RSS for Research
RSS is a technology that allows you to subscribe to "feeds" in order to keep up with news from websites (including blogs) without having to actually visit the website every day or having one's inbox cluttered with constant updates.
In order to subscribe to a feed, you need to use an RSS reader. The Firefox browser has a reader already installed. Another popular choice is Google Reader.
In order to subscribe to a feed, you need to use an RSS reader. The Firefox browser has a reader already installed. Another popular choice is Google Reader.
If you wanted to subscribe to the table of contents for Nature, you would go to the Nature website and find the link to Nature's newsfeeds.
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Notice the symbol next to the link. This is the universal symbol for an RSS feed.
Now click on the link to "Receive Nature's current issue table of contents." At this point you will be offered a choice of readers to use.
If you're using Google Reader, you can just click on the appropriate icon, which will take you to your Google account, where you will be asked whether you want the feed to appear on your iGoogle page or in Google Reader.
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If you choose Google Reader, you will see the feed displayed in the Reader interface. From here you can subscribe to the feed, adjust feed settings, and organize your feeds into folders.
Notice the symbol next to the link. This is the universal symbol for an RSS feed.
Now click on the link to "Receive Nature's current issue table of contents." At this point you will be offered a choice of readers to use.
If you're using Google Reader, you can just click on the appropriate icon, which will take you to your Google account, where you will be asked whether you want the feed to appear on your iGoogle page or in Google Reader.
If you choose Google Reader, you will see the feed displayed in the Reader interface. From here you can subscribe to the feed, adjust feed settings, and organize your feeds into folders.
Not only can one subscribe to content from a particular journal via RSS, one can subscribe to the results of a particular database search. If I were conducting ongoing research on the expression of mitochondrial genes in Arabidopsis, I might construct as search as follows in PubMed.
In order to create a feed from this search, click on the orange RSS icon.
Clicking on the orange XML icon will give you choices for how to subscribe to the feed, as in the previous example.
In most cases, you cannot subscribe to a search from the Library's subscribed databases, since they require authentication. Our subscribed databases are the ones that have a red lock displayed next to them in this list.
In order to create a feed from this search, click on the orange RSS icon.
Clicking on the orange XML icon will give you choices for how to subscribe to the feed, as in the previous example.
In most cases, you cannot subscribe to a search from the Library's subscribed databases, since they require authentication. Our subscribed databases are the ones that have a red lock displayed next to them in this list.
There is a host of interesting academic bloggers out there. Subscribing to their blogs is very easy and a great way to keep current with what is going on in your field. As an example, let's subscribe to Darren Naish's Tetrapod Zoology blog. When you go to the website, Firefox will "know" that the site has an RSS feed and will display the feed icon in the address bar.
Note: Firefox 4 has done away with the RSS icon automatically appearing in the address bar, but you can right-click on your toolbar, choose "customize," and add an RSS button.
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Clicking on the feed icon will present you with a the option to subscribe, which will take you to your preferred RSS subscription service.
Note: Firefox 4 has done away with the RSS icon automatically appearing in the address bar, but you can right-click on your toolbar, choose "customize," and add an RSS button.
Clicking on the feed icon will present you with a the option to subscribe, which will take you to your preferred RSS subscription service.
Ron Gilmour
Web Services Librarian
Tel: (607) 274-3674