Google Reader and Searching
Jul 15th, 2007 by abbot
“A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanging, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and time in which it is used.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Google Reader lacks search capabilities. Is it just me, or does this seem odd? For those unfamiliar with Google Reader, it is an RSS reader which checks news sites and blogs for new content. RSS readers allow you, from one location, to follow changes to a site; whether a site updates daily or monthly. The bottom line is that it is about keeping track of changes to information.
I know at one organization I have worked for, they have a gentleman who pulls articles of interest, makes comments, and then sends them out to top management. From there it can be further sent down to employees. Now I have talked to folks who end up receiving these emails, and everyone I talk to tell me, “Yeah, I mean to read those emails. I keep them in my mailbox. Well, until my mailbox starts getting full, and then I delete them. I just don’t get around to it.”
Research carried out by Hewlett Packard reported that a worker’s functioning IQ drops when constantly distracted by phone calls and emails. The reports says this distractions slows employees down about twice as much as smoking marijuana. Simply ignoring email is not a real option either. One can control how information gets delivered to the user. RSS feeds are one method that offers some relief from email overload.
On this blog, over on the right side, under “Interesting Postings,” I share blog postings and news items that I find particularly interesting. I do this through the Google Reader. If you select “Additional Shared Items” it will take you to my Google Reader shared item area. The problem is, I will flag a handful a postings a day. That adds up over time. Frequently, I am skimming these articles for knowledge of the content. Later, I will find myself trying to recall exact details or wanting to quote and link back to the article. If it is recent, I can page through and find the article. If it has been awhile, it is almost impossible to find. This is where searching Google Reader would be real useful.
I have to give credit to Steve Trefethen and Library Clips for posting this solution. You need the following:
- Export your Google Reader OPML
- Sign up at Google Custom Search Engine (CSE)
- Import your OPML file into the CSE
Clipotech has provided a nice video showing exactly how to export your Google Reader OPML. When you sign up at CSE, you will need to create a search engine. Enter just one URL to get it created. Once the search engine is created, select the “control panel” link from where you can select the “Advanced” link. From there, you will be able to “Upload annotations.” Upload the Google Reader OPML. You can now search through all the content from the sites you are subscribed to via Google RSS Reader.
While I would like to be able to search only my “Shared Items,” this will do for now. I did come across a posting where someone devised a method to search only his shared items. He did this through a combination of creating a second Google account, subscribing to the first account’s shared items, selecting the settings on the second account to forward new postings to his mail account, filtering all those mail messages to a certain mailbox, and then searching that mailbox. People do what they have to do. I would rather search all my subscribed RSS feeds. Besides, I find myself often thinking of items I have read which I am not sure if I marked for sharing. Searching all my RSS feeds works out better. Strangely, I find my memory is becoming just a collection of search terms. I hope Google stays true to their motto, “Don’t be evil,” because they really are part of the fabric of modern life.
