RSS stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. RSS feeds allow you to view the latest articles and table of contents for your favorite journals or other web content. All of the Relay databases have an RSS feed for each publication. You can use an RSS to see recently published articles from the latest edition of your favorite scholarly publication!
There are several ways to use an RSS feed, and one easy way is to use the desktop version of Outlook. Once you setup the subscription Outlook will create a separate folder to collect recently published articles from the publication. Every RSS feed is a little different, with some feeds showing article titles and summaries and others showing just titles. There is always include a link to the article, but since the link goes to a library database you must have a way to access the Relay Proxy. That means you should either have the Bookmarklet saved in your bookmarks or use the Zotero browser extension.
Once you have the Proxy sorted and complete the below steps you can easily stay up to date with all your favorite publications available through the Relay Library!
First, locate the journal in the library database. Each database is different and has the RSS feed located in a different place. The feed is usually on the journal home page as opposed to being on an individual article or issue. The icon usually looks like a dot with two curved lines radiating from the corner, like this: 
and may be orange or black and white. It is sometimes located with other tools or in a menu or area labeled: Share, Other Tools, Create Alert, or keep up to date.
Once you locate the RSS feed you will need to copy the URL, however this is where things get a little complicated. Unfortunately, an RSS reader (like what we will setup in Outlook) does not work through the Library Proxy. This means that depending on the database you are using and whether or not you have the Zotero extension activated, you will have to remove the proxy from the RSS URL. If this sounds too complicated please stop here and contact the library. We would be thrilled to help you setup an RSS feed for a journal in our databases!
It seems more complicated than it is, but generally the library proxy links follow a similar pattern regardless of the database. Here is an example of a link with and without the Relay Proxy:
The proxy changes the URL in two distinct ways. First it adds ".library.relay.edu" after the original URL (but before the sub pages) and second it replaces the periods in the original URL with a dash. Following this formula you can remove the proxy from a link by finding and deleting the ".library.relay.edu" text and then changing the dashes back to periods in the base URL. In the example above the first link will not work in an RSS reader while the second link will.
Once you have the appropriate URL you can follow these steps to setup the subscription using the desktop version of Outlook.
1) On the left hand side under the Inbox there is a section titled RSS Subscriptions.
2) Right click RSS Subscriptions and click "Add a New RSS Feed..."
3) In the new box paste the URL for the RSS feed and click "Add"
4) A new box appears but before you click "Yes" click the "Advanced" button
5) Another window appears which has a few settings. Most useful is to add a proper name to the subscription which will appear as a folder in your Outlook. After you enter the name click "Ok". Then the previous window appears and click "Yes" to add the subscription.
6) Under the RSS Subscriptions folder you will see a folder for each subscription you create. Click on the individual title to browse recently published articles. Some feeds include summaries of articles while some are the titles only, but they all include a link to read the article. Enjoy reading!
