What is RSS?

RSS brings the news to you, rather than you having to surf lots of different websites to gather the latest news and information. OLIS provides RSS feeds for OLIS News, Rhodarian, Talking Books Plus and Boksenblog. Now you don't have to visit the OLIS website every day to see what's new, or wait for the latest OLIS News & Updates email; you can just add the feed to your news aggregator, which will automatically display the latest information from our website's homepage.

RSS is commonly understood as Really Simple Syndication, an XML format designed for sharing web content like news headlines. Frequently referred to as an RSS "feed" (tecnically called an RSS channel), it consists of a list of items, each of which contains a headline, description, and a link to a web page. Information channels that carry the "RSS" or "XML" identifier can be accessed through the link in the RSS feed.

The RSS broadcast icon is used by the Firefox browser to denote RSS feeds. Internet Explorer 7 and higher also use this symbol to denote RSS feeds. The goal is to encourage consistency between browsers and create a universal symbol for RSS feeds. OLIS uses the traditional RSS button to denote RSS feeds.

How do I use RSS?

To use RSS, you can use a special RSS news reader or aggregator (such as Bloglines, MyYahoo! or Google Reader) that will allow you to collect and display RSS feeds. RSS news readers allow you to view the feeds you select all together in the same place and, by automatically retrieving updates, stay current with new content soon after it is published. There are many different news readers available, many for free. News readers can be applications that you download and install, either as a stand-alone application or integrated with your browser. Other news readers, such as Bloglines or myYahoo!, are web-based and can be accessed through your browser.

To subscribe to an RSS feed, right-click on the RSS button and select “Copy Shortcut” or “Copy Link Location” to copy the location (URL) of the service to your news aggregator. Follow the instructions for your particular news reader or aggregator, and then paste this link wherever it asks for the location of the service you wish to subscribe to.

Browsers such as Firefox and Internet Explorer (version 7 and up) also allow you to subscribe to and read RSS feeds right from your browser. You can use Live Bookmarks in Firefox or add the Sage plugin to follow your RSS news subscriptions. Internet Explorer 7 and up includes a reader as part of the browser and allows you to track and manage your feeds.

Help With RSS

Check the following articles for more information about how to take advantage of RSS feeds:

• How To Speed-Read the Net (Slate Magazine)
  The advantages of using RSS
• RSS Feed (Really Simple Syndication) (BBC News)
  Straightforward explanation of RSS
• RSS and MyYahoo!
  How to add RSS to MyYahoo!
• Bloglines for Librarians in Three (and a half) Easy Steps

Learn more about RSS, Blogs, and Data Syndication.