Free-range RSS feeds and farm-raised journals: what to expect when using RSS as a TOC service.
Anyone who has tried to set up RSS feeds with or for a patron knows that the RSS feeds for e-journals can behave wildly, like free-range cattle, while the e-journals that libraries subscribe to tend to be more like farm-raised cattle, because they are packaged for institutions rather than individuals. Because of this disconnect, the experience of teaching RSS feeds to one's patrons can be fraught with "oops" moments. Knowing what to expect can help librarians prepare to teach patrons to use RSS feeds without scaring them away from a powerful tool. This article will discuss some problems to expect and ways to work around them.
Fletcher
Adelaide Myers
AM
Denver Medical Library, Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center, Denver, Colorado, USA. Adelaide.Fletcher@ucdenver.edu
D000043:Abstracting and Indexing / Q000379:methods; D016208:Databases, Factual; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods*; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D007993:Libraries, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010506:Periodicals as Topic; D014584:User-Computer Interface