RSS

This is what week 4 tells us!

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.

I've spent the last hour or so setting this up on my computer. I didn't find it that difficult to do (if I've done it correctly). However, this is a tool that I don't think I will use on my home computer. I don't visit that many sites in a day, especially news sites, and the ones I do visit I have listed under favourites, so it's just a click and I'm there. I don't think I'll find a need for RSS.

I can see how it will be helpful at the reference desk at the library as the staff can have all the sites they visit in one location on the computer.