Thing #2: RSS

In Thing #1 you started your own blog. Now that you know something about blogs, perhaps you have discovered some that you would like to keep reading. RSS feeds can help you do that.

Define:

What exactly is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is difficult to explain what RSS is, but, in the simplest terms, if you find you like a particular web site or blog, you can subscribe to it and have updates sent to you automatically. Instead of having to go check the site to see if there is something new on it, updates come to you when there is a change or something new on the site.

Enjoy this video which does a good job of explaining RSS in Plain English (note: Google Reader is used in the video. If you set up a gmail account for your Playtime 2.0 activities, you may want to use Google Reader, too. If not, we will be using Bloglines. Either way you’ll get the gist):

What is a feed reader?

As you learned in the video, before you can subscribe to feeds, you need to set up a feed reader. The feed reader is a website that will collect all of your feeds in one place. There are many to choose from, but the most popular feed readers are Bloglines, Google Reader, and MyYahoo.

Do:

If you have a gmail account, you might want to use Google Reader as your feed reader.
Log into your gmail account then click on "Reader" in the menu of choices at the top of the page. Follow the instructions on the Reader page.

For those of you who used another service for your email, we will set up an account with Bloglines.
At the Bloglines site, use the email account you created for Playtime 2.0 to "Register For Your Free Account."

After you register, Bloglines will send a link to your email account. When you validate your email address, Bloglines displays Bloglines Quick Picks and Popular Subscriptions for you to select from. Pick one or two from this list and click the Subscribe button to get started.
Your Bloglines page will display, with your subscriptions listed on the left side with other helpful links. Subscriptions with new, unread-by-you information will be in bold. When you click on a subscription, the latest information from that site is displayed on the right.

Don't forget to write down your Bloglines login and password information and bookmark your account so you can go back to it easily.

How to know when a page has a feed available.

When you are surfing the Internet, look for this symbol or something like this on websites. The symbol means that there are feeds available.

Find a few more feeds to put on your account. You can do this several ways.
The easiest way is through Bloglines:
Click on the Feeds tab above your subscriptions and then click "Add." Enter a website address (URL) in the search box and click the Subscribe button. Bloglines will find feeds on that site. To subscribe, scroll to the bottom of the page (ignore/accept the Bloglines defaults) and click on the Subscribe button.

If you are visiting a website that you would like to subscribe to, copy and paste the address of the website into the "Add" box on your Bloglines account

- Subscribe to your own blog and watch your posts appear in your Bloglines account
- Add other Playtime 2.0 Participant's blogs - this will help you keep up-to-date on what they have to say about the Things, their discoveries, and comments.
- Add some of the blogs or feeds available on the Library's website. they are listed on the RSS page
- Add feeds from the library blogs that you looked at in Thing #1.

Now, let's write your "Thing #2: RSS" blog post
Browse to the "Playtime" blog you created in Thing #1 (it should be listed in the Participants' Blogs on the right) and create a new post.
Use "Thing #2: RSS" as the title of your blog post.
In the post, write about:
- What do you like or dislike about RSS and newsreaders?
- How do you think you might be able to use this technology in the Library or in your personal life?
- Did you find any great blogs we should all add to our feed readers?

You're all finished with Thing #2
You learned what RSS is and why you might want to use it.
You learned about feed readers (or news readers or aggregators) and created an account at Bloglines
You learned how to know when an RSS feed is available on a website or blog.

We hoped you enjoyed learning about RSS!
Leave us a comment, if you like.

Next, get ready for some more fun as we explore Social Networking in Thing #3.