how to use rss to know more and do less what is rss?...gives you code to add a feedster search box...

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June 13, 2006

Jenny Levine

Metropolitan Library System

The Shifted Librarian

[email protected]

AIM: cybrarygal

How to Use RSS to Know More and Do Less

RSS

http://www.mls.lib.il.us/

What Is RSS?

RSS is :

really hard to describe

a form of XML

stands for

Rich Site Summary

RDF Site Summary

Really Simple Syndication

is best understood when you actually use it!

June 13, 2006

What Is RSS?

RSS is :

really hard to describe

a form of XML

stands for

Rich Site Summary

RDF Site Summary

Really Simple Syndication

is best understood when you actually use it!

June 13, 2006

RSS File Sits on Server Next to Web Page

TITLE

CONTENT

AUTHORAUTHOR PERMALINKTIME

TITLE

PERMALINK

CONTENTAUTHORAUTHOR

TIME

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Some Facts about RSS

RSS is really for machines to read, not humans.

The RSS file updates itself automatically.

RSS tastes great! No, RSS is less filling! (Seven different ways, plus Atom -- http://www.atomenabled.org/).

You can tell there is an RSS “feed” if you see:

“Syndicate this site”June 13, 2006

Website

RSSfeed Machines

Humans

Website

RSSfeed Machines

Websites

Humans

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That’s Great, but Now What?

You need an aggregator!http://allrss.com/rssreaders.html

June 13, 2006

Great! What’s an Aggregator? A piece of software

Desktop (on your computer) or

Web-based (on a server somewhere)

1. Subscribe to sites by adding their RSS “feeds” to your aggregator

2. The aggregator scans your subscriptions for new content at specified intervals (usually every hour)

3. Content from those sites is then syndicated into one place

Saves time and clicks

It’s like creating your own newspaper!June 13, 2006

Keeping Current without an Aggregator

NYT LocalPaper

NationalPaper

LocalGov’tNews

LISNews FavBlog

SchoolNews

BBCNews

SecondFavBlog

TravelDeals

FavMag

LocalLibraryNews

June 13, 2006

Keeping Current with an Aggregator

NYT LocalPaper

NationalPaper

LocalGov’tNews

LISNews FavBlog

SchoolNews

BBCNews

SecondFavBlog

TravelDeals

FavMag

LocalLibraryNews

Aggregator – 1 Click

June 13, 2006

So, Where Do I Start?

June 13, 2006

1. Let someone else be your aggregator

• Blawg – http://blawg.org/• Museum Blogs – http://museumblogs.org/

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So, Where Do I Start?

2. Bloglines – http://www.bloglines.com/

Free!

Server-based, so can access it from anywhere

June 13, 2006

5-Step Program to Addiction

1. Go to Bloglines – http://www.bloglines.com/

2. Create an account

3. Find a site you want to read regularly and look for an RSS feed for it (can also search for it within BL)

4. Copy the URL of the feed and paste it into your Bloglines account or click on “Subscribe”

5. Visit Bloglines regularly to see what new content has arrived!

Subscribe to email lists in Bloglines! –http://www.blogdriverswaltz.com/archive/000668.html

June 13, 2006

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Bloglines Tutorials

Bloglines for Librarians in Three (and a half) Easy Steps --http://joy.mollprojects.com/myprojects/rss/quickrss.html

LawLibTech: RSS Tutorial Using Bloglines -http://www.lawlibtech.com/archives/000129.html

WisBlawg --http://wisblawg.blogspot.com/2004/09/tutorial-on-reading-blogs-with.html

June 13, 2006

A Few Good Aggregators

BlogBridge (free) – http://www.blogbridge.com/

Bloglet (free, RSS via email) – http://www.bloglet.com/

FeedDemon ($29.95) – http://www.feeddemon.com/

iPod Agent ($15) --http://www.ipodsoft.com/index.php?/software/ipodagent

NetNewsWire ($39.95, Mac) – http://ranchero.com/netnewswire/

NewsGator ($29 for Outlook plugin, $5.95/month-$19.95/month for online services) – http://www.newsgator.com/

Pluck (free, integrates in Internet Explorer) - http://www.pluck.com/

QuickNews ($14.95, for Palm) -http://www.standalone.com/palmos/quick_news/

Rojo (free, web-based) – http://www.rojo.com/

Sage (free FireFox extension) -- http://sage.mozdev.org/

June 13, 2006

A Few Good Aggregators

Find more at http://allrss.com/rssreaders.html

Aggregator reviews at http://www.stepno.com/pcworld/5rssreviews042804.

html

The State of Online Feed Readers --http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/03/30/the-state-of-online-feed-readers/

June 13, 2006

Feedster Tricks

Feedster – http://www.feedster.com/

RSS search engine, so great for finding current results or links from the blogosphere

Lets you subscribe to keyword searches

FeedFinder

Gives you code to add a Feedster search box to your site if it is indexed

myFeedster online aggregator

Lets you create an RSS feed for your site

Creates “ego” feeds for you

June 13, 2006

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COPY URL

PubSub Tricks

PubSub – http://www.pubsub.com/

Lets you subscribe to keyword searches (can’t directly search the database)

Edgar Filings -- http://www.pubsub.com/edgar.php (filings by company, subject, or form type)

PubSub Government --http://www.pubsub.com/features/government/

Community Lists -- http://www.pubsub.com/lists/

Create an “ego” feed for you or your organization

Get feeds for some sites that don’t offer them!

