Maximizing your Geo-knowledge in minimum time!

See the updated page on geoscience resources

Publish or perish!

This is often the case in academia. The knowledge base is ever growing and keeping up can be quite a hassle.
Checking all the different websites for valuable information or the newest papers can be very time consuming. Fortunately, the early internet has brought forward RSS. It’s an acronym for Real Simple Syndication, so basically you can get all the information from different websites really simple.

I’ve been meaning to write this article for quite a while and I wanted to recommend the Google Service – Google Reader. However, today the big G announced that they would discontinue the serviceGoogle Reader discontinued – TechCrunch. Everyone can pack their so called feeds of websites and go somewhere else. So why still write about it? All hope is gone! Well not really and even if you have never been into RSS feeds before, keep on reading this will change your view of the internet!

My first reaction after seeing the anouncement, I tried to install a RSS Reader on my own webspace. That failed miserably so I started looking around for alternatives and they delivered. There is a very extensive list on Wikipedia, but I almost died from information overload while browsing that thing. So let me sum up what I got out of it:
You can chose between the usual desktop program or cloud-based services like Google Reader.
For me this choice was pretty easy, I work on three different computers and have a smartphone, I need something that syncs all across those devices without problems. A desktop solution wasn’t an option for me. When looking for cloud-based RSS services, I found that two stuck out.

There is Newsblur, which looks pretty much like Google Reader and will be fine.

Copyright Newsblur

However there was another option called Feedly.

Copyright Feedly
Copyright Feedly

It’s more of a magazine style feed reader and I like the style very much. Especially for News feeds this can be a nice addition. They reacted very quick to Google Reader closing down and provided a guide for new ex-Google users that will show you through the import of your feeds. It’s a two-click process then you’re done! Just allow them to connect to Reader and that’s it all your feeds are there.
For the true minimalists that liked the Reader design a lot, they can just use the “Tile View” that will give you the same plain Google Reader interfaceMigration from Google Reader to Feedly – Feedly Blog.

Copyright Feedly
Copyright Feedly

I used this little switch to Feedly to clean up my feeds and I would very much like to share some of them with you.
Some other bloggers published their lists of publications they followJ is for Journal – RSS feeds – Agile* RSS feeds for geoscience journals – clasticdetritus highlyallochthonous RSS feeds – all-geo Journal RSS Feeds – Ripples in the Sand. I will present some highlights from the list, however I have taken the freedom to compile files that you can simply import in your favorite reader. They’re called OPML-Files and if you’re not sure how to import them into your reader you can google it. I have uploaded five different files that include:

  • Geo Blogs
  • Geological Societies
  • Geological Journals
  • Geophysical Societies
  • Geophysical Journals
  • Geo Awesomeness – The combined Feeds

Please note that the descriptions of the journals and societies have been taken from their own websites and do not reflect my opinion. Also the OPML files have been edited very carefully and I have tried to include useful unique information, however you download and use these files at your own risk and I will and cannot be held liable if anything happens.

Geo Blogs

? all-geo
? all-geo

All Geo

A blog aggregator that will provide you a lot of geo blogs from very different fields. I use this to gather new blogs.

? agile
? agile

Agile*

An independent geoscience consultant company that contribute a geophysical side to the geo blogosphere.

? mycarta
? mycarta

MyCarta

A MatLab wizard shares some of his inspirational work with us. Check out his take on the rainbow palette.

? outsidetheinterzone
? outsidetheinterzone

Outside the interzone

Miscellaneous stuff out of his life. Currently doing a Geo 365 challenge with a geo blogpost a day.

? geologyishard
? geologyishard

Geology is hard

Tumblr that uses animated GIFs to illustrate the life of a geology grad student.

And there’s a ton more, just have a look around.
GeoBlogs OPML

Geological Societies

? EGU
? EGU

European Geoscience Union

Dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the geosciences and the planetary
and space sciences for the benefit of humanity.

? GeolSoc
? GeolSoc

Geological Society London

The Geological Society of London is the UK’s learned and professional body for Earth scientists, with over 10000 members worldwide.

Geology Societies

Geological Journals

? GSA
? GSA

Geology

The journal Geology publishes timely, innovative, and provocative articles relevant to its international audience, representing research from all fields of the geosciences.

Also:

  • GSA Bulletin
  • Nature Geoscience
  • Earth Sciences
  • Marine Geology
  • Basin Research
  • Sedimentology
  • […]

Geoscience Journals OPML
Please note that I have included publications from ElsevierLearn about the critique against Elsevier, feel free to exclude them. I marked them as “ScienceDirect” which makes them easy to discern.

Geophysical Societies

? AGU
? AGU

American Geophysical Union

AGU is a worldwide scientific community that advances, through unselfish cooperation in research, the understanding of Earth and space for the benefit of humanity.

? EAGE
? EAGE

EAGE

Professional organization with a worldwide membership of commercial and academic professionals in the geosciences and engineering.

Geophysical Societies OPML

Geophysical Journals

? SEG (Alicia Ruby)
? SEG

The Leading Edge

The Leading Edge complements Geophysics, SEG’s peer-reviewed publication long unrivalled as the world’s most respected vehicle for dissemination of developments in exploration and development geophysics.

Also:

  • Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems
  • Geophysical Research Letters
  • Nonlinear Processes in Goephysics
  • Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America
  • Near Surface Geophysics
  • […]

Geophysics Journals OPML
Please note that I have included publications from ElsevierLearn about the critique against Elsevier, feel free to exclude them. I marked them as “ScienceDirect” which makes them easy to discern.

The complete Geo Awesomeness

You want the real thing?
Sure, take the Geo Awesomeness OPML

What now?

Is there anything else we can do with this?
Yes! A thousand times yes! Every blog out there uses RSS. If you have some friends that blog every once in a while and you’re tired of checking their blog all the time, use RSS and get the update immediately when it’s out. Just on one single page. If you’re more the e-Mail person, there’s even a way to have RSS Forward send you the update straight to your inboxThanks to Agile* and especially Matt Hall for showing me this one.

Import into Feedly

Since Feedly is closely linked with Google Reader we can just import the OPML into Google Reader until the 1.7.2013 after that Feedly will have to provide that service themselves.
So first head over to the Google Reader Settings page. You will see a tab with Import/Export. From there on you just have to upload the OPML file I gave you.

Leaving Google Reader

Once again first head over to the Google Reader Settings page. You will see a tab with Import/Export. From there on you just have to let Google lead you to Google Takeout where you can get your RSS data as OPML file. Personally I would say that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to delete the Reader account if it’s even possible. In July it will be discontinued anyways.
It’s a good thing to back up your data from Google every once in a while anyways, so head over there and do it right after you’re finished reading here!

Use it as a new start

It’s been a long time with Google Reader for me, however I have to say I’m happy I can move on to a more modern service now. If you happen to like Feedly be sure to check out their blog for more customization options if you like that kind of thing.
If this was useful to you be sure to leave a comment.

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... is a geophysicist by heart. He works at the intersection of machine learning and geoscience. He is the founder of The Way of the Geophysicist and a deep learning enthusiast. Writing mostly about computational geoscience and interesting bits and pieces relevant to post-grad life.

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