Application of RSS in Special Libraries

Abstract

Despite of ever increasing scope and volume of online information content and the constant need for easy accessibility to these contents, experts in various subject matters always face time constraints when searching for information or looking up their intended resource. Meanwhile, special libraries are faced with diminishing resources, time and human resource needed for providing services and meeting the information need of the said experts. Nowadays Push Technologies, in form of RSS could be used to speed up on-time information dissemination. RSS feeds could spontaneously deliver information to the users. These could be posted on webpages or read by RSS readers. RSS has numerous applications such as web page content update, reading lists, table of contents, current awareness, guides etc. The present paper while outlining RSS as one of the next generation web tools, would point out its various advantages and applications in the new generation of libraries (Lib 2.0),particularly the special libraries. It would also offer pointers to its application in meeting the information needs of experts and users in such libraries.