Temple University Subject Guides - Current Awareness with RSS Feeds

Introduction

What are RSS feeds (very briefly)?

RSS Feeds (a.k.a. "Atom Feeds" or just "Feeds") are a way to get updated content delivered to you from a variety of web sites and services. Instead of remembering to visit sites to look for updates, feeds can be used to get updates sent to you at a single location known as a "feed reader." For a longer and better explanation, check out the video below.

Why should I bother?

You can use feeds to get notified about the latest issue of a journal (or even articles before the journal is published), to get new search results on a topic of interest, to make your own personalized news services, or just to follow a friend/colleague's blog.

What sites and services use feeds?

Blogs, newspapers, journals, databases, calendars, search engines, social networking sites, and more. Feeds are everywhere on the web.

Why not just subscribe to email updates?

Not all sites that offer feeds offer emailed updates. Also, email updates can quickly overwhelm your email account, making it more work to find messages that are meant directly for you or that require some kind of reply. By separating updates to your favorite sites and services from your email, you can better control when you read what's new and when you communicate.