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Help
yourself > RSS: Keeping Up with Research
RSS:
Keeping Up with Research
What
is RSS and why should I use it?
RSS is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing web content.
An RSS reader (aka news reader or news aggregator) allows
you to view information from multiple web sites in a single interface.
When you "subscribe" to an RSS feed, your reader will check
that web site on a regular basis and show you any new content.
Many people use RSS to keep up
to date on news headlines, but RSS can also help keep up with research. You can:
- view table
of contents from new journals issues
- discover new journal articles on a specific topic (from multiple journals)
- find out about new patents in specific technology areas
- view news on general topics such as science, technology, business, health, etc. from Google, New York Times, BBC, etc.
- find out if a specific topic is being discussed on blogs
Some of the above functionality has been available for quite a while via email through Table
of Contents/Research Alert Services.
RSS Feeds vs Email TOC/Alert Services
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RSS feeds |
Email alerts |
Login/registration with content provider |
Subscribing to feeds is anonymous. |
You must set up an account with each content site, so there are multiple logins to deal with and some lack of privacy. |
Segregate or integrate |
Segregates your news so it doesn't get buried as you deal with more urgent emails. |
Integrates your news with your email so there is only one interface to check. |
Managing news |
News items are automatically deleted once they are read. |
Every news item that comes in has to be manually deleted/filed. |
Interface |
Presentation of content is very customizable since you can choose among different readers with very different layouts and each reader usually has customizable preferences. |
Email comes in standard format; can sometimes choose what parts of content is sent. |
Availability |
Common for table of contents alerts, only some databases have RSS feeds for saved searches; however, you can convert email to RSS feeds using Bloglines. |
Common; however, you can also convert RSS feeds to email if that is your preferred format. |
See also:
webmaster@libraries.mit.edu
This page was last updated on
01/26/08
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