Tuesday, November 20, 2007

RSS Feeds and Newsreaders

I had heard of RSS feeds and didn't take the time to find out what they were (too busy being Library 1.o) now that our assignments have us looking at RSS feeds -- I have enjoyed learning about them. The analogy of Netflicks vs a video store or even going to a pizza store vs home delivery are both appropriate here.

Advantages of an RSS reader:
  • In the sphere of Ranganathan: Save the time of the Reader...
  • RSS certainly saves time. Rather than going to the web sites the sites are brought to you and the readers help to organize what has been read, or even what you want to star and go back to. If you are interested in keeping up with the latest info on your favorite topics this is certainly a way to bring it all to you!
Disadvantages of an RSS reader:
  • If you are interested in a lot of topics, or subscribed to a site that has lots of posts I can see where the information coming to you could get unwieldy -- the "Mark as read" feature or "star" for later reading could help control that situation.
  • Also, the information comes to you automatically, constantly -- whereas without RSS you would go at your own inclination to whatever sites you had time to review.

I will be trying out the RSS feed over the following weeks to see the advantages and disadvantages -- at this point I am looking forward to news and events coming to me rather than me taking the time to search for them!

How can libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

  • Certainly in the area of reader's advisory. Creating book lists customers could review to find the latest book of their favorite author, or new titles in series would be very helpful information to get in an RSS feed.
  • Upcoming events and library programming of interest to various groups. Knowing when the next program on [topic] will be featured at the library is certainly another.





No comments:

Post a Comment

My Journey from Libary 1.0 thinking to Library 2.0 action!

This will be a new beginning as I explore with you the concepts of Library 2.0 and how it can and should impact the way resources are cataloged!




Cataloging is...
Access to information
The structure that makes things findable
The keyring that holds all the keys together
The right tool for finding information