What is RSS?

RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is an easy way to keep up with your favorite news and information. An RSS feed contains headlines, summaries and links to full news stories on our intranet. If you click an RSS link, you will see XML (or eXtensible Markup Language) code in your browser. This is to be expected, since you do not view RSS content through a browser. You view the headlines through an RSS news reader (also called an RSS aggregator). Our intranet provides links to our feeds. They can be found wherever you see the small orange XML icon:

What are RSS Readers?

RSS news readers are small software programs that aggregate RSS feeds and display the story information. They allow you to scan headlines from hundreds of news sources in a central location.

Where Do I Get an RSS Reader?

A wide range of RSS readers can be easily downloaded from the Web. Some readers are Web-based while others require you to download a small software program onto your desktop. Most are free to use.
Google and Yahoo! both offer comprehensive lists of RSS readers. A few sample readers are also offered below for the purpose of evaluation:

Awasu -- http://www.awasu.com/ (Windows)
Bloglines http://bloglines.com/ (All OS, browser-based)
Amphetadesk -- http://www.disobey.com/amphetadesk/ (Windows, Mac, Linux)
RSS Reader -- http://www.rssreader.com/ (Windows .NET)
NetNewsWire -- http://ranchero.com/netnewswire/ (Mac OS X)

What are the benefits of using RSS?

RSS is an easy way for you to be alerted when content that interests you appears on your favorite Web sites. Instead of visiting a particular Web site to browse for new articles and features, RSS automatically tells you when something new is posted online.

Click on the section title link to obtain the RSS URL, which you will see in the "Address" field of of your browser. Simply copy this URL and follow the instructions for your particular news reader to subscribe.

How Do I Use These Feeds?

The first step, as described above, is to choose an RSS reader. Each reader has a slightly different way of adding a new feed (also called a "channel"). In most cases, here's how it works:

1. Click on the small XML button near the channel you want (Campus Calendar, for example, or Education Headlines). You'll see a page displaying XML code.

2. From your browser, copy the URL that appears in your Address Bar. For example, the URL you would copy for Campus Calendar athletic events is:

http://www.stmarytx.edu/rss/rss/campus_calendar/all_calendar_categories_rss.xml

3. Paste that URL into the 'Add New Channel' section of the reader. You should be all set! The RSS feed will start to display and regularly update the headlines for you.

Where Can I Learn More about RSS?

There are a range of articles about RSS available online. The Lockergnome Web site offers a beginner's tutorial; extended RSS resources are available from Radio Userland. Here are a few additional resources:

An informative RSS article from the Online Journalism Review
What is RSS? from IBM Developer Works
A technical RSS tutorial from the Utah state government

RSS Reader Information in an article by the Guardian