Using an RSS Feed Aggregator An Introduction Prepared by Liz Rodrigues

What is RSS and why do I see everywhere? Really Simple Syndication: an easy way to publish web content across many venues Commonly used to track frequently updated web pages, such as blogs or news sites Instead of you going to the web page, new content on the web page comes to you This is the universal icon indicating that the page you’re on has an RSS feed—orange is the most common but some sites use different colors Source: “RSS,” Library Success Wiki,

Where can I find RSS feeds? Look for the RSS icon in the address bar or on the page Most frequently updated web pages will now have some kind of RSS Increasingly, research databases will allow users to create search alerts using an RSS feed

What is an RSS Feed Aggregator? A feed aggregator, or feed reader, allows you to read all of your subscribed content in one place, in one view These tools also help you manage your subscriptions and keep track of what you’ve read Two popular feed readers are Google Reader (top right) and Bloglines (bottom right)

Inside Google Reader List of feeds you have subscribed to Navigate from post to post within a feed Manage read and unread items Actual content

Subscribing Using a Feed Aggregator Step 1: Find the RSS icon and click on it.

Subscribing Using a Feed Aggregator Step 2: Using the drop- down menu, select the aggregator or application you’d like to subscribe with.

Subscribing Using a Feed Aggregator Step 3: View new content in selected feed aggregator. This process will vary slightly with different browsers and different aggregators, but the basic steps are fairly similar.

Sit back and let the web come to you!

Questions? Liz Rodrigues Return to beginning