23 THINGS - THING 5

CURRENT AWARENESS - RSS FEEDS

Week 2 (already!) and this week we will look at current awareness. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a technology that automatically feeds new information to you when a website or database is updated.

Types of subscriptions that might interest you:

• Tables of Contents (TOCs) for journal issues. Note that this only returns the journal contents; you will need to subscribe to the journal to read the articles.
• Saved searches - Many journals and databases will give you the option to save your searches and push content to you when new articles are added that match your search criteria.
• Have news stories and events posted to you when websites of interest are updated.

Have you subscribed to the BPC Library 2.0 Blog yet?

 

How do I use RSS?

To read your feeds, you will need a place for them to be delivered. This could be your email address, your website or blog, your custom start page (see widgets challenge later in the programme) or a special piece of software called a feed reader or aggregator.

The popularity of feed readers is declining with the rise of Twitter and Facebook. Google are terminating their popular Google Reader service in July, but there are good alternatives, including Feedly, Bloglines, Netvibes (a personalised start page) and a beta trial by Digg due for release in June.

 

Once you have a platform for your feeds, receiving updates is relatively easy:

• Look for an RSS Logo when you visit a website.
• Right click on the logo.
• Depending on the site, you will either be prompted to select your reader platform, or copy the feed's URL and paste it into your reader. 

CommonCraft do an excellent series of "how to" videos on YouTube; for more information, see their "RSS in Plain English" video

 

 

The Challenge

1) Create a Table of Contents email alert for your favourite journal or subject area. Current Awareness providers in this field include Zetoc and JournalTOCs.

2) Saved Search Alert - Open a BPC database (for example Ebsco's LISTA)

• Register (or sign in) for a personalised account (this sits within the BPC subscription)
• Run a search on a topic of interest.
• Refine your search (for example by country, author, publication or subject)
• Create an alert (How?)

Note: by expanding the list at the bottom (More), you can also "Blog This", which will paste a permanent link to your search results directly on your blogsite. If you own multiple blogs, ensure you select the correct blog from the drop-down menu at the top of the page.

3) Experiment with embedding RSS feeds in your blog. Consider news services or event feeds ("What's on") for dynamic updates. If you prefer, set up a feed reader as a one-stop-place for all your information.