2. AGENDA
The spirit of RSS Feeds How to….and
applications
Experience in RSS
Readers
Debriefing
Some Technical
background
Some perspective
3. •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.
4. 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.
8. 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)
9. • XML viewer = RSS aggregator
• Aggregators are also called news
readers.
• Examples: Bloglines, Google Reader,
Netvibes
10. <rdf:RDF><rdf:RDF>
−−
<channel rdf:about="http://jama.ama-assn.org"><channel rdf:about="http://jama.ama-assn.org">
<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 published 48JAMA is a weekly primary science, peer-reviewed medical journal published 48
times per year. JAMA publishes original high quality, high impact clinical andtimes per year. JAMA publishes original high quality, high impact clinical and
research articles on a diverse range of medical topics.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:resource="http://jama.ama-<rdf:li rdf:resource="http://jama.ama-
assn.org/cgi/content/short/295.8.jed60009v1?rss=1"/>assn.org/cgi/content/short/295.8.jed60009v1?rss=1"/>
<rdf:li rdf:resource="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/673?<rdf:li rdf:resource="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/673?
rss=1"/>rss=1"/>
<rdf:li rdf:resource="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/701?<rdf:li rdf:resource="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/701?
rss=1"/>rss=1"/>
<rdf:li rdf:resource="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/709?<rdf:li rdf:resource="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/297/7/709?
rss=1"/>rss=1"/>
XML code looks like thisXML code looks like this
11. 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.
12. 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
14. 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.
15. 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.
16.
17. • Copy URL from Web site address
window and paste into reader.
19. 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.
21. To add content
• Bloglines: Add (note Search Feeds at
top right)
• Netvibes: Add a Feed
22.
23. 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.
24.
25.
26. Managing feeds
• Bloglines: Top Level, existing folder,
new folder
• Google Reader: Tags
• Netvibes: Move (can add new
category)
27. 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
28. 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.
29. 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.
31. APPLICATIONS-
Institution
• There are enterprise editions of
Feed Aggregators….for a fee.
• Develop feeds for specific subject/
objective
• Separate tabs for each subject/
objective.
34. 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.
35. 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.
36. 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:
99shanthi
I 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.