RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007 RSS and the WebPAC Using Incoming Feeds Display and RSS Feed Builder Applications Corey Seeman Kresge Business Administration

RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007

RSS and the WebPAC

Using Incoming Feeds Display and RSS Feed Builder Applications

Corey SeemanKresge Business Administration Library

University of Michigan

http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~cseeman


RSS and the WebPAC - Incoming Feeds

• Value for the library

• Code Structure

• RSS Feed Pages– Federal Reserve Documents & Research– Reports New Releases (Forrester & Frost)

• RSS Feed Builder Product

• RSS Resources & Links

• Future Plans – Journal Pages


RSS and the WebPAC - Value for the Library

• RSS Feeds - very personalized (portals and readers -- not “shared”)

• RSS Feeds are frequently changing XML documents

• Allows us to push data and news to people as a group – need to be things of common interest

• Add ability for patrons to copy to their own RSS reader

• A tool for alerting patrons about new resources• A tool for alerting patrons to events in their

library record **


RSS and the WebPAC - Code Structure

• Innovative Manual (2006LE and later)

• Page # 106681 (General Listing)

• Page # 106684 (RSS Feeds Coding)

• Page # 105262 (Classes for Style Sheets)



Token

• [URL] -- URL of the RSS feed*• [ITEMS] -- # of items that will display in the page• [DES] -- T/F include the description• [DATE] -- T/F include the date & time• [IMAGE] -- Include the image





Style Sheet• rssChannelTitle (title)• rssChannelEntries (all entries)• rssChannelEntry (single entry)• rssChannelEntryDate (time/date)• rssChannelEntryHead (header)• rssChannelEntryDesc (description)• rssChannelImage (image)• rssChannelNoContent (text to display for no

content)


RSS and the WebPAC - Style Sheet.rssFeedSource {font: bold 14px verdana; display: block; margin-

bottom: 10px;}.rssFeed {border: none;}.rssFeedName {}.rssChannelEntries {margin: 20px 10px 40px 10px;}.rssChannelEntry {margin: 5px 10px;}.rssChannelEntryHead {}.rssChannelEntryDesc {}.rssChannelEntryDate {font: italic 10px verdana; color: #999;}.rssChannelImage {border: none; margin: 10px;}.rssChannelNoContent {}.rssFeed h3, .rssFeedND h3, .rssFeedAB h3 {font-size: 12px;

margin: 10px;}.rssgif {position: relative; bottom: -3px; left: 10px;}



Style Sheet

• NOTE: A great deal can be done with the style sheet that cannot be set in the WWWOption. These include:– Allowing for a portion of the entry to display

(first 5 lines).– Allowing for a portion of the entry to print (first

5 lines).


RSS and the WebPAC - Style Sheet• /*styles for RSS feeds with no descriptions*/

• .rssFeedND .rssChannelEntryDesc {display:none;}

• .rssFeedAB .rssChannelEntryDesc {height: 50px; overflow: hidden; }

• You can add also elements to control printing• Need to take into account “caching” of feeds by

the Innovative Server.


RSS and the WebPAC - Concept Pages

• Do not have to have feeds on a /feeds.html page• Can be anywhere on a page in the screens

directory• Cannot be in bib records*

– NOTE: you can place a display token in the bib_display.html page (this controls the bib display in WebPAC Pro)

– It would be the same for all the bib records– It might be good place for library news or latest

collection items


RSS and the WebPAC - Concept Pages

• Pages at Kresge Library:– /screens/guide_[name].html– /screens/guide_fedres.html– /screens/per_mii.html

• Organized like this for ease of finding and editing• Incoming Links are updated when TTL expires

(Time to Live) – an element in the feed


RSS and the WebPAC – Incoming Links

Federal Reserve Documents• Shows Research, Speeches & Publications from Federal

Reserve Banks• All freely available content• Some of the 12 regional banks have RSS Feeds• Including all in guides page (for easy expansion and

documentation of Fed publications)


http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_fedres.html


RSS and the WebPAC - Incoming Links

Best Practices (Reports Database)

