RSS: Practical Uses for Professional, Personal and Patron Information

1. RSS: Practical Uses for Professional, Personal and Patron Information Brooklyn Public Library Professional Development Day January 12, 2009 Kathryn Shaughnessy, MA, MLS Assistant Professor Instructional Services Librarian Senior Fellow, Center for Teaching and Learning

2. 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

3. 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 Lawwebsite, http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rssVersionHistory.html

4. 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

5. 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!

6. Current Uses of RSS Resources @ BPL • @ brooklynpubliclibrary.org

7. Current Uses of RSS Resources @BPL brooklynpubliclibrary.org feeds displayed in iGoogle

8. Current Uses of RSS Resources Radio news and lectures (NPR)

9. Current Uses of RSS Resources • Print News & Podcast Syndication NYT

10. Current Uses of RSS Resources Academic-quality lectures (Princeton University Channel)

11. Current Uses of RSS Resources Journal Table of Contents Nature

12. Current Uses of RSS Resources • Library News

13. Current Uses of RSS Resources • Collection /Departmental News -- Library of Congress

14. Current Uses of RSS Resources Funding Opportunities

15. Current Uses of RSS Resources • Scholarly Communication – IL Tag from CiteULike

16. Current Uses of RSS Resources Serendipitous discovery through del.icio.us

17. Current Uses of RSS Resources Job / Internship feeds

18. Current Uses of RSS Resources Monster Job Search feed

19. Current Uses of RSS Resources Database Searches

20. 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

21. 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/

22. Choosing an RRS Reader Practical Questions about using RSS for podcasts:

23. Choosing an RRS Reader brooklynpubliclibrary.org feeds displayed in iGoogle

24. Choosing an RRS Reader GoogleReader

25. 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 feeds Add to my podcasts

26. 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

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

28. What if the resource I want doesn’t have RSS? 2 1 3

29. VOILA…RSS-ified!

30. 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 More resources on RSS

31. Thank you for your time! Kathryn Shaughnessy Instructional Services Librarian shaughnk@stjohns.edu Practical RSS