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Notices of Updates & Additions to the Law Library Website

Prepared by Diane Murley, SIU Law Library, Summer 2005

The SIU law library uses a site feed to distribute news of updates and additions to the law library website.

• What are site feeds?
• Why should I use a news reader or aggregator?
• How can I subscribe to the SIU Law Library's update feed?
• Where can I learn more about RSS feeds?

Site feeds are special web files used primarily by blogs, news sites and other frequently updated web pages. The availability of a feed may be indicated on a web page with a or other small graphic like you see on this page, or with a "Syndicate this site" or "Subscribe to this site" link. Thanks to feeds, it is possible for you to stay current with news items and blog postings from dozens or hundreds of sites without having to visit each of those sites repeatedly to find out if it has been updated.

A site feed is not meant to be read using a web browser. You subscribe to feeds for websites and blogs that interest you with a special program called an aggregator or reader. Aggregators and readers include programs that can be downloaded onto your personal computer, such as FeedDemon or NewzCrawler, or websites, such as My Yahoo! and Bloglines. When those sites and blogs are updated, their RSS feeds are also automatically updated with headlines and sometimes with excerpts or full-text. The aggregator or reader automatically checks those feeds for updates, collects the new information, and organizes and displays it in reverse chronological order. Simply by checking your aggregator for new items, you can check new information from many sources in a matter of minutes.

If you already use a news aggregator, you can copy and paste http://feeds.feedburner.com/SIULawLibrary to subscribe to the law library's update feed. Alternatively, you can click on one of the following icons to subscribe. In most cases, you will be prompted to login or register, if you have not already done so.

If you would like to start using a feed reader (also known as a news aggregator), Bloglines is a good place to start. To subscribe to the SIU Law Library Updates & Additions feed with Bloglines, click on the button . For more information on subscribing to feeds with Bloglines, read Using Bloglines to Manage Your Blogs and News Feeds.

  Get SIU Law Library Updates & Additions on My Yahoo!

  Add SIU Law Library Updates & Additions to My MSN.

  Subscribe to SIU Law Library Updates & Additions with NewsGator Online.

  Add SIU Law Library Updates & Additions to the My Feeds section on your My AOL.

  Add SIU Law Library Updates & Additions to your Google homepage or to Google Reader.

  More subscription options for SIU Law Library Updates & Additions.

For more feed reader options, browse RSS Compendium or the Open Directory Project's list of News Readers.

For more information on RSS:

• What is RSS?, a basic tutorial introduction to RSS feeds and aggregators for non-technical people from Software Garden.
• Cindy L. Chick, RSS Tutorial: What Is RSS?, part 1 of a six-part series at LawLibTech.
• Larry Magid, RSS: The Web at Your Fingertips.
• Valerie Potter, Getting Started With RSS, an article from InformationWeek.
• Mitch Wagner, I Came, I Saw, I RSS'd, an article from TechWeb.
• Alex Barnett, Using RSS 101, a 9-minute online demonstration of how to download and use FeedDemon, as well as how to subscribe to RSS feeds.
• Genie Tyburski, Finding News Faster, an Internet Research Presentation from The Virtual Chase.

Once you have set up your feed reader, you may want to subscribe to Law Dawg Blawg's RSS feed.