(Guide time: 1 hour 15 minutes.)

What are RSS feeds?

RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’. In other words, RSS allows you to collect frequently updated news and postings from websites and read them in one place - a 'reader'. Popular RSS feed readers include Google Reader and Bloglines (currently under re-development).

Have a look at this video from commoncraft: RSS in Plain English

In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information. You will find RSS referred to as “feeds” or even “news feeds”. You may have seen one of these icons on various websites as you’ve surfed the web:

So, what does RSS do? Think about the websites and news information sources you visit every day. We all know how long it takes to visit all of those sites separately and search through the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read. By using an RSS aggregator or feed reader, RSS allows you to read all those information sources and web pages in one place and all at the same time, without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually.

RSS also allows you to publish your information (whether it's news or a blog post), so that other people can read it via their RSS feed reader or aggregator.

Why use this?

RSS feeds can save you time and energy through the ability to read updates in a single place. A RSS aggregator (like Google reader) is ”An online place that collects all of your favourite stuff and dumps it in one place.”
Here is an example of a Netvibes dashboard as it is known.

If you publish your own website then RSS is useful to you as well. Using RSS files, you can create a data feed that supplies headlines, links, and article summaries from your Web site into other peoples' readers if they subscribe to you. You can also feed these into Twitter, your blog, Facebook page without the need to retype the information.

How libraries use this

For a library, RSS feeds gives the power to inform on a whole new level. RSS feeds give you a way to provide a steady stream of pertinent fresh content on your library’s or organization’s websites, portals, blogs, wikis and more. For example, some library OPACs allow borrowers to subscribe to a RSS feed of all the new books recently added to stock.

The image to the left is from the Newcastle Libraries blog. Each blog post is given a category and it's possible for readers to subscribe to only the blog post topics they are interested in. This is a good example of libraries pushing relevant content out to their borrowers.

Library websites can also subscribe to other people's content and consolidate these feeds on their pages to add value to their information offer.

Library staff can subscribe to RSS feeds for their own personal information, as a way of keeping up to date with developments in the profession. Hundreds of librarians across the world blog and subscribing to their feeds in your own reader is a powerful way of keeping yourself informed.

Read this interesting blog article 10 ways libraries can use RSS.

Activities

• Watch this video: Getting started with Google Reader
• Navigate to Google Reader and create an account– if you already have any other Google account you will be able to use your existing login - and you can use this for any other Google accounts you make in the future

Note: If you are signing up to Google for the first time, you will have to validate your email address first before you can start. This entails logging into your emails and finding the email from Google - click on the relevant link inside the email. Once Google has validated your email address type http://reader.google.com into the address bar and you will be re-directed to your new reader.

• Spend a few moments reading the information about Google Reader in the right hand pane. If you wish, watch the short video tutorial or try the Google Staff Picks
• Using the Add a Subscription button search for a website you usually read, or keywords that interest you and subscribe to some of the resultant feeds that are found . Your new feeds should appear in the right hand pane
• Blog about how you got on. Do you think you'll use RSS in the future? Did you find it useful?

Remember that it's also possible to subscribe to a feed when you're browsing the Internet. If you spy the orange RSS Logo on the web page, click on it and then copy and paste the feed URL in the address box into your Add a Subscription box in Google Reader.

Or...

You can add an RSS widget directly to your blog and subscribe to your favourite RSS feeds there.

• Log into your blog
• Go the the dashboard and click on 'Appearance and then ‘Widgets’
• Drag the RSS widget into your sidebar
• Open a new browser tab and find a website you would like to subscribe to
• Click on the RSS icon or on RSS/Subscribe link from the feed you want and copy the URL
• Go back to your blog and paste the URL into your RSS widget box. Give the feed a name if you wish and then save
• Check your blog – the feed should be displaying down the side of the screen
• Repeat this process to add subsequent feeds

Or you could just continue relying on the dog to bring you your news!

Recommended followups

Now that you have your own RSS feed reader why not continue to use it beyond the scope of this course? As part of your continued professional development, consider subscribing to some UK Library blogs. For some initial idea of who to subscribe to, check out the UK Library Blogs wiki.

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