What is an Aggregator? It is a website that allows you to check websites for updates all at one site. Just as the site del.icio.us allows you to save all your Favorites or Bookmarks on one site, aggregator sites allow you stay informed by going to one site from any computer!
This can be a useful reference tool for current events, books or music.
You probably have seen the small button marked RSS FEEDS. RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. That button lets you know that you can add a URL to an aggregator website and receive updates at the aggregator site each time information is updated on the original site. That way, you can go to ONE website each day and check for updates on various topics.
The RSS Feed can be for just a specific topic. For example, when you click the button on the Seattle Times website, you are taken to a page full of RSS Feeds one for books, one for music, one for Mariners, etc. That way you can select just those topics you are interested in receiving updates.
You may see the similar buttons labeled RSS Atom, Bloglines� etc. They will all work basically the same.
You may have noticed the RSS Feeds button on the Aquabrowser results page. This allows you to receive updates when items are added to our catalog that fit the search you just created. As you may have noticed, you cannot use Aquabrowser to search from My Account. The RSS Feeds can take the place of saving searches in My Account.
Once you establish an account on an aggregator site, you can then add the URL for the RSS FEEDS to your account. I was a bit confused about what to do the first time I clicked the RSS FEEDS button. What will happen: a new window will open with an HTML source code version of the site you are on. Simply copy the URL in the address line and paste that URL in the �subscribe� line on your aggregator site.
If you are working on your own computer, you can set it up have an alert on the taskbar letting you know when a site has been updated.
Some aggregator sites:
www.bloglines.com � I set up an account on this site. To get started, you are only required email, password, language and time zone.
www.newsgator.com
My Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) � If you already have an email account with Yahoo, you can add RSS Feeds to your �My Yahoo� page.
There are many more, you can search on aggregator.
Information from WLA Pre-conference session: Rev Up Your Online Services: Blogs, RSS, Wikis and other Dynamic and Low-cost Technologies.