Throughout the summer, I gave webinars to our Extension educators on strategies for improving their informal learning. This month, I am presenting on information collection strategies like RSS feeds and Twitter feeds. One idea I presented is how to create a search query in the university’s digital journals and save it as an RSS feed in Google Reader.
Rather than repeatedly search the university’s digital journals using the same search queries, you can set a search query and wait for updates to appear in your RSS aggregator. Here is a short video showing that process:
How to Track New Research Automatically Using Library RSS Feeds.
Staying up to date with the latest scholarly publications in your field doesn’t require running the same database searches every week. By linking search alerts from university library databases to an RSS reader, you can have new journal articles delivered directly to your feed the moment they match your criteria.
1: Open Your RSS Reader
- First, open your preferred RSS feed reader in a browser tab so it is ready when you generate your feed link.
2: Access the Library Database
- In a new tab, navigate to your library’s website (such as the University of Wyoming Libraries) and go to the article search databases.
- Next, select an article database on the EBSCOhost platform, such as Academic Search Premier.
3: Build and Run Your Search Query
- Enter your research topic or keywords (for example,
"MMORPG"). - Then, apply your desired search filters, such as limiting results to scholarly (peer-reviewed) journals or choosing whether to include non-full-text records.
- After setting your filters, run the search to view your initial results.
4: Generate and Copy the RSS Feed Link
- Look above your search results and click on the Alert / Save / Share menu.
- Click on the RSS feed icon.
- Once the RSS link appears, highlight it and copy it to your clipboard (
Ctrl + Con a PC). - Click Save Alert to ensure that the alert remains active in EBSCOhost.
5: Subscribe in Your RSS Reader
- Finally, return to your RSS reader tab.
- Click Subscribe (or Add Content), paste the copied RSS URL into the subscription field, and click Add.
- Within seconds, the reader will gather matching articles and create a dedicated feed that updates automatically whenever new articles matching your search criteria appear.
