RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is an easy way to keep up with your favorite news and information. An RSS feed contains headlines, summaries, and links to full news stories. If you click an RSS link on the right, you will see XML (or eXtensible Markup Language) code in your browser. This is to be expected, since you do not view RSS content through a browser. You view the headlines through an RSS news reader (also called an RSS aggregator).

If you’re new to XML, you can learn more with this thorough Introduction to RSS from W3Schools.

What are RSS Readers?

RSS news readers, or “aggregators”, are small software programs that aggregate RSS feeds and display the story information. They allow you to scan headlines from hundreds of news sources in a central location. Popular RSS readers include:

How Do I Use These Feeds?

The first step, as described below, is to choose an RSS reader. Each reader has a slightly different way of adding a new feed (also called a “channel”). In most cases, here’s how it works:

  1. Click on the small XML button near the channel you want (Research Highlights, for example). You’ll see a page displaying XML code.
  2. From your browser, copy the URL that appears in your Address Bar. For example, the URL you would copy for ARM News Is:

    http://www.arm.gov/news/cms/category/news/feed

  3. Paste that URL into the ‘Add New Channel’ section of the reader. You should be all set! The RSS feed will start to display and regularly update the headlines for you.

Where Do I Get an RSS Reader?

A wide range of RSS readers can be easily downloaded from the Web. Some readers are Web-based while others require you to download a small software program onto your desktop. Most are free to use.

Google and Yahoo! both offer comprehensive lists of RSS readers.