rssfeeds

Ms. M K Prasanna,

mkprasanna@yahoo.com

AGENDAThe spirit of RSS Feeds How to….and

applications

Experience in RSS Readers

Debriefing

Some Technical background

Some perspective

•RSS FEEDS•R eally S imple S yndication or R ich S ite S ummary

•Commonly conceived of as tool for gathering news items from different sources.

•We’ll define “news” broadly to include new content on any news-site,Web site, blog .

•RSS is a technical specification for syndicating information (i.e., distributing it to multiple Web sites for online publication).•The available RSS output from a Web site is called a feed . Feedburner and Atom are popular feed format.

The Goal

•Pull new information from lots of different Web sites you’re interested in and turn it into a single Web page that will organize your reading and help you keep current.

Cloud. feedly.com

Technology is simple• XML…..OPML

• Markup Languages• A markup language is a set of codes that

determine how Web content looks or how it is structured.

• Examples• HTML ; XML (extensible markup language)

• XML viewer = RSS aggregator

• Aggregators are also called news readers.

• Examples: Bloglines, Google Reader, Netvibes

<rdf:RDF><rdf:RDF>−−

<channel rdf:about=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org&quot;><channel rdf:about=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org&quot;><title>JAMA current issue</title><title>JAMA current issue</title>

<link>http://jama.ama-assn.org</link><link>http://jama.ama-assn.org</link><description><description>

JAMA is a weekly primary science, peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA is a weekly primary science, peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times per year. JAMA publishes original high quality, high published 48 times per year. JAMA publishes original high quality, high

impact clinical and research articles on a diverse range of medical topics.impact clinical and research articles on a diverse range of medical topics.</description></description>

<prism:eIssn>1538-3598</prism:eIssn><prism:eIssn>1538-3598</prism:eIssn><prism:coverDisplayDate>February 21, 2007</prism:coverDisplayDate><prism:coverDisplayDate>February 21, 2007</prism:coverDisplayDate>

<prism:publicationName><prism:publicationName>JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical AssociationJAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association

</prism:publicationName></prism:publicationName><prism:issn>0098-7484</prism:issn><prism:issn>0098-7484</prism:issn>

<items><items><rdf:Seq><rdf:Seq>

<rdf:li <rdf:li rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/295.8.jed6rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/295.8.jed6

0009v1?rss=1&quot;/>0009v1?rss=1&quot;/><rdf:li <rdf:li

rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/673rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/673?rss=1&quot;/>?rss=1&quot;/>

<rdf:li <rdf:li rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/701rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/701

?rss=1&quot;/>?rss=1&quot;/><rdf:li <rdf:li

rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/709rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/709?rss=1&quot;/>?rss=1&quot;/>

<rdf:RDF><rdf:RDF>−−

<channel rdf:about=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org&quot;><channel rdf:about=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org&quot;><title>JAMA current issue</title><title>JAMA current issue</title>

<link>http://jama.ama-assn.org</link><link>http://jama.ama-assn.org</link><description><description>

JAMA is a weekly primary science, peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA is a weekly primary science, peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times per year. JAMA publishes original high quality, high published 48 times per year. JAMA publishes original high quality, high

impact clinical and research articles on a diverse range of medical topics.impact clinical and research articles on a diverse range of medical topics.</description></description>

<prism:eIssn>1538-3598</prism:eIssn><prism:eIssn>1538-3598</prism:eIssn><prism:coverDisplayDate>February 21, 2007</prism:coverDisplayDate><prism:coverDisplayDate>February 21, 2007</prism:coverDisplayDate>

<prism:publicationName><prism:publicationName>JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical AssociationJAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association

</prism:publicationName></prism:publicationName><prism:issn>0098-7484</prism:issn><prism:issn>0098-7484</prism:issn>

<items><items><rdf:Seq><rdf:Seq>

<rdf:li <rdf:li rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/295.8.jed6rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/295.8.jed6

0009v1?rss=1&quot;/>0009v1?rss=1&quot;/><rdf:li <rdf:li

rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/673rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/673?rss=1&quot;/>?rss=1&quot;/>

<rdf:li <rdf:li rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/701rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/701

?rss=1&quot;/>?rss=1&quot;/><rdf:li <rdf:li

rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/709rdf:resource=&quot;http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/709?rss=1&quot;/>?rss=1&quot;/>

XML code looks like thisXML code looks like this

How to gather RSS Feeds

Choose aggregator and set up account.– Add content (subscribe to RSS feeds).– News– Tables of contents– Blog postings– Alerts (search updates)

Manage content.Share content if desired.

