Before today I had never even heard of RRS feeds. It stands for really simple syndication and from what I gather so far it looks like it could make life on the internet a lot easier. RSS feeds allow you to “subscribe” to a website or area of the website to get updates without actually having to visit the site. In a way it’s kind of like getting a newsletter telling you what is going on with the site. It makes it really simple because you can set all your feeds to be sent to the same destination so you can check all your sites at the same source.
I’m the type of person that checks a select few websites religiously. There are about 5 sites that I check multiple times a day (all of which are highly educational). With that being said, I think RSS feeds could really make my viewing quicker by not having to search for all the updates. This is especially true on days where I only have a couple minutes to see what is going on in my worlds. It may even give me more of an opportunity to find new sites and blogs to add to my list, because it could cut down on the time I spend on each site. I will definitely be signing up for some feeds to my favorite sites.
I can’t read the future, not for a lack of trying, but I think RSS feeds are going to be around for a while. Which means librarians need to “get on that”, as the kids would say. I think feeds are a great tool for all libraries and patrons, but I think they are most useful for massive public libraries. Big libraries can have trouble tending to everybody’s request, so being able to let people know the latest news without having to inform everyone individually could save librarians and patrons a lot of time. I’m sure even small libraries could find ways to utilize RSS technology; librarians are only limited by their imagination.
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