This article was downloaded by: [Florida State University]On: 21 December 2014, At: 13:48Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK

Journal of Electronic Resourcesin Medical LibrariesPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/werm20

RSS Feeds for PDAsColleen Cuddy MA, MLS, AHIP aa Ehrman Medical Library , New York UniversitySchool of Medicine , 550 First Avenue, New York, NY,10016, USAPublished online: 22 Sep 2008.

To cite this article: Colleen Cuddy MA, MLS, AHIP (2007) RSS Feeds for PDAs,Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries, 4:3, 123-131, DOI: 10.1300/J383v04n03_09

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J383v04n03_09

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PDAs @ THE LIBRARY

Colleen Cuddy, Column Editor

RSS Feeds for PDAs

Colleen Cuddy

ABSTRACT. This article examines RSS (Really Simple Syndication)and discusses the use of RSS readers on PDAs (Personal Digital Assis-tants) and mobile phones. Eight PDA-compatible RSS readers are exam-ined. Recommendations for finding RSS content via medical RSSdirectories and search services and subscribing to feeds and journal up-dates are discussed. doi:10.1300/J383v04n03_09 [Article copies available fora fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH. E-mailaddress: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com> Website: <http://www.HaworthPress.com> © 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]

KEYWORDS. Personal digital assistants, PDAs, handheld computers,RSS, Really Simple Syndication

Colleen Cuddy, MA, MLS, AHIP (cuddy@library.med.nyu.edu) is Assistant Di-rector for Library Systems, Ehrman Medical Library, New York University School ofMedicine, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016.

Comments and suggestions should be sent to the Column Editor: Colleen Cuddy(cuddy@library.med.nyu.edu).

Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries, Vol. 4(3) 2007Available online at http://jerml.haworthpress.com

© 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.doi:10.1300/J383v04n03_09 123

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INTRODUCTION

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) has been around since 1999 but hasonly recently become popular. In a nutshell, RSS is an XML (eXtensi-ble Markup Language) format that allows Web site administrators toformat and syndicate content of many types including text, MP3s, andvideo files. RSS is the technology behind podcasting and vodcasting.Adel Abdellaoui, creator of rss4medics.com, provides the followingdefinition in her brief guide to RSS: “RSS is a way of being alerted to re-cently published information on the Internet. This could be the most re-cent articles in the BMJ, the latest medical news in the press, drug alerts,or even an ongoing diary (blog) in a surgery department the other side ofthe Atlantic.”1 ATOM is another format used for syndicating newsfeeds. The ATOM Syndication Format is very similar to RSS. LikeRSS, it is XML-based, and many RSS readers and aggregators supportboth ATOM and RSS at this time.

Users of RSS subscribe to a feed and use software called feed read-ers, sometimes called feed aggregators, or RSS-compliant Web brows-ers to read the XML-formatted data. Most modern Web browsers, suchas Firefox, Explorer 7 and Safari are RSS compliant. Subscribing to afeed is as easy as clicking on a button, usually marked “XML” or“RSS,” or cutting and pasting a URL into RSS reader software. Usersare fed brief “headlines” and have the option to click through a link tothe full contents of the item. The format of RSS lends itself well to dis-playing on PDAs and mobile phones, and it seems to be a perfect me-dium for receiving content updates on the go.

Users of RSS can be very selective regarding the information thatthey choose to receive. Popular syndicated content includes Weblogpostings, news headlines, journal updates and TOCs, and podcasts. Inthe medical community, RSS provides valuable alerting services. It isparticularly useful for keeping health care professionals up to date ondrug alerts, medical news, and new research.

