Departments | Management Information Systems | RSS
Savvy online users are beginning to manage the flood of information on the internet using RSS. Simply stated, the advantages of using RSS are: They save time and bandwidth. RSS gives you control over receiving information you want without revealing information about yourself. Unlike subscribing to an e-mail newsletter, you never have to give out your e-mail address with an RSS feed. That avoids the possibility of receiving spam or unwanted junk e-mail from a web site.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary or RDF Site Summary, depending on who you ask) is a Web content syndication format. In other words, it is an easy way for you to keep updated automatically on websites you like. Instead of your having to visit websites to see if any changes or additions have been made, you can use RSS to alert and tell you if there is something new. A web site provider packages the information up in a standard format, called a feed, which then notifies anyone who has 'subscribed' to them.
The first thing you'll do is set up a newsreader/RSS Reader/News Aggregator application. As of now, we don't really have one specific application to recommend, but there are hundreds of free applications on the internet to choose from. Some involve downloads, others are web-based, or there are some web browsers (Firefox and IE7) that have RSS feeds directly incorporated within them. Performing a search for "RSS Feed Readers" in any major online search engine will produce a wealth of software options - many of which are free or at little cost.
Once you've obtained a feed reader, subscribing to an RSS feed is as simple as looking for the appropriate XML code. Most web sites that publish an RSS feed will display a tiny orange box or button labeled "RSS" or "XML". Our button looks like this: 
Click the button and your Web browser will go to a page with cryptic code. Copy the web "address" or URL of that page, and paste it into your feed reader. The software will then automatically retrieve and display that site's latest information.
Board of Supervisors - Agendas
Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program Training
Planning and Zoning (Board Agendas and Staff Reports)
