Writing about RSS

Simon blogs:

"Final assignment for LIBR525: Information Technology is to write about an application of a new technology which interests you (with a scenario that you are writing a report for your manager in your first job after graduating from the MLIS). I chose to write about RSS, and it's starting to come together, but it was a fair struggle. Not that I don't understand it (well, I've got the basics) but how to express that on paper in a non-techie way without going into long-winded explanations about what XML is and how RSS relates to it, etc."

I find that writing about a topic (like RSS) that the world (and most librarians) doesn't really know about yet is not as difficult as it may appear. You probably know more than most about the topic. My advice (not coming from an expert, although I can almost consider myself a writer) is this: Don't use technical terms, Write the first draft like you talk (and then patch it up later), and keep it simple. No reason to go into that much detail about RSS. Discuss aggregators, adding a feed, and how it can change how we as librarians read the Web. Good luck.