HT Use PubSub -- http://www.bryght.com/node/146

June 13, 2006

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Customizing Feeds by Keyword

Read Mr. Customization, Steven Cohen (LibraryStuff.net):

Amazon

http://www.onfocus.com/bookwatch/AmazonRSS.asp

http://www.unto.net/aws/

FindArticles.com -- http://www.findarticles.com/

Google News --http://news.google.com/intl/en_us/news_feed_terms.html

Indeed (jobs) – http://www.indeed.com/

Moreover --http://p.moreover.com/cgi-local/page?k=librarian&o=rss

Yahoo Finance Company News -- http://biz.yahoo.com/rss.html

Yahoo News Search – http://news.yahoo.com/

June 13, 2006

Your Library Needs to Provide an RSS Feed!

So you can slice and dice your content in multiple places!

So your audience can subscribe to your feeds!

So your staff can subscribe to your feeds!

June 13, 2006

Fastest way is to start a blog !Fastest way is to start a blog !

Blogs + RSS Gets You:

August 9, 2005

Better GoogleBloglinesFeedsterPubSubBlogPulseTechnorati

What Else Can Libraries Do with RSS?

May 15, 2006

Display other feeds on your own site

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How to Display Feeds on Your Site

Rely on someone else for Javascript code

Feed2JS -- http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/ (can also put on your server)

Feedroll (Javascript) -- http://www.feedroll.com/

RSS Digest (Javascript or HTML) -- http://www.bigbold.com/rssdigest/

Parse RSS on your own server

Blogfeed -- http://www.kalsey.com/tools/blogfeed/default.htm

LastRSS.php -- http://lastrss.webdot.cz/

Magpie -- http://magpierss.sf.net/

RSS Feed Magic -- http://dev.izibox.isa-geek.org/RSSFeedMagic/

Feed on Feeds -- http://feedonfeeds.com/

RSSMix – http://www.rssmix.com/ (combines multiple feeds into one)

June 13, 2006


May 15, 2006


Provide feeds out of your existing resources

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Before You Syndicate, Consider…

Does the site have a syndication policy?

Does your site have a syndication policy?

Examples at http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/?p=95

June 13, 2006

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Coming Soon!

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Library Page Example – ProQuest article citations integrated with your website

Course Page Example – ProQuest article citations integrated with your website

Faculty Page Example – ProQuest article citations integrated with your website

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May 15, 2006



Aggregate information sources for your patrons

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May 15, 2006




Teach information literacy!

It Works!

“In terms of WebCT, the presentation I did was in the Spring term. It was an experiment and was largely successful. In the fall term, I will be working with our Systems and IRT department to figure out how to proceed further. Students in the WebCT course like it very much. The key thing now is to convince our faculty and students of its benefits (RSS, blogs, linking through WebCT), etc. My consultations with students most of the times result in students creating Bloglines account and adding feeds.”

- Jay Bhatt, Drexel University

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May 15, 2006





Let patrons slice and dice our content!

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May 15, 2006





Let patrons slice and dice our content!

AND….

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Libraries “Getting Out There” via RSS

June 13, 2006

Additional Resources

All About RSS -- http://www.faganfinder.com/search/rss.shtml

Lockergnome’s RSS Resource Site -- http://rss.lockergnome.com/

News that Comes to You -- http://www.ojr.org/ojr/lasica/1043362624.php

Rich Site Services: Web Feeds for Extended Information and Library Services -- http://www.llrx.com/features/richsite.htm

RSS for Non-Techie Librarians --http://www.llrx.com/features/rssforlibrarians.htm

RSS Toolkit --http://www.accessola.com/olita/site/showPage.cgi?page=toolkit/rss/

RSS4LIB – http://blogs.fletcher.tufts.edu/rss4lib/

Utah’s RSS Workshop -- http://rssgov.com/rssworkshop.html

June 13, 2006

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Library Community & Vendors Start to “Get” ItFactiva -- http://fce.factiva.com/rss/marketing.htm

ScienceDirect Connect --http://www.info.sciencedirect.com/sd_updates/sd_connect/index.shtml#rss

OCLC Feeds -- http://www.oclc.org/rss/

Westlaw Intraclips via RSS -- http://www.lawlibtech.com/archives/000140.html

American Libraries -- http://www.ala.org/cfapps/xml/alonline.xml

ALA Press Releases --http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=News&template=/cfapps/xml/pr_inst.html

Gerry McKiernan’s collections

B-Feeds: Web Feeds for Books & Monographs --http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/B-Feeds1.htm

eFeeds: Web Feeds from Electronic Journals --http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/eFeeds.htm

RSS: Library services delivered via Rich Site Services --http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/RSS.htm

June 13, 2006

The Future of RSS

RSS could replace email newsletters

Your news, your way, on the go

Smartphones, PDAs, Tablet PCs, laptops with always-on Wi-Fi or 3G

Group aggregation (your company, your school, your industry)

More Keyword Filtering / Customization

More Secure Authentication

Private, password-protected feeds (intranet!)

Aggregators will be built into operating systems and browsers (http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=1543)

June 13, 2006

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June 13, 2006

Use Bloglines or a different aggregator to stay current!Start a blog so you have an RSS feed of new

items/announcements!Start asking your vendors for RSS!Get others to display your RSS!Market your RSS!

Go Forth and RSSify!

RSSJune 13, 2006

Jenny Levine

Metropolitan Library System

The Shifted Librarian

[email protected]

AIM: cybrarygal

Questions ?

http://www.mls.lib.il.us/

how to use rss to know more and do less what is rss?...gives you code to add a feedster search box...

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