RSS:Practical Uses for Professional, Personal and Patron Information

RSS: Practical Uses for Professional, Personal and Patron Information

Brooklyn Public LibraryProfessional Development DayJanuary 12, 2009

Kathryn Shaughnessy, MA, MLSAssistant ProfessorInstructional Services LibrarianSenior Fellow, Center for Teaching and Learning

RSS: History & Overview

RSS is…

A growing method of distributing web-based information– RDF Site summary– Rich Site Summary – Really Simple Syndication – Really Simple Subscription

RSS: History & Overview

RSS timeline…

• 1997-1999: scriptingNews format, designed by Dave Winer at UserLand (1997); subsequently, Winer & developers (including Dan Libby) at NetScape continue to work on RDF and xml scripts to offer standard RSS 0.91 format

• 2000: RSS 1.0 format is developed by Rael Dornfest at O’Reilly independently

• March 2002: “MetaWeblog API merges RSS 0.92 with XML-RPC to provide a powerful blogging API. “

• September 2002: Winer Develops RSS 2.0, MetaWeblog updates

• July 2003: RSS 2.0 spec, Winer “released through Harvard under a Creative Commons license “

• August 2004: “iPodders” search for a way to retrieve old blogs and audiofiles – develop RSS (Winer) and podcast software (Curry) – podcasting begins

• July 2005: iTunes supports/distributes podcasts, get 1 million subscribers in first 2 days; rises to 8,000 podcasts, 6 million listeners in one month

Hobson and Holtz Report, 8/4/2005 http://forimmediaterelease.biz/index.php/weblog/2005/08/05/ )

RSS 2.0 at Harvard Law website, http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rssVersionHistory.html

RSS: History & Overview

RSS evolution …

• News scripting – code to keep updates fresh

• Distributing Blogs & Podcasts

• Personal / information gathering

• Organizational information distribution (wikis & microblogging)

• Education & Distributed Learning

RSS: History & Overview

Why do I libraries need to know about it ?

• Student ICT Literacy: requires critical thinking skills to perform the kinds of information management and research tasks necessary for academic success

• Patron ICT Literacy: RSS marks the major difference between old “static” web content and dynamic web resources

• Getting the word out: Low-cost distribution mechanism of information about library resources (ex; News, calendar, new books list, wiki updates, database/catalog searches, Journal TOCs)

• Always fresh: Facilitating up-to-date information/ research and interactive participation

• Personal/Professional growth: Life-long learning!

Current Uses of RSS Resources @ BPL

• @ brooklynpubliclibrary.org

Current Uses of RSS Resources @BPL

brooklynpubliclibrary.org feeds displayed in iGoogle

Current Uses of RSS Resources

Radio news and lectures (NPR)

Current Uses of RSS Resources

– Print News & Podcast Syndication NYT

Current Uses of RSS Resources

Academic-quality lectures (Princeton University Channel)

Current Uses of RSS Resources

Journal Table of Contents Nature

Current Uses of RSS Resources

– Library News

Current Uses of RSS Resources

– Collection /Departmental News -- Library of Congress

Current Uses of RSS Resources

Funding Opportunities

Current Uses of RSS Resources

– Scholarly Communication – IL Tag from CiteULike

Current Uses of RSS Resources

Serendipitous discovery through del.icio.us

Current Uses of RSS Resources

Job / Internship feeds

Current Uses of RSS Resources

Monster Job Search feed

Current Uses of RSS Resources

Database Searches

Practical issues for using RSS

Because wiks, podcasts & blogs are “digi-born”, one of the the best ways to keep track of these resources is by using RSS feeds to monitor activity

Utilizing RSS requires

• choosing an RSS reader

– free or fee-based

– Desktop or web-based

• inputting RSS feeds

Investment of time:

– to learn the aggregator

– to build up *your* collection of sites/feeds

– to weed out less-helpful sites over time

Choosing an RRS Reader

Practical Questions about Choosing an RSS reader

• RefWorks built-in RSS aggregator, Search RSS feed

• MyYahoo Browser-based accounts

• iGoogle & Google Reader – personalized Google features

• Browsers: FireFox, new MSN browser

• Newsgator (www.Newsgator.com)

• Bloglines (www.bloglines.com)

Directory of readers is available through dmoz: http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Internet/Clients/WWW/Feed_Readers/

Choosing an RRS Reader

Practical Questions about using RSS for podcasts:

Choosing an RRS Reader

brooklynpubliclibrary.org feeds displayed in iGoogle

Choosing an RRS Reader

GoogleReader

Choosing an RRS Reader

Newsgator allows you to download the podcast in their compatible “FeedStation player” or you can right-click and “save-as”

Add to my podcasts

Add feeds

Finding RSS Resources

– RSS Directories

– List-servs

– Blogs and your favorite websites

– Suggestions from others• Other faculty

• Library subject experts/ co-workers

• Patron’s with needs or expertise

• Collaborate in a wiki

What if the resource I want doesn’t have RSS?

What if the resource I want doesn’t have RSS?

12

3

VOILA…RSS-ified!

More resources on RSS

LibGuide with RSS examples: http://libguides.stjohns.edu/RSS_info

Resources discussed in this presentation: http://delicious.com/kgshaughnessy/bpl_rss

Wiki covering Web2.0 resources for librarians and faculty http://stjctl.pbwiki.com/RSS

Video on using iGoogle: http://libraries.stjohns.edu/tutorials/iGoogle_RSS/LIBLog_iGoogle.htm

Practical RSS

Thank you for your time!

Kathryn Shaughnessy

Instructional Services Librarian

shaughnk@stjohns.edu