RSS

Today I signed up for an RSS reader (if that is the right terminology) called Bloglines. I can see that this would be a useful tool to use if one regularly checked the same websites for updates. I liked that the news (or whatever feeds one chooses) just turn up to be checked. My normal morning routine involves checking the weather forecast on the Internet before get up. Using an RSS reader, I could have the weather forecast and some comics delivered to me before I even open the curtains. A disadvantage is that is allows for less browsing. For example, if I sign up for a feed from a newspaper, I get a list of the news stories. However, when I would normally go to the website, I get distracted by other interesting stories and end up reading more widely.
For my RSS reader, I subscribed to the following
• www.weather.com.au
• ABS blogs for librarians
• Calvin & Hobbes on www.gocomics.com
• Funny quote of the day from www.BrainyQuote.com
• Sydney Morning Herald
• Photo of the day from the Powerhouse Museum
People often ask in libraries what new books and dvds have been bought. One way of getting this information to borrowers could be for the library to set up an RSS feed listing the new items. Borrowers could then subscribe to the feed and therefore get the information delivered to them easily. Of course it wouldn’t help people who don’t use the Internet.