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November 11, 2007
I Love RSS Feeds
Background
Last week I went over the pros and cons I uncovered in my usage of email alerts. This week, I will be doing the same for RSS Feeds. As opposed to email alerts, which I found to be relatively annoying, my usage of RSS Feeds went very well. I'll first take you through the feeds I have set up, then explain the pros and cons, and finish with a broad overview of my opinion on RSS Feeds.
Much like email alerts, I will give a quick synopsis on how RSS Feeds work. On most websites, there is an option to subscribe to information updates for the website. For instance, you could subscribe to my blog's RSS Feed. By subscribing, you receive an update everytime an addition is made to that feed(in the case of my blog, another entry). These feeds can be brought together into an aggregator, such as Bloglines, where you can easily view all of your updated information. If a website is not RSS compatible, I suggest using the website Feed43 and creating your own RSS Feed capability (I may create a blog revolving around this website in the near future).
My RSS Feeds
Over the course of the school semester, I set up multiple RSS Feeds through a number of different mediums. I compiled my RSS Feeds into Bloglines for easy access. To view that listing, click here.
My two main focuses have been on Michigan Basketball and the Silver Market (my two semester projects), however there are also RSS Feeds on Dilbert and broader sports topics (enjoy my public bloglines)! To think about them specifically, I have set up RSS Feeds to follow places such as: the Michigan Daily Basketball RSS Feed, the SLV yahoo news line, the ESPN.com news for Michigan Men's Basketball, the mgoblue page for Men's Basketball, etc. Setting up feeds such as these is very easy, you pretty much just have to go to the website and subscribe. In my case, I use Mozilla FireFox, so the subscription button is located within the address bar for easy access.
Pros
Consistent Data Source
This was a pro for email alerts, but also fits in this category as well. RSS Feeds are great for bringing you updated information on the topics you wish to monitor. They tell you when additions have been made and allow you to continually monitor what is occurring. There may be some delay as to how long it takes to report the addition, but RSS feeds are essentially Real-Time. In my case, I can count on Basketball and Silver Information everytime I log into Bloglines.
YOU Go For Information
As opposed to alerts which are sent to you no matter what the situation, RSS Feeds are there whenever you want the information. I appreciated that I would not be crowded with unwanted information and could go retrieve the information when I wanted it.
Universal Usage
As discussed earlier, RSS Feeds are essentially applicable at every website you go to, whether it is build on an RSS foundation or you make an RSS feed for the website. The ability to track information from any website is far more powerful of a tool than one which relies on searches from a few websites (aka email alerts). This is very important when you are trying to trap information beacause the ability to trap will always be there.
Easy, Easy, Easy
As I discussed in my background to RSS Feeds, they are very, very easy to set up and follow. In most cases, it is as easy as signing up for a RSS aggregator (i.e. Bloglines) and a click of the mouse while on websites. This means that even people who struggle with internet technology could easily set up information traps to find information. Despite never having used RSS feeds before, I was able to trap my topics and learn abotu how to use RSS within a few hours.
Cons
YOU Go For Information
Yes, this was a positive as well, but I'm sure some people would rather have information sent to them always rather than having to go to the information themselves. Therefore, if you are a person who would rather receive too much information and not do anything (as opposed to accurate information and you have to go to a holding of the information), this is a con.
Piggy-Back Information
RSS Feeds, although great, can include some data points which you may not want. For instance, in my effort to create RSS Feeds for Michigan Men's Basketball, I subscribed to the Michigan Basketball feed of the Michigan Daily. Unfortunately, my RSS Feed updates with Women's Basketball as well as Men's Basketball. In this case, RSS feeds can give you relevant and irrelevant information.
Overall Thoughts
If the title didn't give you enough indication, I love RSS Feeds. I had never used them prior to the beginning of this semester and now use them on a daily basis. For instance, one of the sections of my project wiki on Michigan Basketball is current events. By having wiki's in numerous Michigan Men's Basketball areas, I am able to have updates which I can add to the wiki on a quick, informative manner. They work as a great way for me to stay up to date on all my desired information and do not clutter my inbox like an email alert does. If I were only allowed to explain one information trap to a person learning effective web-retrieval, I would go through RSS Feeds.
I hope my blog has given you some insight into RSS Feeds and my usage of them. Check back often for future updates....or even better, subscribe to my blog and read up as I update!
Posted by grantrob at November 11, 2007 04:54 PM