RSS and Libraries

RSS is another tool for librarians to use in disseminating relevant information to their users.
There are many possible applications of RSS technology in libraries, a few of which will be mentioned here.

Library Portals  
  • Web portals act as gateways to to other resources on the internet, and are often customized with local content (e.g. Yahoo! Canada Portal). 1  Library websites are often set up as portals, directing their users to useful information.  
  • "Library portals have the potential to act as aggregators, compiling many feeds in human readable form, removing the onus on patrons to use an aggregator.  RSS allows libraries to take advantage of the 'push' philosophy of the web." 2
  • The library can use RSS to display current information on its portal, thereby ensuring that the content is up-to-date.  This is also a way of promoting new programs at the library.
  • The library could allow users to customize their own library portal, by means of subscription to a selection of various RSS feeds, making the library site much more relevant to its users. 

Feeds to keep patrons informed about the library
  • This screenshot is from the Hennepin County Library website, where they have a large list of RSS feeds with library information, which enables patrons to be kept up-to-date on general library news, their own personal account information, etc. 
 Library news screenshot
New acquisitions feed screenshot
  • The library at the University of Kent also employs RSS feeds to keep patrons informed.  Here a patron can subscribe to a feed which broadcasts the new acquisitions of the library.


Some further examples
  • HubMed: The "alternative interface" to PubMed (a database from the National Library of Medicine), this site allows the user to search the PubMed database, and then subscribe to an RSS feed for new results matching the search terms entered. 3  This means that when a new article that matches the user's terms is entered in database, the user receives this new information via the RSS feed.  This technology allows the user to stay on top of new developments in medicine.  
    • This same sort of technology could be utilized in library catalogues, where RSS feeds could be generated based on search terms entered into the catalogue. 4
  • University of Saskatchewan Library:  This website lists all the electronic journals to which the library subscribes, and more specifically, lists the journals which have RSS feeds.  By subscribing to these feeds, the table of contents for each new issue is made available to the user, allowing him or her to be aware of the latest research being published in their field, and quickly able to decide whether or not there is anything of interest in the latest issue to him or her.
Screenshot of University of Saskatchewan Library E-Journals with RSS
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