RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. These funny looking files, complete with strange looking <tags>, make it possible for subscribers to be kept up to date on information that interests them. A subscriber can have newly published information reported to them, rather than having to look for that information on the site that created it. For example, if you would like to be informed when there is activity on bills in the Michigan Legislature, you may subscribe to our bill update RSS feed. We publish an updated RSS file every time our system becomes aware of a change to bills. Your RSS reader will then check at intervals, and will report the information to you when it identifies that new information has been published. How the information is reported to you depends upon the RSS reader you decide to use.

To have this activity come to your attention via an RSS feed, you must have a tool that is sometimes called a news aggregator. It is also known as a feed reader, or an RSS feed reader. Sometimes these are installed on your computer, and sometimes they are part of a website or browser. There are a number of aggregators available, and many of them are free. With a little bit of searching on the internet, you should be able to find one that appeals to you. You can then subscribe (at no cost) to the RSS feed on our site.