In addition, health sciences libraries can use RSS to reach their ownusers by providing library news feeds or alerts to new items in a particu-lar library collection subject area. There are a few recent articles thatdiscuss the use of RSS in the health sciences and health sciences librar-ies in more detail. Estabrook and Rothman discuss providing libraryservices, including SDI (selective dissemination of information) viaRSS,2 Cooke discusses the use of RSS as a current awareness tool for li-brarians,3 and Wu and Li show readers how to publish RSS feeds aswell as providing sample links of useful RSS feeds.4

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RSS READERS FOR PDAS

RSS readers for desktop computers are usually one of two varieties–Web-based software or client software that is downloaded and installedon the desktop computer. Additionally most desktop Web browserssupport RSS feeds as part of their interface. These software modelstranslate well to PDAs. PDAs that are WiFi enabled can view RSS feedsvia a mobile Web browser and a live Internet connection. The clientsoftware option allows users to download and install a client to the PDAvia direct download or via synchronization between the desktop com-puter and the PDA. The software client then allows users to view theirfeeds in real time if an Internet connection is available or offline aftersynchronization. Some software offers both options, allowing users totake advantage of reading the feeds offline but connecting to theInternet for full articles.

Choosing a RSS reader for a PDA is matter of personal choice. PDAusers will want to test a few different readers to find the best fit. Userswho already have a favorite RSS reader for their desktop computermight want to see if it has a mobile client or Web-based version that canbe used with mobile Web browsers. Eight RSS readers are discussed inthis column. They are arranged in alphabetical order. All are easily ac-cessible and well supported. Each reader supports both RSS and ATOMformats. PDA software sites such as Handango <http://www.handango.com> and PDATopSoft <http://www.pdatopsoft.com> also list severalRSS readers for all types of PDAs including Blackberries and smart-phones.

AvantGo for RSS<http://www.avantgo.com/rss>

AvantGo is a free subscription-based service that provides registeredusers channel subscriptions ranging from airline schedules and weatherchannels to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Thisasynchronous software updates channel content upon each synchroni-zation of the handheld device.5 Users can synchronize with a desktopcomputer or by using the AGConnect feature with a live Internet Con-nection. AvantGo for RSS allows users to synchronize RSS feeds asAvantGo channels. This service is easy to use. Many people already useAvantGo; therefore, they won’t have to install additional software ontheir PDA, and they are already comfortable with its user interface.

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To set up RSS feeds, users simply go to the “Create an RSS Channel”page on the AvantGo Web site and enter the URL of an RSS feed. Oncethe device is synchronized, RSS feeds will appear in the list of AvantGochannels. One benefit of this service is that content is always availableoffline once the PDA is synchronized; however, many channels requirea live connection or an additional synchronization to get the full contentof the news item.

Bloglines<http://www.bloglines.com>

Bloglines is a popular multipurpose blogging software. It is a freeservice that lets registered users “search, subscribe to, create and sharenews feeds, blogs and rich web content.”6 The software is Web-based,requiring Internet access from a PDA or mobile phone with a PDA com-patible Web browser installed. One advantage to this approach is thatfeeds can be viewed from a desktop computer as well as the mobile de-vice. A disadvantage is that a live Internet connection is always neededto view RSS feeds; there is no offline viewing. The mobile version ofBloglines works on PDAs and mobile phones and is available at<http://www.bloglines.com/mobile>.

It is easy to subscribe to a feed on Bloglines; users can either searchfor the feed, or cut and paste the URL into the “Edit Feeds” page. Oneadvantage of Bloglines is that it is relatively easy to organize feeds bycreating hierarchies for the feeds so that they don’t all go to the top levelof the list.

Egress<http://www.garishkernels.net/egress.shtml>

Egress is a RSS reader developed specifically for Pocket PCs runningWindows Mobile version 5. It integrates with the Today screen ofPocket PCs and has built-in support for Bloglines and NewsGator chan-nels as well as podcast support and management. It costs $12.95 andpromises a lifetime of free upgrades.

FeederReader<http://www.feederreader.com/>

FeederReader is an RSS reader with podcasting and vodcasting sup-port for Windows Mobile version 5. The software allows users to down-

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load and read RSS feeds on Pocket PCs without the need for desktopcomputer synchronization. A nice feature is that users can update feedsvia a live Internet connection and then read them while the device isoffline.

FreeNews<http://www.freerangeinc.com/products/>

Free News is a RSS reader developed specifically for GSM mobilephones, Palm Treos and Tungsten models, and Symbian phones. It isoptimized for mobile devices and compresses files and reduces unnec-essary data download, making for faster downloads. A beta version,called Siteline is available for Pocket PC users. Contrary to what thename implies, FreeNews is not a free RSS reader. It costs $9.95. Aseven-day trial is available from the publisher’s Web site.

