# Businesses replace email with RSS feeds for productivity! Common academia! Canonical page: https://dominiklukes.net/writing/2007-11-01-businesses-replace-email-with-rss-feeds-for-productivity The piece advocates RSS feeds as a way for businesses and academics to receive updates without relying on email. Essay · dominiklukes.net (2005–2009) · 1 November 2007 Published on dominiklukes.net (2005–2009), 1 November 2007. Text as published. This is not a subject on which I hold a neutral view, so it's a good thing I'm right! Everybody should use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds. If you have a website, make sure you generate them, and if you go to websites where new content is offered through [RSS feed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss), subscribe to them. In fact, we should shun websites where the orange icon with white stripes is not in evidence. This is what businesses do. > [PC World - Business Center: Companies Tap RSS to Tame Info Overload](https://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/139105/companies_tap_rss_to_tame_info_overload.html) As employees struggle to read an increasing amount of work-related material, some companies have turned to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology to improve productivity. > > With RSS servers and readers designed for workplaces, IT departments set up internal information feeds that employees can subscribe to, a delivery mechanism that, for some information, can be more precise and effective than e-mail. Unfortunately, most academics while moaning about email overload display an incomprehensible reluctance to learn about this essential information management technology (remember that next time you complain about the undergraduates today not reading enough Plato). So here's what we can do with RSS in academia: - Subscribe to academic journals - Subscribe to institutional updates - Subscribe to funding news (ESRC) - Publish RSS feeds on project websites and suggest to collaborators to subscribe RSS, after all, offers the sort of publish sharing of knowledge that should be the hallmark of academic practice. And unlike email or static websites, it has the advantage of managing information overload. All that is required is to learn how to use an RSS reader ([Google offers a great free one](https://www.google.com/reader/view)). In fact, all the good RSS feed practice is demonstrated on this website. - All types of new content offer RSS subscription (events, blogs, theses, projects, etc.) - and more can be added upon request - Feeds from this site show up on UEA's new portal - Feeds from UEA's news sources are displayed on the front page - All users can set up their own RSS aggregator using the [MySite feature](http://research.edu.uea.ac.uk/mysite) - [IT Group](http://research.edu.uea.ac.uk/itgroup) --- ## About this item - Type: Essay - Published: 1 November 2007 - Published in: dominiklukes.net (2005–2009) - Language: English Topics: [Technology, media and the web](https://dominiklukes.net/topics/technology-and-the-web). ## Related - [Open Source to UK schools?](https://dominiklukes.net/writing/2007-10-30-open-source-to-uk-schools) (Essay · 30 October 2007) - [s/z: British/American approaches to personali(s/z)ed learning](https://dominiklukes.net/writing/2008-01-12-british-and-american-approaches-to-personalised-learning) (Essay · 12 January 2008) - [Leading computer pundit attacks educational establishment and inadvertently](https://dominiklukes.net/writing/2008-01-16-leading-computer-pundit-attacks-educational-establishment) (Essay · 16 January 2008) - [Learning vs training in machines and organizations: Production of knowledge vs production of capability](https://dominiklukes.net/writing/learning-vs-training-in-machines-and-organizations-production-of-knowledge-vs-pr) (Essay · 6 February 2018) - [Quick Notes on Measurement](https://dominiklukes.net/writing/quick-notes-on-measurement) (Essay) - ['First impressions: Advocacy, student self-advocacy, special needs and personalised](https://dominiklukes.net/writing/2008-01-18-advocacy-self-advocacy-special-needs-and-personalised-learning) (Essay · 18 January 2008) Section: [Writing](https://dominiklukes.net/writing)