diff --git a/rss/feed.go b/rss/feed.go
index c294057..a7db5ae 100644
--- a/rss/feed.go
+++ b/rss/feed.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ func (feed *Feed) ID() string {
 	return strings.Join(regexp.MustCompile("[a-zA-Z0-9]*").FindAllString(feed.Link, -1), "_")
 }
 
-func NewFeed(source, itemFilter, contentFilter string) (*Feed, []*Item, error) {
+func New(source, itemFilter, contentFilter string) (*Feed, []*Item, error) {
 	if _, err := regexp.Compile(itemFilter); err != nil {
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/rss/feed_test.go b/rss/feed_test.go
index f8fcdba..2ba130d 100644
--- a/rss/feed_test.go
+++ b/rss/feed_test.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func Test_RSSFeed(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 	}
 	for _, c := range cases {
-		feed, items, err := NewFeed(s.URL, c.itemFilter, c.contentFilter)
+		feed, items, err := New(s.URL, c.itemFilter, c.contentFilter)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("couldn't create new feed %v: %v", feed, err)
 		}
diff --git a/rss/item.go b/rss/item.go
index a8d7b4b..d36de45 100644
--- a/rss/item.go
+++ b/rss/item.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package rss
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/gob"
 	"fmt"
 	"html"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -32,6 +34,21 @@ func (item *Item) ID() string {
 	return strings.Join(regexp.MustCompile("[a-zA-Z0-9]*").FindAllString(item.Link, -1), "_")
 }
 
+func DeserializeItem(src []byte) (*Item, error) {
+	buffer := bytes.NewBuffer(src)
+	dec := gob.NewDecoder(buffer)
+	var dst Item
+	err := dec.Decode(&dst)
+	return &dst, err
+}
+
+func (item *Item) Serialize() ([]byte, error) {
+	var buffer bytes.Buffer
+	enc := gob.NewEncoder(&buffer)
+	err := enc.Encode(item)
+	return buffer.Bytes(), err
+}
+
 func fromGofeedItem(gfitem *gofeed.Item, filter string) *Item {
 	item := &Item{
 		Name:    gfitem.Title,