Bringing the Library to You with RSS Feeds
by Jennifer Keach

A small but growing number of researchers are learning about JMU Libraries, not by visiting the library website, but by having the library website come to them.  These users are subscribing to the libraries’ RSS (really simple syndication) feeds. 

RSS is a simple way to get news from your favorite sources. Rather than visiting all your favorite websites to check for new information, you "subscribe" so that news is delivered to you when it is published. Then, when you have the time and interest, you can read the news, save it for later, or get rid of it. 

• Do you enjoy the news items that appear on the Carrier Library, CISAT Library, and Media Resources front pages?  Subscribe to the RSS news feeds.  
• Do you like to read for fun?  Get an alert when new titles are added to our collection of popular fiction and non-fiction books with the Browsing Collection feed. 
• Or maybe you want to know what new books have arrived at the Library.  Subscribe to our New Titles List and see the title and call number of every new book, video, and sound recording after it is added to LEO Library Catalog.
• Do you enjoy the graphics highlighting research databases on our front pages?  Subscribe to the Featured Research Databases feed to see them all.

You can also create your own custom feeds for news, frequently asked questions, and features from many parts of our website. Start looking for , , or  and you’ll notice that the web is filled with RSS feeds to which you can subscribe. JMU, Harrisonburg’s Daily News Record, Yahoo News!, Flickr…the list of general sites with RSS feeds is endless. Among research sites, many journals and some research databases also offer RSS feeds. Search the directory of feeds at Bloglines for specific journals or look on individual websites for RSS icons or information.

Once you decide that you want to subscribe to RSS feeds, visit our RSS News Feeds webpage to get started. There you’ll find a short list of the most popular news readers, which you’ll need to display and keep track of your feeds. You’ll also find the full listing of our RSS feeds so you can stay on top of what interests you most at JMU Libraries.