Test Drive #5: RSS Feeds

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. RSS is a powerful tool that can help bring information to you. An RSS service consists of a list of items, each of which usually includes a headline, description, and a link to a web page. RSS news readers (or aggregators) allow you to view the blogs or web pages you select all together in the same place and, by automatically retrieving updates, stay current with new content soon after it is published without filling up your e-mail box or requiring you to check various web sites. Think of it as your own personal newspaper.

Take a look at Commoncraft’s RSS in Plain English.

The video mentions the following RSS aggregators or feed readers
Google reader
Bloglines
NewsGator

How do you know if a site has a feed?

The most commonly used RSS icon is



You should already have a gmail account. You will be using it in the following activity.

Discover:

Go to Bloglines and create a free account. Once your account is created, add at least 5 RSS feeds to your account. Make sure that one of them is the OPAL Training blog.

Some others you might consider are:
- Powerhouse Museum’s Photo of the Day blog
- ABS 4 Libraries
- Slq Blogs
- The Couriermail has a number of blogs
- ABC Blogs

Hints:
- To search for blogs use blogs or RSS in the search term, or use Google blog search to find blogs on your favourite topic
- Look at your favourite blogs’ Blogroll (list of favourites) and subscribe to these.

Explore:

In your blog, create an entry that reflects on what you searched for and what you found. If you are stuck, you can use these questions to help start you out:
- What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
- What sites did you select for your RSS reader?
- How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work?
- How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
- Did you find any good examples of other library blogs?

Remember to take a moment and share your thoughts and comments on someone else’s blog.

Adventure: (remember this is an OPTIONAL activity)
- Add a news feed to your own blog
- Sign in to your blog
- Go to ‘layout’
- Click on ‘add a page element’
- Add a ‘feed’ to your blog (eg an ABC news feed)

Note if you want to add an RSS feed to your blog you can do this by using Google reader.