More About RSS
| What Are They? | More About RSS | Resources Offering Alerts and RSS | Research Assistance |
How do I find RSS Feeds?
- Look for the image icons
or 
on web pages. - Look for RSS options within article databases.
- Use a blog directory like Technorati or Google's Blogsearch
How do I subscribe to an RSS feed?
To follow an RSS feed, you need a "feed reader". Several types exist:
- desktop readers: Thunderbird and RSSReader
- web-based feed readers: Bloglines and My Yahoo!
- web browsers' readers: Firefox and Safari
We suggest Bloglines, a web-based feed reader, but there are many others.
Subscribing to an RSS feed with Bloglines:
- Register for an account with Bloglines.com (requires email).
- Follow the instructions within the confirmation email.
- Select the "My Feeds" tab.
- Click the "Add" link.
- Enter the URL of the RSS feed.
Why choose one method instead of another?
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| RSS Feeds | Many sources (article databases and web sites) are collected in one place. | Many article databases don't provide RSS feeds yet. You will need to check your RSS reader on a regular basis. |
| Email Alerts | Comes in your email. | Some databases send email even if no new records are found. |
| Saved Searches | Run at your convenience, but you need to remember to do it. | Some databases run the search on all records, not just the newly added records. |