What is RSS?

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing Web content, such as news headlines. Using an RSS reader, you can view data feeds from various news sources, such as CNN.com, including headlines, summaries, links to full stories. NASCOLA uses this "standard" to publish changes and new information through its website.

How do I access RSS?

Web Browsers:

The simplest way is to view the file in your web browser. Click on the button to see a list of headlines with links to the complete story.

If you are using newer browsers (like Microsoft's IE 7 and abouve), you will see this icon in the tool bar. If you wish to subscribe to the news feed, you will be able to select it (like a favorite web site) from the favorites menu. The browser will only display new items, based on the 'feed properties' for the NASCOLA feed (right click to view).

On a Macintosh, the RSS feed can be accessed either by the button on the web page, or by clicking on the blue RSS button on the right side of the address field.

Either way, you can then quickly check for new items and changes at NASCOLA without needing to examine the complete site.

RSS/News Aggregators:

RSS/News Aggregators (also called News Readers) will download and display RSS feeds for you. A number of free and commercial News Aggregators are available for download.

Many aggregators are separate, "stand-alone" programs; other services will let you add RSS feeds to a Web page. Yahoo! users can add RSS feeds to your My Yahoo! page; to make this easier, you can click on the "Add to My Yahoo!" button to the right of each link above.

Weblogs:

Another way many people use RSS feeds is by incorporating content into weblogs, or "blogs". Blogs are web pages comprised of usually short, frequently updated items and web links. Blogging as a publishing tool is used for many purposes: traditional journalism, personal journals, group discussions around a topic, and many combinations in-between.