RSS Feeds & Newsreaders (Jan. 26-30)

In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionalizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web.

Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit every day. It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn’t it? Now imagine if you could visit all those information sources and web pages in just one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you? Well, it’s available now through a newsreader and RSS.

This week’s discovery exercises focus on learning about RSS news feeds and setting up a Google Reader* account (a free online newsreader) for yourself to bring your feeds together.

Discovery Resources

• What is a feed and what does it mean to subscribe?


• Video: RSS Feeds and Readers


• Video: Adding Feeds to Google Reader by Jennifer Hanson

Discovery Exercise

1. Follow the discovery resources above to learn more about RSS and newsreaders.

2. Create a free online Google Reader account for yourself and subscribe to at least 5 newsfeeds in your reader. You can use the same username and password to set up the Google Reader account that you used to set up your Blogger account. (They are both Google products!)

3. Make one of the feeds you subscribe to be the feed for our 12 Things blog. Hint: Look on the right side of the blog for the feed subscription.

4. Create a post in your blog about this exercise. Some things you might want to include in your blog post: What do you like about RSS and newsreaders? How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life? How can Primary Source use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?


*If there is another newsreader you are familiar with and would like to explore, feel free to do so.