• Databases that are “report driven” with full text searching in these reports

• Using RSS Feed Displays to showcase new additions and news from the vendors

• Descriptions on page: – WebPAC caches feed content – You cannot have a page with descriptions and

one without using the same feed.


http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_besprac.html


http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_besprac.html**



Frost and Sullivan (Reports Database)• Databases that are “report driven” with full text

searching in these reports• Using RSS Feed Displays to showcase new

additions and news from the vendors• If user logs in first, they can then follow the links

from the feeds (no proxy issue) – not always the case

• Offers many RSS Feeds – will offer selected to the community

URL:http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_frost.html


http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_frost.html


http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_frost.html



Forrester (Reports Database)

• Databases that are “report driven” with full text searching in these reports

• Using RSS Feed Displays to showcase new additions and news from the vendors

• Offers many RSS Feeds – will offer selected to the community

URL:http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_forrester.html


http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_forrester.html


http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_forrester.html



Missing Ann Arbor??

• Some can be fun

• Offer a chance to get the feel for campus for people who are away from Ann Arbor

• Include weather, news, sports, business school news, etc.

• URL:http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_a2.html


http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_a2.html


RSS and the WebPAC - Feed Builder

• Pages for “locally” hosted ejournals– Records in the Millennium Catalog - Issue TOC in

Notes Fields for Keyword Searching– Static Page with RSS Feed display & search ‘widget’

• Medical Industry Intelligence• Soon: National Real Estate Index, The Dividend (Ross

School Journal), other locally hosted resources.

• News searches for subject/topic pages• Incorporating Library News in subject/topic

pages


Feed Builder Product

• Separate Product (ask customer sales)• User Manual Page #106987 • Configuring Feed Builder - Page #106988• Setup is done with Millennium Web Master

mode• Works from Create Lists Saved Searches OR

Review Files• Can have up to 100 saved searches in Create

Lists• TTL for all Feed Builder files is 24 hours


RSS Feed Builder

• Allows the library to strategically push information to selected audiences.

• Provides an additional mode of delivery for library related information.

• Any records you gather with Create Lists can be pushed out via Feed Builder.

• Each Feed is built with an independent configuration file


Editing the Configuration Files


Sample Configuration File


Config File• format=RSS2.0• hostname=lib.bus.umich.edu• query_type=b• query=mii• max_items=20• title=Medical Industry Intelligence• desc=A new issue of Medical Industry Intelligence is

available• lang=eng• item_title=:Vit|:Vbt• item_desc=:Via|:Vba• record_type=b• date_adj=720• range=5000


Elements of a *.conf file


Create Lists - Saved Searches


Create Lists - Saved Searches


File Naming Conventions

• Configuration File:

• /iiidb/http/live/config/feeds/mii.conf

• Listed under Feeds just as “mii”

• RSS Feed:

• http://lib.bus.umich.edu/feeds/mii.xml

• Sample Page: – http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/per_mii.html


Old Display – Medical Industry Intelligence


New Display – Medical Industry Intelligence


New Display – Medical Industry Intelligence


Public Display - XML


RSS Feeds into catalog pages

ebrary (e-book package Database)

• New books added monthly.

• RSS Feed Builder will show latest editions.

• Catalog search widget


RSS Feed Builder - ebrary


RSS Feed Builder - ebrary


Future Plans – Journal Pages

• Create pages with RSS feeds for Table of Content Alerts

• Links to full text through proxy

• RSS Feeds need to hold data or the public display will be blank


RSS Resources & Links

• RSS Compendium– http://allrss.com/

• US Government Feeds (First Gov)– http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/RSS_L

ibrary.shtml

• http://www.2rss.com/

• http://www.completerss.com/

• http://blogs.fletcher.tufts.edu/rss4lib/


Questions?

Corey Seeman

University of Michigan

[email protected]

http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~cseeman

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cseeman/index.html