Okay, what is RSS? Maybe you’ve heard people talk about this or have seen the orange icon on different websites but don’t really know what it’s for or what it does. Well RSS is a tool which allows information that you want to see on a regular basis come to you instead of you going to it. Just think of all of the bookmarks you track, the tons of emails you receive because you want the latest news, etc. Well RSS simplifies all of this by… well, play this video from Common Craft which”Explains RSS in Plain English”.
This week’s discovery exercises focus on learning about RSS news feeds* and setting up a Google Reader account for yourself to find feeds that interest you. If you already have a Gmail account, simply sign into your account on the Google Reader page and you are ready to start adding feeds. If you do not have a Gmail account, you can create one which enables you to have a Google Reader account as well.
Google Reader is one of several major RSS Reader services. We chose Google Reader because it does the best at pulling together different feed formats (text, video, and audio) in a very easy, user-friendly way. Other RSS Reader services are:
Discovery Resources:
- Google Reader Tour
- Google Reader “Discover” – bundles together rss by topic, can also find feeds that interest you through keyword searching
- Feed Me: A gentle introduction to Internet feeds – a good tutorial from Palinet, a library cooperative
- Chordata – Directory of RSS feeds, including news
Discovery Exercise:
- Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about RSS and newsreaders.
- Create a free Google Reader account for yourself and subscribe to at least 5 newsfeeds to your reader. University of Richmond related Newsfeeds:
- TechLearning Summer 2008
- What’s New! News & Announcements from the University of Richmond Libraries
- New Titles at the University Libraries
- University News
- Create a post in your blog about this exercise.
Think about these questions:
What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
Do you find yourself using these feeds for your personal interests, work, both?
Evaluate the UR Libraries RSS feeds. Do you find them useful? Do you think they are useful to library users? What other ways can we utilize RSS in a library setting?
PS: Watch out, adding feeds to your Google Reader account is addictive! It is easy to get more content in your reader than you can keep up with on a daily basis. Don’t worry though, the information will stay there waiting for you.
