RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary. A n RSS “feed”, contains a summary of content or headlines from a website – title, description and link.
To use an RSS feed, you must have an RSS reader. Most RSS readers are available to download free on the Web and can be desktop readers or web-based options. Examples include:
Advantages of RSS feeds include:
Other ways to stay current is to follow people in your research field via their blogs, Twitter or by joining or creating groups on academic social networking sites such as Mendeley, ResearchGate, Academia.edu and the Social Science Research Network.
In addition to blogs from individuals, there are also blogs from respected journals and academic institutions such as:
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) has produced lists of academic tweeters by discipline and has also produced a guide to using Twitter for academics.
Other methods of keeping up-to-date include:
Email Discussion Lists – Search and browse for relevant lists at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ and http://www.lsoft.com/catalist.html
Preprint Servers – E.g. arXiv.org for Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology, Quantitative Finance and Statistics
YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/education
Podcasts – Search for academic podcasts in iTunes and listen via your PC or on mobile apps for various devices including Android smartphones
Slideshare – Find presentations on the latest research from academics and conferenceshttp://www.slideshare.net
The library receives a selection of regional, national and international newspapers in print. Recent issues are found in the Popular Reading Room on the Ground Floor. Earlier issues may be available in storage.