What's Your Content Gathering and Filtering Workflow?

That's not me, but the somewhat off putting clipart that appears on the top page of the RSS Newsreader, Newsgator.   I first learned about this tool from Sonny Cloward's post "Going Back to the Dark Side" a few weeks ago when I was obsessing about RSS readers and finding blogs to read.   (Now I have found way too many ...)

Anyway,  I noticed that Sonny had his "Read/Write" lists as RSS feeds going down the left side of his blog.  I asked Sonny if one could do that sort of thing without being an ubergeek.   He was very kind enough to send me the instructions which I am posting for myself in case I need them again.  The interface design leaves a little to be desired or I'm just an idiot, but Sonny helped me find the bookmark subscription thingy.   (There is a wonderful post on the Shifted Librarian site about automated newsmastering on a PHD level -- what follows is the preschool version ...)

Step 1:  Use Newsgator to read and clip posts you want to stream
Step 2:  Grab the URL of the RSS feed for the clip folder (you have to scroll down to the bottem of the page to see it)
Step 3:  Cut and paste in  RSS Digest
Step 4:  Edit the formatting (assuming you understand it)
Step 5:  Cut and paste the resulting javascript into a linklist for typepad

Well, I did it!  I put a "Cambodian Blogosphere Headlines" into the lower right side of Cambodia4kids Blog.   I'm pretty proud of myself ...

Now, I just have to figure out an efficient workflow and make it habit ....

Workflow seems to be the topic in the nptech blogoshere in the last few days starting with Michael Gilbert's article about his workflow in publishing the Nonprofit Online News.  Ed Batista applauded Gilbert for his openess, using the phrase/metaphor "Opening the Kimono" to mean being transparent.  This inspired Sonny Cloward to share a list of software he uses and is thinking about mapping out a workflow.   

I had the same thought when I read Michael's article.   He notes:

I will not touch on the elaborate procedures and baroque technologies that help us gather and process very large quantities of message based information and filter it into something useful. Although it's a pretty critical component of our information management success, I hope to explore the workflow at another time.

So, thought I'd take this opportunity to attempt to map my very simple workflow hunting and gathering and filtering blog-based and web-based content for Cambodia4kids.org Blog. 

For me, the hunting, gathering, and filtering of content is like putting together a little puzzle.   I like to look at misc. bits of information and make connections - what Todd Siler calls Metaphorming.   Metaphorming is not just about metaphors -- it is the ability to connect the unconnected to see new relationships.   It involves all our ways of analyzing the meaning of the connections we make -- analogy, symbol, story, pun, visualizing, and other techniques for connecting one thing to other things. 

Again, if you read Gilbert's article, that's the PHD version.   I'm still experimenting with all this so I'm still at a preschool level. The diagram shows the content gathering/filtering process for blog posts, link lists, and a RSS feed of Cambodian Blogosphere Headlines rail. (Click to enlarge)

Technorati Tag: nptech

Comments

[Beth]

Note to self:

Gilbert's comments on my comments