If you are already familiar with RSS newsfeeds, drop http://lii.org into your RSS reader. Our main feed address is http://lii.org/ntw.rss

Or if you use Bloglines, My MSN, personalized Google, My Yahoo, or Newsgator, just use one of the following:

To read our RSS feed, you need a newsreader (a tool that allows you to subscribe and track RSS feeds, sometimes called newsfeeds). If you already use My Yahoo, My MSN, or personalized Google, you don't need additional software--see above. The Firefox browser also offers feed-reading capability through Live Bookmarks.

If you are new to RSS, try this tutorial, based on the free blog-reading software, Bloglines.

We base our instructions on Bloglines because it's free, easy, and web-based. We at LII don't have any connection to Bloglines other than we like it. It's easy to guide you through Bloglines because you don't have to install anything on your computer.

1. Go to www.bloglines.com and set up a (free) account.

2.  Log in to Bloglines with your new account.

Adding the LII Feed to Bloglines

1.  Select (click on) the "Add" link on the upper left-hand side of Bloglines, under " My Feeds."

4.  The right-hand side of Bloglines should say "Subscribe." Below that, you should see a box that says "Blog or Feed URL." Type or copy and paste http://lii.org into the "Blog or Feed URL" box, and click "Subscribe."

5.  You may now see up to ten different feeds. Select and subscribe to this feed: http://lii.org/ntw.rss  (Ignore any other feeds that might appear.)

Using Bloglines to Read RSS Feeds

Your feeds will appear on the left side of your Bloglines account. Reading your feeds is flat-out easy: just click on the names of the feeds. Feeds with new posts are bolded. 

Poke around Bloglines. It's easy to use. You can quickly learn how to create folders to organize your feeds, unsubscribe to some of the feeds that Bloglines gave you when you signed up, and find and add new feeds. 

If you are a librarian, give yourself extra time to familiarize yourself with this new technology so you are ready when patrons ask about RSS.

Finding More RSS Feeds

Bloglines is searchable. You can also find feeds in Bloglines through its "Related Feeds" feature. (Bloglines recommends the New York Times and Scientific American to New This Week readers. A compliment to you and to us!) 

You can also browse the blogosphere with Technorati or Feedster. If you search LII, you will see we have added a number of good blog-finding tools, including a selection especially for librarians and library groupies, Blogbib.

  Finding More RSS Readers

We use Bloglines as the newsreader for this tutorial because it is free, Web-based, and full-featured. Other free, web-based choices for newsreaders include My MSN, personalized Google, My Yahoo, and Firefox's Live Bookmarks feature.