Week 5: RSS

It has been interesting over the past two weeks to see the many ways RSS technology is being used and I'm curious to see how it will evolve to meet the needs of its users. It's a good idea to use RSS feeds to keep up with your interests online, actively and selectively searching out potential sources. RSS feeds are great for keeping current and they encourage continuous professional learning, something that is important but can be time-consuming. RSS feeds provide a useful reminder and if you do the initial work to identify and set up sources of information, it makes it that much more effective. When new content comes in through RSS, it's a bit like getting something new which can be a fun surprise and this adds to the whole experience.

As demonstrated by the case studies this week, RSS is a great value-added service. Publications that provide updates to their readers bring the information to them rather than waiting around. Not only does taking control help to ensure that readers are getting the content they need, but it keeps these publications in the forefront of the readers' minds. Using tools such as Feed2JS to include the content of another site instead of just the link opens up new possibilities. I am often disinclined to follow a suggested link if there are too many and this is good way of highlighting webpages of particular interest.  It's also good advertizing both for the syndicated site and the host site as readers interested in one may well find themselves visiting both sites.