LIBRARIES AND RSS, by Richard W. Boss/Comments, J. Colannino

As part of our assignment on collaboration we were required to comment on at least one article selected by another student. I have selected the above entitled article because I do not know much about RSS feeds. This brief paper gives a good sketch of what RSS is and how it works. RSS uses XML and stands for something like “really simple syndication” (there is some dispute about the acronym). No matter, RSS allows for a subscriber to link to a site of interest and authorize the host to automatically send new updates about a topic as soon as the information is available. Thus, the technology is a push-by-permission technology. The feeds may be pushed to the user’s web browser without the need to provide an e-mail address. If the feeds become annoying, one may cancel or restore them at the click of a button without having to send an unsubscribe e-mail or wait from any action by the host organization.

This article suggested that RSS would be a good idea for libraries, and by extension, anyone wanting up to the minute news on any topic. The host site must have enabled RSS transmissions. This is usually shown by an RSS or XML button located on the site. The user clicks it and follows instructions to allow for automated downloads. The user also needs an aggregator. Mozilla’s Firefox browser comes with an aggregator built in, Firefox is free.

So now that I know what an RSS feed is and how to enable it, will I use RSS feeds? No. The technology looks nifty but I have developed a strong aversion for push technologies. When I want something on the web, especially from a favorite site, I have little trouble finding it. I find even e-mails to be a distraction and nuisance when they interrupt my daily routine. To borrow a phrase from manufacturing, I am a just-in-time (JIT) infophile. I want my information when I want it, not before, and not very much afterward. When I was younger, we called people with this attitude “spoiled” children.

Am I a spoiled child? To a degree, yes. A child who has their slightest wish granted often grows to be a tyrannical adult. Oh, I certainly don’t qualify for that "honor," but there is something about just-in-time or on-demand service that pushes one in that direction. I worry if we, as a culture, will lose our civility and I have observed signs of it everywhere and at an increasing pace. We have just-in-time Christianity (get your miracle), just-in-time food (fast food), just-in-time relationships (chat rooms), just-in-time sexual satisfaction (pornographic sites), just-in-time travel (road rage)… well, you get the picture. If patience is a virtue then just-in-time is a vice. Its fine for things and bad for people.

The trouble with just-in-time is that some things are best savored and are even demeaned otherwise. One cannot have just-in-time parenting or just-in-time love without doing grave injustice to oneself and others. What good examples have we of love? The premier examples used to be in the home, but divorce and a culture of instant gratification have begun to assault that bastion with increasing alacrity. Many I speak with are confused about what love is and are surprised to learn that sexual gratification is a very small drop in a very deep ocean – an ocean that rewards years of exploration with indescribable treasure. Once you are privileged to find it, you need never hurry on or look elsewhere, even in the face of social distractions with really simple syndication.