NewsGator<http://www.newsgator.com>

NewsGator is one of the most popular RSS readers. There is a free on-line version for desktop PCs, but the premium edition must be purchasedfor $19.95 to use NewsGator with a mobile device. The premium versionalso allows users to synchronize their feeds across multiple devices andcontains FeedStation, a program that downloads and manages podcasts,as well as an e-mail client that allows users to get feeds via e-mail.

NewsMob<http://www.newsmob.com>

NewsMob is a free RSS reader that works with desktop computers aswell as mobile devices. The software requires users to install Plucker ontheir PDAs in order to view RSS feeds asynchronously. (Plucker is aWeb clipping software similar to AvantGo). To view RSS feeds in realtime on a PDA or mobile device, the device simply needs to be pointed tothe mobile Web site version of NewsMob, available at <http://mobile.newsmob.com>.

Quick News<http://standalone.com/palmos/quick_news/>

Quick News is software for Palms that allows users to download newsfeeds upon synchronization or with a live Internet connection. It costs

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$14.95, and there is a trial version available via the publisher’s Web site.This software has several nice features, one of which is a podcast managerthat will automatically download podcasts to the device or an SD card.

MEDICAL CONTENT

Once a RSS reader has been installed on the PDA, finding medicalRSS feeds is relatively easy. There are several directories of medical feedsavailable; one such directory is Medworm <http://www. medworm.com>.It is one of the newer players and is still in beta, but it looks ready for afull rollout. Not only can users subscribe to RSS feeds by category, thesoftware makes it extremely easy to add a feed to the most commonaggregators by providing buttons for Medworm, Googlereader, Blog-lines, NewsGator, and Plucker. There is a Comsumer Health News RSSfeed, or users can pick and choose feeds from 77 medical specialties,294 medical conditions, 42 infectious diseases, and 56 cancer catego-ries. An archive of RSS data is searchable by keywords and phrases.

RSS4Medics <http://www.rss4medics.com> is another directory ofmedical feeds. It is fairly comprehensive, containing 50 medical cate-gories; it is very easy for users to cut and paste in the URL of anyfeeds to which they might be interested in subscribing. Medical Feeds(http://www.medical-feeds.com) is yet another medical feed directory.This directory is top heavy with advertising, which detracts from the us-ability of the site, but underneath the advertising clutter, users will findfeeds in over 57 broad medical categories and 173 specialized categories.

Most medical journals provide RSS feeds. Users can go directly tothe publishers’ Web sites to set up RSS feeds or go to a site that aggre-gates RSS feeds from medical journals. The University of WisconsinEbling Library has an excellent list of medical journals with RSS feedsthat makes it a breeze to subscribe to a particular journal’s RSS feed.<http://ebling.library.wisc.edu/bjd/journals/rss/index.cfm>. Users canalso set up journal RSS feeds through PubMed as well as setting up SDIalerts. The Weblog MedPDA.net has a posting with detailed instruc-tions on how to set up feeds for particular journals via PubMed, whichbasically uses the limits function of a PubMed search and the “Send toRSS” feature.7

CONCLUSION

Setting up and using RSS feed readers on PDAs is relatively easy andcan yield some good results. The portability of PDAs marries nicely

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with RSS technology and it’s a great way to keep up with a multitude ofRSS feeds. Medical librarians can use feeds to keep up to date on medi-cal issues as well as information related to librarianship. It might be nec-essary to test drive a few RSS readers before finding one that has all thefeatures that are useful for a mobile version, but the practical applica-tions of RSS on PDAs will make it well worth the time investment.

REFERENCES

1. Abdellaoui, A. “A Really Simple Guide to a Powerful Tool: RSS.” BMJ CareerFocus 332(June 2006): 244.

2. Estabrook, A.D., and Rothman, D.L. “Applications of RSS in Health SciencesLibraries.” Medical Reference Services Quarterly 26(supplement 1, 2007): 51-68.

3. Cooke, C.A.; Gruwell, C.A.; and Littleton, D. “Current Awareness in the NewMillennium: RSS.” Medical Reference Services Quarterly 25(Spring 2006): 59-69.

