How I keep up to date

Kate blogged about the technology blogs/sites she reads regularly.

Like Kate, I use Google Reader to keep up with new posts and updates. Like Kate, I too seldom use the actual Google Reader site these days – my preferred way of accessing my feeds is via the app Reeder. I am such a fan of Reeder I have it on every single device (phone, tablet, laptop) I use to access my subscriptions. I love Reeder because it is easy to use, looks good, and because it makes it very easy to retweet things I think are interesting or worth sharing.

Unlike Kate, I actually follow very few technology blogs these days. Instead, I follow blogs by people who work in higher education and publishing, and by managers and leaders.

I have to confess that I am not particularly diligent about reading every single thing that comes up in Reeder. In fact, I tend to skim read, and only pay attention when something catches my eye.

There are a few blogs that I do make sure I read carefully, every time their authors post something:

Michele Martin’s The Bamboo Project has been one of my favourite blogs for a while. She always seems to write the perfect post, the thing I just need to read to match what I am thinking about, or to set me off down the perfect path to discover whatever I need to. Take her current post, for instance: Quit Looking for Answers. Start Managing Your Career with Better Questions. (I have been thinking about reflective practice since the post Kathryn wrote on FQ blog.)

The Scholarly Kitchen. It’s all about academic publishing and scholarly communication.

TeleRead. It bills itself as bringing us “News and views on ebooks, libraries, publishing and related topics”. Its contributors are so prolific I don’t actually manage to read everything they post, but I do make sure I keep an eye on it.

Now don’t get me wrong, although I don’t actively follow tech blogs, I still manage to learn about developments in social media and technology/ICT – the people I follow on Twitter share plenty of social media and tech links.

(NB: I don’t use email lists to keep up to date at all.)