Week 4: RSS Feeds

I have to admit I have been wondering why I've never bothered to sign up for RSS feeds. Possibly I knew that if I could potentially have all the latest updates from my favourite (admittedly quite lowbrow) sites flash across the bottom of my page, that I would barely get any work done. Of course I might still not have got the idea of RSS feeds right (I know that bloglines is but one application and that I should take the time to have a look at some other free sites that provide this service in possibly different ways) but this is what I have understood them to be. I know that Google have already capitalised on the idea of having a personalised web account that when you open it, has quicklinks to all your favourite sites etc. (yes, I know they probably didn't pioneer this idea but I have not been keeping up with the latest in web innovation - it's been almost 6 years since I graduated - and I know that this is the point of Learning 2.0). Phew, I apologise for the long and unwieldy sentence.

I have been inspired by the intelligent musings on the drawnthreads blog to comment on what I think might be the potentially usefulness of this weeks highlighted web 2.0 application in relation to public libraries. I'd say that I'm not the first person to think that we could have constant feeds regarding new items but that this is possibly an inappropriate use unless you're in one of those poorer public libraries where you get a few books a month (in which case you might not like to broadcast this). It probably works far better for events that are coming up - you want your library service to appear busy and dynamic but you don't want actual and potential patrons confused (which is what happens when you have too much information). I am going on a bit aren't I? Might be time for some camomile tea.