#8 Make life "really simple" with RSS & a newsreader

You've heard of RSS? You've seen those small funny tags on web sites? You've heard co-workers and acquantances swear by it, but still have no idea what RSS is? Well, don't worry. Just read this post and do the discovery exercise and you'll know exactly what RSS is and what it can do.

In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionalizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web.

Just think about the web sites and news information sources you visit every day. It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn't it? Now imagine if you could visit all those information sources and web pages in just on place and all at the same time ... without being bombarded with advertising ... without having to search for new information on the page you've already seen or read before ... and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you? Well, it's available now through a newsreader and RSS.

These discovery exercises focus on learning about RSS news feeds and setting up a Bloglines account (a free online newsreader) for yourself to bring your feeds together.

Discovery Resources:

*CNET Video: RSS - Feel the Need for Feeds (3:32) - a good overview of what RSS is and the benefits to users.

*Feed Me: A gentle introduction to Internet Feeds - a good tutorial from Palinet, a library cooperative.

*Using Bloglines Tutorial (how to keep up with dozens of blogs every day) - This online tutorial walks you through how to set up a Bloglines account and add newsfeeds. Follow Steps 1 to 3 to set up your Bloglines account. Steps 4 - 9 are optional and cover how to subscribe to different types of feeds (podcasts, Flickr albums, etc).

*Additional Bloglines news feed subscription information (screenshot image)

*Your co-workers - tap into their knowledge or work through your discovery process together.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about RSS and newsreaders.

2. Create a free online Bloglines account for yourself and subscribe to at least 10 newsfeeds to your reader. See Using Bloglines Tutorial steps 1-3 for instructions.

Newsfeeds:

*Library Learning blog feeds - Subscribe to your co-workers' feeds. This is as easy as typing the blog URL into the subscribe field in Bloglines. Try it, it's easy!

*Then try adding a few other types of news feeds from news sources, such as News24.

3. Create a post about this exercise. Optional: if you're up to the challenge, you can provide the URL address to your bloglines account (find where to find this below).

Don't know what to blog about? Think about these questions:

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?

How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

[How to find your Bloglines URL:

1. Click on the Share tab within you Bloglines account.

2. Scroll down the right screen pane and locate the public URL. (see screenshot)

3. Be sure to add this as part of your post to demonstrate your completion of this activity.)

In conclusion ... once you've tackled this discovery exercise, you've tackled the most difficult one ofthe whole 23!