4. Wu, W.G., and Li, J. “RSS Made Easy: A Basic Guide for Librarians.” MedicalReference Services Quarterly 26(Spring 2007): 37-50.

5. Cuddy, C. “Delivery of Electronic Journal Content to Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs): Seven Free Options for Health Care Professionals.” Journal of Electronic Re-sources in Medical Libraries 3 no. 4 (2006): 77-85.

6. Bloglines. Available: <http://www.bloglines.com/about>. Accessed: January 2,2007.

7. MedPDA.net. Available: <http:medpda.net/archives/005657.html>. Accessed:January 2, 2007.

PDA Review:The Merck Manual for Mobile Devices

THE MERCK MANUAL FOR MOBILE DEVICES, 18th edition.Charlottesville, VA: Unbound Medicine, Inc. and Merck & Co., 2006.<http://www.unboundmedicine.com/>. $49.95, includes bimonthly up-dates for 12 months; Palm OS 3.5 or later, Pocket PC 2002 or later,BlackBerry.

First published in 1899, The Merck Manual is a standard internalmedicine reference for health care professionals and consumers alike.

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Its brief, easy-to-understand articles describe the etiology, symptomsand signs, diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. The 18th edi-tion is available in print, online, and for mobile devices. The MerckManual for Mobile Devices can be installed on PDAs that use the Palmor Pocket PC operating system, or it can be accessed online through theWeb browser of a wireless-enabled device (such as a BlackBerry orPalm Treo).

Registering, downloading, and installing The Merck Manual fromthe Unbound Medicine Web site is a simple process. Subscribers willreceive a serial number and are required to create a user name and pass-word. A mobile device must have at least 10 Mb of available memory,or an SD card or memory stick. The software must first be installed on adesktop computer (either Windows or Mac OS X). The UnboundReader and data are then installed on a Palm or Pocket PC during thenext synchronization using the serial number to complete activation. Noadditional reader software is required. Wireless users can access TheMerck Manual via a Web browser by logging on to the mobile versionwith their user name and password.

Those familiar with The Merck Manual in print will feel at home withThe Merck Manual for Mobile Devices. The “Topics” index, which cor-responds to the print version’s index, contains a useful “Jump To” fea-ture to speed access. Users need only type the first few letters of a termto move to that part of the alphabet. The “Sections” index lists the same22 broad categories as the table of contents of the print version. Sectionnumbering is identical in both versions, allowing mobile users to referprint users to specific sections of text, and vice versa. Sections are orga-nized hierarchically from broad category to specific topic, for example:Dermatological disorders → Acne and related disorders → Rosacea.Specific topics are divided into the following sections: General, Etiol-ogy and Epidemiology, Symptoms and Signs, and Treatment.

The text is displayed in an easy-to-read font. A large font option isalso available. Charts and tables are easy to view. If a table is too largeto fit on a device’s small screen, users can tap and drag it from side toside, or up and down to see all the information. Graphics can be en-larged for easier viewing.

Navigation is straightforward. Terms that have subcategories are in-dicated with a + (plus) sign. A “Home” icon, which takes users back tothe main “Sections” or “Topics” index appears on every screen. A“Back” arrow, takes users to the previous screen. Terms mentioned inother sections of the book are hyperlinked. A “Bookmark” tool allows

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users to mark relevant pages for easy access later on. The “Help” tooloffers quick tips. More detailed information and a troubleshootingguide are available on Unbound Medicine’s Web site.

The Merck Manual for Mobile Devices includes bi-monthly updatesfor twelve months. Updates are installed during synchronization of thedownloaded version, or when accessing the online version. The biggestdrawback of the downloaded version is that it lacks a search function,like the one available on the mobile Web version. This makes it difficultto zero in on terms that do not appear in the “Topics” or “Sections” lists.The Merck Manual is an ideal tool for mobile devices. Its brief articles,tables, and simple graphics translate well to the small screen. The Un-bound Medicine interface is intuitive and easy to use and the price isslightly lower than that of the print version. Users will appreciate theconvenience of being able to keep this information on hand, at the pointof care.

Nancy R. GlassmanSystems Librarian

D. Samuel Gottesman LibraryAlbert Einstein College of Medicine

doi:10.1300/J383v04n03_09

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