Some declared the technology outdated. RSS feeds, also known as RSS channels, remain more relevant than ever to those who monitor and produce content: organizations, database providers and publishers. Here's a closer look at a small acronym with great potential.
What is an RSS feed?
RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. It's a protocol that allows you to subscribe to new content from websites, newsletters or blogs that interest you, for automatic delivery via an aggregator. It's also the protocol behind podcasts [1]. In other words, rather than going to sites one by one to see if they offer new information, you centralize the reporting of all new content for all sites that offer it, in real time. A bit like journalists used to receive dispatches from news agencies, allowing them to be fed news in real time to write their articles.
The feed often takes the form of a content preview - headline, first paragraph and illustration - that can be clicked on to find out more [2]. The technology isn't new, having been around since the late 1990s and peaking in popularity in the 2000s. How do we know if it's present on a site? The pictogram illustrating this post is there, but it's not always in the same place. Sometimes it's even hidden. Here are three examples:
- The INSPQ website offers several on a page dedicated to subscriptions.
- The Assemblée nationale du Québec website has a page devoted to both the Assembly's proceedings and bills.
- On the Radio-Canada site, many feeds are available, but are not visible either on the home page or on the site map. In such cases, to find out whether a feed is available, try the following Google search: "RSS feed insite:https://ici.radio-canada.ca/".
Added value for all
You are a consumer of selected information and lack the time to cover all the sources useful to your field of activity:
- By locating and subscribing to RSS feeds from your favorite sources, you can take advantage of the push approach, which, in the words of the Université de Montréal Libraries metaphor, is like "knocking on an apple tree to knock off the ripe apples and make puree".
- The information comes to you: you don't miss a thing when it comes to these sources, even if you'll have to do a bit of sorting in each delivery.
- You free yourself from the algorithms of social networks.
- You'll save time and increase efficiency, as you'll be able to feed directly from the source, and centralize the management of all the RSS feeds you follow.
If you are an information-producing organization, such as a publisher, database provider or grey literature author, and would like to optimize the identification and dissemination of your new publications:
- You use RSS feed technology, which is secure and easy to set up.
- You lead subscribers directly to the source and increase visits to your web pages, while reducing the risk of misinformation.
- You'll delight not only watch professionals, but also Internet users who are concerned about the reliability of information sources.
A request to make
The Communauté de pratique de veille en santé et services sociaux du Québec (#CdPVeille3S) is firmly in favor of the use of RSS feeds. Because its members deplore the disappearance of this protocol on sites that are important for the monitoring carried out in their respective organizations, they have prepared standard letters to be sent to suppliers, in both French and English. We've reproduced an example here, aimed at an organization that doesn't have an RSS feed. You can, of course, use it and adapt it to your own needs.
Conclusion
RSS feeds are relevant, inexpensive, make information traceable, and are effective at disseminating information. They are also easy to set up and use. They are winning tools for both producers and consumers of information. At Cogniges, we use them every day as part of the monitoring and intelligence mandates we carry out for our clients. Now that you're a little more familiar with this technology, don't hesitate to try it out by tracking RSS feeds in your favorite sources.
References
[1] Centre collégial de développement de matériel didactique. (2012). 7 points essentiels à propos des… fils RSS.
[2] Johnson, Maxime. (2023). Comment et pourquoi utiliser les flux RSS en 2023. L’Actualité.