[Web4lib] RSS usage

[Randy Norwood]

IMO, the biggest obstacle to wider use of RSS is the need to install yet
another piece of software. The newest version of Safari (which comes with
Mac OS X 10.4) has a very nice integrated RSS reader (perhaps what Thomas
was alluding to as the inspiration for IE7's RSS functionality). When users
no longer need additional software, and don't need to know (or care) what an
RSS file/feed is, then it will become much more mainstream.


On 06/07/05 12:29 PM, "Thomas Dowling" <tdowling at ohiolink.edu> wrote:

> David Walker wrote:
>> Hi All,
>> 
>> At Cal State San Marcos we are thinking about utilizing RSS in a big way
>> with a module that can create on-demand feeds for any journal,
>> newspaper, or user conducted search via our federated search system.
>> 
>> It all sounds very cool.  But my question is this:  Does anyone have a
>> sense of how many users in academic libraries are actually taking
>> advantage of RSS?  I've done an informal survey of a few faculty and
>> students here, and most don't even know what RSS is, let alone use it.
>> 
> 
> FWIW, Internet Explorer 7 is expected to have a built-in RSS reader
> (wherever did they get that idea?).  So the number of people with a
> reader at their fingertips will go up once the upgrade is available.