RSS

toc =//**What is it?**//=

//**RSS**// stands for //Real Simple Syndication//. In short, it allows individuals, using computer of web-based //aggregators//, to "follow" new entries on blogs, media or other content on the web.

//RSS in Plain English//
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Locating RSS Feeds[[image:http://sss.cs.purdue.edu/projects/oscj/css/rss-icon.jpg width="134" height="91" align="right"]]
//How can I tell if a site has an RSS Feed?// There are a number of different symbols, but the most common graphic will be some variation of the one to the right. If you see that image on a page, the RSS "feed" - more about that later - can usually be found by clicking directly on the image.

Sometimes the RSS symbol will be front and center, sometimes not. On many news sites it's at the bottom of the page. In some browsers the RSS icon will actually populate at the right hand side of the URL (web address) bar at the top of the page. Keep looking.

Besides blogs and media content, RSS feed links are also available on Google Search, Flickr streams, Delicious and many other content platforms, allowing individuals to "train" the web to bring the information you want direct to you.

=Uses=

Aggregators / Readers
An RSS aggregator is a tool - software on your machine or web-based - that allows you to bring all these feeds, or subscribtions, to one place. There are many popular ones (Bloglines, Google Reader, Pageflakes) but the one I have used is Netvibes. It is the start page for my browser - meaning it is the page that opens every time I open my browser. I usually try and do a quick scan for new posts every morning when I turn it on.

Each aggregator looks a bit different and managing them varies by reader, but they all work basically the same. By finding and inserting the RSS feed from blogs, media or other content you can create a "one stop" page for your web.

RSS in Wikis
RSS feeds can also be placed into wikis (or other web pages). This could be used for a class wiki where the learners can be introduced to fresh content - based on their self-defined criteria - with each visit. RSS feeds can be introduced in to //**Wikispaces**// wikis through the widgits feature in the edit mode.rss url="http://feeds.nytimes.com/nyt/rss/Environment" link="true" description="true" number="6"