Week Five : Another look at RSS

Once again this week, I was confronted with how great RSS has the potential to be, and how (relatively, given the number of internet users) few people seem to be using it.

I have learned a lot about RSS in the last two weeks, expanding on what I'd already figured out from using feeds in IE7.  I think the most important bits of information I've gleaned are:

• Subscribe to feeds you will actually read to avoid becoming overwhelmed
• Use feeds to keep up with news, blogs, and any website that offers RSS - aggregators save time (and time is money)
• RSS has very real potential for use in a library, and should be implemented ASAP, so the feeds will be set up and established ahead of significant demand
• Though there may be limitations with current RSS aggregators and readers, as RSS becomes more popular, solutions will be found for the bugs or limitations
• RSS gets a lot less scary if you don't try to figure out what it means - I like the idea of calling it "information" or "news feed" (someone likened RSS to Facebook newsfeeds - I think it's a great idea to associate RSS with something familiar like that)

Of all the "case studies" this week, I actually like the way EBSCO sets up RSS - a simple explanation with screenshots, and any customizable RSS can be set up.  I though ProQuest's limited list of available RSS also limited it's usefulness (unless you are interested in one of the areas established in their feeds list).  I think this can also be a lesson for libraries or other organizations offering RSS - some degree of customization and choice is important. 

RSS, and programs used with it (Bloglines, etc) and those associated with it (del.icio.us), are central to ideas of the social web (web 2.0 for those so inclined).  I like how Philip J. Hollenback put it in his article "Bloglines, Flikr, and del.icio.us make RSS delectable" : "By tracking how many people are adding particular URLs, del.icio.us can provide a list of most popular bookmarks ... it gives an insight into what everyone is thinking about at a given moment - a shared consciousness, if you want to think of it that way."  I like the idea of using these web tools to share ideas, and create a collaborative, changing web with participants from across the world.

A bit grand for a post on RSS, I know, but I'm starting to see how these tools can work together and change the web - hopefully for the better - and hopefully from inside libraries.