Try four tools that give us RSS feeds for keyword searches in blogs, news sources, videos, podcasts, articles, and journals

Since it's sometimes easier to use these tools than it is to explain how they work, please take a moment to try them out.

1. Open your Google Reader. You'll need a Google Account if you don't have one yet.
2. Choose a keyword, something that you might want to research, for example: "Relationships" or "health care reform bill" You will use this keyword to find blogs, news sources, podcasts, and articles. In the next steps we are going to set up "rivers" of information in your Google Reader that will constantly update. 
3. Start by setting up a feed that will collect all the posts in which the bloggers use your keyword: Google Blog Search
   • Once you get to the results page, find the Subscribe box in the left column, and right-click on the RSS link.
   • Copy Link Location or Source, and go to your Google Reader.
   • In Google Reader, click the Add subscription button, then paste the feed from Google Blog Search into the box, and click Add.
   • Go to Add to a folder... / New folder... and make a folder with the name of your keyword (in this example, "relationships").
4. Do the same thing with Google News. This service will search and browse over 4,500 news sources, looking for your keyword (relationships). The RSS feed from that search will bring those articles into your Google Reader.
   • Once you get to the results page, find the Subscribe box in the left column, and right-click on the RSS link.
   • Copy Link Location or Source, and go to your Google Reader.
   • In Google Reader, click the Add subscription button, then paste the feed from Google News into the box, and click Add.
   • Go to Add to a folder... and click your keyword (in this example, "relationships").
5. The next step might be to find articles from magazines and peer-reviewed journals. Although local librarians can help point us to databases in the Deep Web that are available to our students, Look Smart's Find Articles is another source to find more extended, scholarly articles.
   • Put your keyword (relationships) into the left box and choose free articles only in the right box, then click the Look button.
   • Find the RSS alert link at the bottom of the first page of results, and right-click on that link.
   • Copy Link Location or Source, and go to your Google Reader.
   • In Google Reader, click the Add subscription button, then paste the feed from Find Articles into the box, and click Add.
   • Go to Add to a folder... and click your keyword (in this example, "relationships").
   
   
6. That's not all! We can do the same thing with podcasts as well! (Actually Everyzing also searches video, but since much of it is YouTube, which is blocked in many schools -- and there's an organizational advantage to focusing on audio only -- this example suggests that you only search for podcasts). So please browse over to Everyzing .
   
   • Choose the Audio button, put your keyword (relationships) into the box, then Zing It!
   • Click the RSS link at the top right corner of the results. (Notice that you do not copy this link this time.)
   • Copy the long link under these instructions: "You can subscribe to this RSS feed by copying the following internet address into your RSS reader:"
   • In Google Reader, click the Add subscription button, then paste the feed from Everyzing into the box, and click Add.
   • Go to Add to a folder... and click your keyword (in this example, "relationships").