Quest 4 - RSS and Newsreaders

You’ve heard of RSS? You’ve seen those small funny tags on websites? You’ve heard co-workers and acquaintances swear by it, but still have no idea what RSS is? Well don’t worry, according to a recent survey you’re still in the majority, but this is changing rapidly. 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.

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

Just think about the websites 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 one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising … without having to search for new information on the page you’d 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.

This week’s 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 over view 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 everyday) – This online tutorial walks you through how to setup 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)

Adding RSS Feeds to Bloglines - A short YouTube video that I created showing how to add feeds.

Additional Bloglines news feed subscription information (screenshot image)

Your co-workers - tap into their knowledge or work through your discovery process together. Several CCPL staff have already attended the State Library's training on Blogs which talked a bit about RSS, and several staff manage library-related blogs - seek them out and ask them to show what they know.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Follow some of 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 in your reader. See Using Bloglines Tutorial steps 1-3 for instructions.


Newsfeed Examples:

• Tech Trek 2.0 participant blog feeds - Try subscribing to several of 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 and library-related sites. (Here are some examples of feeds that you can choose to subscribe to if you want.)
  


• The Tech Trek 2.0 blog feed


• Charleston.net news feeds (Look on the front page of the site for the gray-and-orange XML/RSS labels. Pick at least one to try it out.)


• Library Trax - SCSL's library training blog


• LIS News - Library-related news bits


• Unshelved - Library cartoon feed


• Once you start to look, you can find feeds almost anywhere! When visiting your favorite websites, look for news feed icons like these which indicate that the website provides a feed. Often feed icons are displayed somewhere in the navigation bar of the site. (For example, do you see that orange chicklet - shaped button in the sidebar of this page? That's one!)


• Specialized search tools also exist to help you find feeds. Bloglines's Search for Feeds option is one of them. Some other feed search tools include: Feedster, Topix.net, Syndic8, and Technorati. If you want, you can explore any of these tools to find other feeds that appeal to you.


3. Create a post in your blog about this exercise. Optional: If you're up to the challenge, you can provide the URL address to your public Bloglines account (instructions for where to find your public account address is near the end of this post.)

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?

Optional: How to find your public Bloglines URL:

1. Click on the Account link near the top right hand corner of your Bloglines account. (see screenshot)


2. Click the "Blog Settings" link (see screenshot)


3. Choose a User Name and type it in the space provided. Also, look for the "Show My Blogroll" option, and be sure to select the button next to "Yes, publish my blogroll." Finally, click the "Save Changes" button to complete your selections. (see screenshot)


4. Scroll down the right screen pane and find the "Publish, Share, and Save" section. Click the link for "Share your blogroll." (see screenshot)


5. Finally, scroll down the right screen pane and locate the public URL (see screenshot)


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

In conclusion...Here is the link to Tech Trek 2.0's public Bloglines account: http://www.bloglines.com/public/techtrek20 Why would you want to have a public account? To share your blogroll with other people, of course!

PS: Once you tackle this discovery exercise, you've tackled what we think is probably the most technical & difficult Quest of the entire 12 weeks! :-)