RSS Feeds  Tags: rss feeds rss_feeds  

The first thing you need is a Feed Reader.You can sign up for any of the free feed readers below. NewsGator has a special companion software called "NewsGator Inbox"; it integrates itself with your desktop version of Microsoft Outlook. Read the step-by-step guide under "How-to's, handouts, & presentation."

Look for any of the following RSS symbols. These symbols indicate that there is an RSS feed available.

RSS, commonly known as Really Simple Syndication, is a popular method for sharing content without requiring readers to continually visit a web site to see what's new. Based on XML, RSS breaks web sites into discrete chunks of information, such as a single news story a single blog post. Users subscribe to online content using a RSS feed reader or aggregator which checks subscribed web pages and automatically downloads new content.  RSS feeds allow you to pull content from many different sources—a web page, blogs, databases, etc.—into one web page, allowing users to quickly and easily access the new material from sites that interest them.

CommonCraft created this brief (3:44) video that explains RSS Feeds in plain English.

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NB: It is best to add a journal table of contents feed from your campus computer; this will give you access to the full text content should you want to access it from your reader.  Also, in some cases, database platforms will ask you to create a free account in order to create your feed; the handouts specify which databases require this.