Google Alerts ... ... by Bob Nelson
There's just TOO MUCH information flowing through my screens! I subscribe to three newspapers, four newsletters, and about seventy RSS feeds. That makes for something like three hundred headlines to be skimmed every day, and maybe thirty articles actually read. Oh, and... of course... another dozen or thirty articles on NewsTalkers' "Newest Discussions".
That's a lot. ... But nowhere near enough. There's a very good chance of missing something that I'd like to see.
We all have topics that interst us particularly. Topics that not everyone else holds in the same esteem. Topics that others find downright boring. Topics that do get some>/em> coverage... but not headlines splashed across half the media, every other day. Maybe a dedicated article every few months, and perhaps mentioned a couple times every week as an aside in an article that's mainly about something else.
So how can we be sure to catch this information that we want more than most people do?
Google alerts .
Think of a "Google alert" as a Google search that's running constantly. It catches every use of your search parameter, and gives you a daily recap.
I'm a fan of Boris Diaw. Don't worry if you've never heard of him. That's exactly the point. He rarely gets headlines or even a starring role... and when he does, it's not in the New York Times, but more like some obscure online basketball magazine. No problem! Every time his name appears, my Google alert sends me a link.
Go to Google Alerts.
In the box at the top, enter a topic you want to follow.
To change your settings, click Show options. You can change:
- How often you get notifications
- The types of sites you’ll see
- Your language
- The part of the world you want info from
- How many results you want to see
- What accounts get the alert
Click Create Alert. You’ll get emails whenever we find matching search results.
I'm a gadget geek. I'm always looking for cool "stuff". So I have several alerts for various devices that should be coming soon. I have an alert for my own name... which hits mostly obituaries...
Your parameter can be a single word or a phrase. For example, "Trail of tears" will give you every new appearance of that term...
Have fun!
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Coping with information overload.....