Week 4: RSS Feeds
Learning Objectives
By the end of this week, students will:
- be familiar with the terminology surrounding RSS
- explore some of the ways in which libraries are using RSS
- be familiar with some of the ways in which RSS can be used in
information work, including current awareness, feeds for searches, etc.
Readings
If you are absolutely new to RSS, start with the first two items on the list (a video & a great RSS tutorial) then move on to the next 2 articles. The remaining articles on the list fill in the technology details and provide good explications on the history of RSS and the various specifications.
- RSS in Plain English, The Common Craft Show (audio + video)
- 7 Things you Should Know About RSS, Educause Learning Initiative
- Hot! Fresh! Delivered to You! RSS Tutorial, Luke Rosenberger
- Success Story: RSS Moves into the Mainstream at the University of Alberta Libraries, Randy Reichardt
- Rich Site Services: Web Feeds for Extended Information and Library Services, Gerry McKiernan
- Using RSS to Add Currency to the Library Website, Melissa Rethlefsen (screencast)
Case Studies
- Categories & Guides - Kansas City Public Library
- Dublin City Public Libraries & Archive (using Pageflakes as a portal)
- Hennepin County Library - Subscribe to our RSS Feeds
- Tacoma Public Library - RSS/XML Feeds
- University of Oklahoma Libraries RSS feeds
- Western Kentucky University Libraries
- Seattle Public Library - (feeds for searches from the catalogue)
- Vendors: EBSCO RSS Feeds
- Vendors: Engineering Village 2 RSS
- Vendors: ProQuest RSS Feeds
Things to do this week
- Read the articles and explore the case studies for this week and post your thoughts & comments to your blog. Don't forget our weekly deadline for blogging is 9 am, Friday. Remember to check out your classmates' posts too and respond (where appropriate) in the comments.
- If you don't already use an RSS reader, check out Google Reader, Bloglines, Rojo or Netvibes (or all four if you're feeling adventurous and have some time to kill!). As RSS "consumers", I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about using feeds and aggregators, whether you are new to RSS game or are a seasoned player. Post your comments to your blog.
- Continue tagging pertinent content in delicious using the "lis9763" tag.
