Q: What is RSS?

A: You can keep track of education news and all that is happening with Strong American Schools and the ED in 08 campaign through “RSS feeds,” which deliver headlines and summaries to your desktop or Web browser.

RSS, which stands for “Really Simple Syndication” allows Internet users to subscribe to Web sites or blogs that provide RSS feeds; these are typically sites that change or add content regularly. RSS allows a Web site's frequent users to monitor updates on the site using an “aggregator.” Aggregators reduce the time and effort needed to regularly check Web sites of interest for updates.

Q: What do I do to view RSS feeds?

A: To view the headlines, paste the feed address into an RSS news reader or use a browser that supports RSS feeds, such as Safari for Mac OS X. Another option is Bloglines, a free service that makes it easy to subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite blogs. Bloglines will monitor updates to those sites.

If you click an RSS link but do not have a compatible reader installed, you will see XML code in your browser. If this XML file appears (it will start with the "tag" <rss version=2.0">), follow the instructions provided by your RSS aggregator, copy the address of the file into it.

Q: How much does it cost to use?
A: Subscribing to this RSS feed is free. RSS aggregators are typically free as well.