In order to keep me on top of all the news fit for a Library Sherpa, I have an alert to pick up keywords of (”library” OR “libraries”) — notice my use of Boolean searching — so that I can see every time a library item of interest hits the web. Some news stories that I might not otherwise have heard about:
- Covina library could be closed by next summer from the Whittier Daily News in Whittier, CA
- 6 Libraries Burglarized Recently from WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, MI
- New Law: More Libraries, More Books from the Jakarta Post in Indonesia
- School libraries in crisis over lack of funds from the Guardian Limited in the UK
Although these headlines may not be particularly salacious, I think it’s important for library professionals to be aware of what’s going on in the library world around them. Google News Alerts brings this information to me, because I’m otherwise too lazy to seek out this information myself. I prefer the “comprehensive” feature, which will pull info from blogs and other sources than just Google News.
I understand this post seems like a shameless plug for the omnipotent Google, I am merely demonstrating how a tool like this can benefit those of us with a foot in the library world. I’m sure Yahoo! and other search engines have fine alerts as well. Please feel free to tell me about other products which you think keeps you on top of the big stories from our professional world. It’s a great big world and librarians are the keepers of books in it!
P.S. GO PHILLIES!