RSS Feature Added to Sweet Briar Web Site

JENNIFER McMANAMAY
Staff writer

Sweet Briar College recently added RSS to its Web site news pages. If you linked to this story from an RSS feed, it’s probably not necessary to read on. If you haven’t tried using news feeds until now, you might want to stay tuned.

RSS — which stands for Really Simple Syndication — is a tool that automatically lets you know when content that interests you has been added to your favorite Web sites. It also allows you to view and access the updates from one place.

There are several ways to subscribe to RSS feeds, including simply adding the feed to your bookmarks. That method doesn’t aggregate the content from all of the sites you subscribe to in a single display, however. To do that, you’ll need to choose an RSS or news reader. Many of these programs, including Google Reader, My Yahoo and Bloglines, are free.

News readers may be accessed using a Web browser or through a downloadable application. Web-based readers let you view your RSS subscriptions from any computer, while downloadable applications store them on your computer or mobile device. You can also choose to receive RSS feeds by e-mail.

You can get started by clicking on the square RSS icon that appears in the news and events sections of the SBC home and SBC News pages. You’ll be asked to select a reader and log in to create an account. Once you have an account, you can add and remove Web sites as needed. Some programs, such as Google Reader, let you create folders to further manage your feeds.

Many Web sites, including Sweet Briar, let you select all news or screen out stories you don’t want to read by selecting only the topics that interest you. For example, Washington Post subscribers may opt to receive only the Metro and Style section articles.

The topic feeds available on Sweet Briar’s site currently include articles related to the business, economics, engineering and Spanish academic departments; athletics and riding; and the Museum at Sweet Briar. The list will be updated, so check back occasionally for additional topics. To use this feature, go to SBC News and click on the RSS Feeds link.