Librarians live off of information and helping people access and use information. It is our currency, our purpose, our reason to push the power button in the morning. That being the case, it only makes sense that RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication), a web technology that allows users to subscribe to content from RSS enabled web sites, would be part and parcel of our everyday lives in Libraryland. And so it is. At least for me.
“How do you use RSS?” you ask. Integration with existing tools is a great way to use a complementary technology such as RSS.
One of the tools that we use in the Riley Library at Northwest Nazarene University is LibGuides. LibGuides are a web product from SpringShare that allow librarians to create microsites that are targeted to specific library user needs. In an academic library a guide can be created for an academic program, department, course, or even a specific assignment. It’s pretty neat! One of the features in LibGuides is the ability to add a box with an RSS feed. So, for a course on Business Law I added a box to the Websites page with an RSS feed from FindLaw. Students get updated information from the world of law without even leaving the guide they are using. This is a big deal because of all the distractions on the ‘net that eat away at valuable homework time if one isn’t careful. RSS is one way I provide excellent service to the students I serve.
RSS is quietly efficient and effective at delivering content. This makes it a good candidate for bundling and sharing on the main library site and on the social networking tools the library uses. I will also be placing more RSS feeds on the LibGuides. One opportunity I see involves departmental or discipline specific LibGuides. The librarians serve as liaisons to the various academic departments within the university and time is a resource there is never enough of. RSS could help our librarians with their liaison duties by streamlining the sharing of information from targeted databases and other RSS-enabled resources. I am sure the teaching faculty would appreciate the service!
The use of a librarian (or teacher) created RSS instrument (feed, bundle, etc.) in instruction meets AECT Standard 4: Management, subsection 4.4 – Information Management, by allowing for the controlled dissemination of information from a specified source. An RSS feed from a trusted, reliable and appropriate source provides some safeguards in the information-seeking phase of research.
RSS has been good to me so far and I look forward to continuing the relationship into the future. Below is an RSS bundle I find useful in my role as an academic librarian working with undergraduate and graduate (both master and doctoral) students, faculty and community members. I hope you find the bundle useful, too!
As always – Read on!
Lance
Lance McGrath: EDTECH Learning Log 