Keeping Up to Date  Tags: news academic_staff staff teaching research current_events  

Most feeds contain links to Web pages.

If the links are to audio files such as mp3s the feed is called a podcast.

If you want to subscribe to a podcast you're better off using something like 

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" and is an XML file format for delivering content on the web. You will also find RSS referred to as 'web feeds' or just 'feeds'. A good way to understand RSS feeds is to think about them as magazine subscriptions: rather than having to frequently visit the newsstand to check for a new issue of your favourite magazine, you can just subscribe to it and sit back & wait for the new issues to come to you.

To use RSS, you need a feed reader. A feed reader is an aggregator - that is, a program or webap that pulls content from many different sources and puts them in one place and one format for your reading or viewing pleasure.

Most sites that regularly add content have at least one RSS feed these days; many have multiple feeds that you can subscribe to. Look out for the orange rss icon on your favourite or most frequented sites.

Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 or Safari browsers:

Start subscribing to feeds right away. Just look for the orange icon in your address bar. If you use Safari the RSS icon is blue

If you don't have Firefox or Internet Explorer 7:

You can use a Web-based reader. The advantage of using a Web-based reader is that you can access your feeds from any computer with an Internet connection.  Common free feed readers include Google Reader and Bloglines.

Use the following links for more information about setting up feeds: