RSS Feeds: Adding Library feeds (7)
November 12, 2007
Library members can subscribe to RSS feeds for new arrivals. In their reader, they can watch for new titles as they are added to the collection. Members can also subscribe to a private RSS feed for their account. They can activate their account feed the next time they have holds ready for pick-up. See a list of many library RSS feeds.
How can you tell if there is a feed available on a website? Look for a feed icon, like these:
Click it and the link will give you code, or prompt you to choose a feed reader. Follow the instructions, or cut & paste the web address into your feed reader.
| Your mission, should you choose to accept it: 1. Find RSS feeds on the Nashville Public Library website. Hint: there’s an icon on the homepage! 2. Subscribe to one of the library RSS feeds using Bloglines or another RSS reader. 3. Take the survey. |
Here’s a video to get you started:
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NPL Staff in the Know 
November 12, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Hi there. Thanks for the informative post. I have been using my bloglines account and adding RSS feeds ever since you guys posted the tutorial on our website. Very easy and fun. My question is, how do you add an RSS feed to your own blog so others can subscribe? Thanks for your time, you guys are doing a great job!
November 12, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Great, glad you enjoyed the tutorials!
That is a good question. Feedburner.com is a handy site for sharing your RSS feed. Once you register, you add your blog’s web address and it provides an RSS feed. It gives you a bunch of ways to share your feed in your blog and also track your readership.
Feedburner creates an RSS icon and all those little buttons you see for Google Reader, Bloglines, Rojo, etc. Then, it gives you the code to put the icons on your blog. For TypePad and Blogger the process is seamless, otherwise you just cut & paste the code into the widgets area in your blog.
Readers visiting your site using Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox will should see an RSS icon for your blog in their address bar. They can use this ‘live bookmark’ to subscribe with any RSS feeds available on your blog.
November 20, 2007 at 10:26 am
Someone pointed out that you can use Google Reader to sign up for a feed. You needed to create a Google account for the Google Docs post, so you can just sign back in to your Google account to get to Google Reader. Thanks for the tip, mystery colleague!
November 28, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Several of us here at Hermitage have tried to set up an account with Bloglines without success. When we put in our email address at bloglines it says it will send you a verification email. None of us are getting this verification email so we can’t get past this first step. I did have success with Google Reader but just wanted to provide the feedback about Bloglines.
Thanks.
Polly
November 28, 2007 at 3:56 pm
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Polly. Could you guys check your junk mail folder and see if the bloglines email might have been sent there? And has anyone else had this problem?
November 28, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I suspect the domain is being blocked by the library’s mail server. I have contacted tech to find out.
In the meantime, you might try signing up using a different personal email address.
Kyle
December 6, 2007 at 1:14 pm
I’m sorry, but I don’t see the advantage of RSS. I don’t find it any easier than reading email or checking the library’s website.
December 6, 2007 at 2:33 pm
RSS might not be for everyone. For me, it took a specialized search to get me hooked on RSS. I went to a website and did a search each week, which was time consuming. I found out I could set up my search as an RSS feed – the results of the search were sent to my feed reader each week and I didn’t have to do anything. Before that, I didn’t find it useful either. If you read a bunch of websites or blogs on a regular basis it can be a time saver too. But, I don’t think everyone should feel it is something they have to do – just a good thing to be aware of.
Does anyone else have a story of what got them hooked on RSS?
January 22, 2008 at 2:42 pm
RSS sounds as if it could save time in searching the web for several different kinds of information. I havent signed up for a blogines account just yet. But
its good to know this service exist. Thanks.
May 6, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Great job explaining this. I think it will prove useful.