Wednesday, January 05, 2005

An announcement I received from the WHO today might serve as a template for your library when you start offering a blog or RSS news feed:

"World Health Organization (WHO) news headlines and summary texts are now
available via "really simple syndication" (RSS). RSS is a straightforward
way for you to keep up-to-date with the latest news from WHO. To use RSS
on your computer you need to obtain a program called a News Reader, which
allows you to collect and display RSS feeds from your chosen web sites.
Every time a news article is published on the WHO web site, you will
receive an automatic update without having to visit our site. You will
find further information about RSS and details of how to access WHO RSS
feeds on the following URL:
http://www.who.int/about/licensing/rss/en/
Advantages of RSS technology are:
- you can scan the headlines of many different web sites via a single
browser window. When you see a headline that interests you simply click on
the link to visit the publisher's web site;
- you only receive information from the web sites that you have selected
eg BBC, NY Times, WHO etc;
- information is automatically updated on a regular basis;
- most RSS feeds consist of text only, so this technology is ideal for
slower internet connections.
WHO plans to launch additional RSS feeds for subjects such as disease
outbreaks and emergencies in the coming weeks."

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