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In simple terms, a web “feed” is a convenient way to automatically stay current with your favorite Web sites. Sites that support a web feed standard, such as Really Simple Syndication (RSS), literally feed you information based on your preferences.
So what? Let’s say you routinely visit a half-dozen sites to keep up on current events. You can certainly bookmark and visit all these sites one-by-one, but web feeds offer the following advantages:
- Feed readers collect, or “aggregate,” information from many sites into one common view with consistent formatting.
- Most feed reader software keeps track of content you’ve already visited, similar in concept to how your mail reader marks messages as read.
- Web feeds typically contain only headlines and a brief synopsis of the new content. This simplified view makes it easier to locate information more quickly.
What do you need?
For starters, you need a piece of software that can grab web feeds. All readers essentially operate the same way, so what’s “best” depends on how you like to work. You have three basic options: standalone software that you download and install, program extensions, or online services.
Personally, I don’t like installing a lot of stuff on my computer, so I prefer to use extensions that add RSS capability to existing programs. My favorite is the free Sage extension for Firefox. It’s definitely no-frills, but it works great. If you are an Internet Explorer user, IE7 supports RSS feeds natively… no need to download anything at all. Although I haven’t used them myself, I understand MS Outlook 2007 and Mozilla Thunderbird natively support RSS feeds as well.
Another option is to use free online services offered by companies like Google or MyYahoo. Using these services, you log on to a central site to manage and view your subscriptions. This is a good option if you travel a lot, or don’t want to manage feeds across multiple computers.
You have the software, now what?
Most site developers have standardized on an easily-recognizable icon  to indicate their site supports web feeds. How you subscribe to a feed varies with the reader software, but the basic idea is to either drag the feed icon into the reader, or by typing in the feed URL provided on the site.
Not just the news In theory, a site manager can “syndicate” any content they want. At the SCO, we’re working on making our GIS events calendar and Wisconsin GIS jobs listings available via web feeds. Stay tuned!
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