SEARCH TOOLS• Topix.net - This search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed

items based upon keyword or phrase searching. It focuses specifically on news and media feeds for information, not blogs.

• Technorati- Technorati is a popular blog-finding tool. Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging tools, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic-specific blogs you may be interested in.

• Syndic8.com- Syndic8 is an open directory that contains thousands of RSS feeds which users have submitted.

•Alltop.com

Some aggregators/ feed Some aggregators/ feed readersreaders

Some aggregators/ feed Some aggregators/ feed readersreaders

Different types• Desktop aggregators are applications

that must be installed on your computer.

• Web browsers’ built-in RSS tools (Mozilla Firefox’s Live Bookmarks, Internet Explorer Onfolio), may provide only one-at-a-time, instead of all-in-one place, access to feeds.

• Web-based aggregators do not require installation.

Ways to Locate Feeds on Content Web Sites

• RSS directories such as Feedster (www.feedster.com )

• Look for these icons• Look for links from these terms: subscribe,

syndicate, feed, RSS, XML, Atom• Try searching the Web site for “RSS.”• For journals, check Subscribe/Subscription or E-

mail/Alerts pages.

Some sites don’t have RSS.

• Copy URL from Web site address window and paste into reader.

Cloud. feedly.com

Cloud.feedly.com : To add

content/subscription

• Search or add feed URL• Browse options• Feed bundles (News, Sports, Fun, etc.)• Add user name for someone whose

work (blog, tags, etc.) you want to follow.

Manage

To add content• Bloglines: Add (note Search Feeds

at top right)• Netvibes: Add a Feed

Creating a Feed for a Search

• Do a search.• In Send to dropdown box, choose RSS

Feed .• In next screen, click on Create Feed

button.• New articles retrieved by your search will

appear in the aggregator.

Managing feeds• Bloglines: Top Level, existing

folder, new folder• Google Reader: Tags• Netvibes: Move (can add new

category)

Reading and Managing Content

• Read/unread status• Bolding generally indicates an unread item or

folder containing unread items.• Bloglines “Keep New,” “Mark All Read”• Google Reader “Mark as read”• Netvibes “Read All,” “Unread All”• Keyboard shortcuts (example: Bloglines hotkeys)

Saving Content• Bloglines: Clippings• Google Reader: Starred items

Moving Content

• Once you have added content, you can…

• … save (export) it. File will be in OPML format.

• … switch to a different reader and add content automatically by importing the OPML file.

Sharing• Bloglines- clip blog (can go public or be kept

private)• Netvibes - ecosystem• Publishing on Netvibes ecosystem• Tab sharing (publishing some or all of your feed

list or blogroll)• Google Reader• Shared items• Add subscriptions, Browse: Enter user name for

person whose work you want to follow.

APPLICATIONS- Individual

• PERSONAL

• PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

APPLICATIONS- Institution

• There are enterprise editions of Feed Aggregators….for a fee.

• Develop feeds for specific subject/ objective

• Separate tabs for each subject/ objective.

SCOOP IT

Some observations• Be specific

• Internet is used for INFORMATION and for COMMUNICATION. RSS feeds serve the communication function. That means, opinions, bias, …these are valuable too.

–Esp news- V V Selective.

Some Perspective• Internet has its limitations• Search Engines have their limitations• Individual users have their limitations• Not all websites have RSS Feeds• RSS Readers have their limitations• Esp. Premium content….which represents

knowledge based on research & deep thinking are still inaccessible via free resources.

• V V V selective….so shd not be dependent entirely on RSS Feeds.

»Other tools required….one such tool is Delicious.

Thanks, respected listeners

Please go ahead and create RSS Feeds on various topics of common interest

• On MyYahoo• On Bloglines• On Netvibes• On Google Reader(UserID: cggfeeds@yahoo.co.in Password: 99shanthiI am sure your Librarian will maintain and add value to them.

Various newsletters can be created, say monthly, based on these feeds ;add your perspectives to the news…. for sharing with the CGG

stakeholders.