What RSS Actually Is
RSS is basically a feeder-application that you can use to view a variety of web content in one place. If there's a particular website with frequently updated content that you view all the time, (I, for instance, have a major weakness for lolcats) then instead of having to go to the website to check for updated content, you can subscribe to an RSS feed and have the updated content fed from the website into your own feed.
There are a number of different ways you can create your own feeds. At work, because we use shared computers, I'm using the online RSS Google Reader, which is Google's personal feed service that you can access from any computer. At home however, I've started using the RSS feed service inbuilt in my internet browser (I use Safari, but newer versions of Internet Explorer also have this service). There are advantages and disadvantages in both types of readers - the Google reader is completely portable - I can use it from any computer, whereas my browser reader only works on my computer. 
However, it's way easier to add feeds to the reader using Safari's browser reader (just click on the orange button like the one shown on the left - they usually appear at the bottom of a post on a particular website). To receive content using Google Reader, it's easier to add stuff from the Google Reader site - just click on the "Add a Subscription" button in the top left-hand corner, type in a keyword of what you want to subscribe to, and then click on the right website from the list. Not as easy, but the advantage to this is that you can find related or similar content to subscribe to by doing keyword searches.
However, it's way easier to add feeds to the reader using Safari's browser reader (just click on the orange button like the one shown on the left - they usually appear at the bottom of a post on a particular website). To receive content using Google Reader, it's easier to add stuff from the Google Reader site - just click on the "Add a Subscription" button in the top left-hand corner, type in a keyword of what you want to subscribe to, and then click on the right website from the list. Not as easy, but the advantage to this is that you can find related or similar content to subscribe to by doing keyword searches. Finally, you can also subscribe to Tweets through RSS, so you don't have to go to twitter.com to read them (but more about this later).
Why It's Useful for Info-Nerds
RSS is useful for info-nerds, not just because you can have your feed inundated with lolcats, MLIA and Penny Arcade, but also because it allows you to compare a variety of information sources. By subscribing to a number of news sites, opinion blogs and media watchdogs, readers can easily access a wide variety of information written from different perspectives and with different agendas, giving the reader greater integrity of information. This can be used by librarians to help them easily access a wide variety of news and information sources, which they can then use to inform customers and recommend news, information or entertainment sources to suit their needs.
What I'm Subscribing To
A Softer World - beautiful and original webcomic
Capitalism Bad; Tree Pretty - New Zealand feminist socialist blog
Icanhascheezburger - lolcats take over the world
Mojo Coffee Cartel Twitter Feed - Tweets from the only good chain coffee empire in the world
My Life is Average - stories of average people's lives
Passive Aggressive Notes - hilarious passive aggressive notes normally left in shared spaces
Radio New Zealand - updates and programme notes from the consistently finest radio network in the land
Socialist Worker - daily opinions and news from the left
The Hand Mirror - amazing feminist blog mentioned in my last post
Urban Vegan - great vegan blog also mentioned in my last post
Stuff - great New Zealand news website - content gets frequently updated throughout the day
IndyMedia - international independent news site
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