Current Awareness Tools: RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds, short "Really Simple Syndication" feeds, are offered by databases and journals as an alternative to sending email alerts about new articles and tables of contents. Feeds may be more convenient than alert emails because they allow you to receive multiple updates in one place, but require "feed reader" software. RSS feed readers are not as popular as they once were, but they still can be very valuable.

What can RSS feeds do for you? 

• Use an RSS feed to pull new content from a variety of databases and websites.
• Read consolidated continuously updated content without going back to the original sources.

How to use RSS feeds

1. Set up an RSS feed reader (see links to commonly used readers below).
2. Subscribe to a feed by looking for the RSS feed icon on a journal page, database, blog, or website and copying the URL provided into your feed reader (although most feed readers will search websites for feeds by website name even when this icon is not on the page).
3. All the feeds you subscribe to will automatically update in your feed reader.

RSS feeds are viewed in a feed reader or aggregator. A wide range of readers are freely available to access.

Web-Based Readers

Other Options

• Microsoft Outlook allows you to subscribe to and access RSS feeds. To set it up, see Microsoft's Support site.
• Some browsers offer extensions or plug-ins that provide RSS functionality. Search your browser's list of extensions for "RSS."