Using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to Publish Content

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Using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to Publish
Content

• Andrea Mostyn, University Communications,
  Assistant Director
• Moby Thomas, University Communications GA
• John McMellen, KSMU, Senior Broadcast Engineer
• David Porter, KSMU GA

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Most common applications of RSS in academic
settings

• Media relations/press releases
• Events/calendars
• Employment vacancies
• Libraries/recently catalogued materials
• Prospective student blogs
• College/department updates
• To see examples, google rss and university

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Campus applications of RSS

• Broadcast Services KSMU
• University Communication

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Introduction to RSS

• What is RSS and where did it come from?
• What type of information benefits from the pull
  method of RSS?
• How is it used?

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Technical details of typical implementations

• 3 different ways to get there
• Free, but manual and labor intensive (i.e.
  Notepad and some web server space)
• Medium cost, easier (i.e. Dreamweaver and some
  web server space)
• Expensive, very simple and automated (i.e.
  sophisticated Content Management System)
• Server requirements
• Client requirements and setup

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Broadcast Services - KSMU

• Expensive method Content Management System
  handles input and dynamically generates Web and
  RSS output
• RSS also used to generate podcasts
• Requires setup, training, and maintenance

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Broadcast Services - KSMU

• Links from the home page to the generated feed
• Using XSL stylesheets, browsers can convert the
  RSS to formatted HTML
• ltLINKgt tag in home page header makes auto
  discovery of feeds possible

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With XSL stylesheets, go from this
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To this
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ltlink rel"alternate" type"application/rssxml"
title" href"gt ltlink rel"alternate"
type"application/rssxml" title" href"gt
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University CommunicationsRSS version 2.0
lt?xml version"1.0" ?gt ltrss version"2.0"gt
ltchannelgt lttitlegtMissouri State
University Newslt/titlegt
ltdescriptiongtThe office of university
communications at Missouri State University is
your connection to the university community.
lt/descriptiongt ltlinkgthttp//www.news.mis
souristate.edult/linkgt ltitemgt
lttitlegtFeb 24, 2006 - University debate team
receives first ever first-round idlt/titlegt
ltdescriptiongtThe Missouri State University debate
team will compete at the National Debate
Tournament, and this time the team was invited
with a first-round at-large bid Michael Mapes
and Matthias Bostick are guaranteed the chance
to debate at nationals.lt/descriptiongt
ltlinkgthttp//www.news.missouristate.edu/news/relea
ses/feb06/debateteam.htmlt/linkgt
lt/itemgt ltitemgt
lttitlegtFeb 24, 2006 - Festival brings movie
industry experts to Springfieldlt/titlegt
ltdescriptiongtMissouri State University,
in association with the Moxie Theatre, the
Creamery Arts Center
and Drury University, will host the inaugural
Show-Me Missouri International Film Festival
March 2-5. lt/descriptiongt ltlinkgthttp//www.news.m
issouristate.edu/news/releases/feb06/festival.htmlt
/linkgt lt/itemgt
lt/channelgt lt/rssgt
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University Communications Editor Macromedia
Dreamweaver
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University Communications Validate the Code
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University CommunicationsHome Page
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University CommunicationsWhat is RSS?
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University CommunicationsBrowser View of XML file
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University CommunicationsReader View of XML file
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How will people view my RSS content?

• Many use an RSS reader or aggregator
• This is a special kind of software for viewing
  news feeds provided by websites.
• You can download for free or use a pay version
• It is a simple program that lets you pick up
  news websites all over the Internet. Any news
  site that displays the or can be
  quickly loaded into your personal reader.
• It will bring all the news you want without any
  of the problems associated with email and is
  usually spam-free.

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RSS Reader

• The reader continuously updates news from all of
  the selected sources you've chosen.
• You can keep some news sources right on the front
  page, order them any way you wish and keep others
  in a library in the background.
• The reader can be customized to display
  headlines headlines and story leads or
  headlines, story leads and graphics.
• When you visit any website that displays
  or to pick up the news stream, merely
  click on the link, copy it to your reader and the
  news from that source immediately begins
  streaming through your reader. That news then
  updates whenever you refresh the page.

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Types of Readers

• Portals
• E.g., My Yahoo ,My MSN, My AOL ,Personalized
  Google Homepage
• Web-based
• E.g., Bloglines, Google Reader
• Desktop based
• E.g., Feed Demon, NetNewsWire, Straw
• Outlook based
• E.g., NewsGator, IntraVnews

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How other institutions use RSS

• Gustavus University
• http//www.gustavus.edu/xml/index.cfm
• Alumni, athletics, employment, news, parents
• Includes user-friendly introduction to RSS
• Allows users to subscribe to all feeds or to any
  of 30 individual feeds

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How other institutions use RSS
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How other institutions use RSS

• University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School
• http//adcomblog.wharton.upenn.edu/
• Admissions blog
• Helps prospective students prepare to apply to
  business school
• Alerts blog users to new content
• Users may subscribe to specific categories

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How other institutions use RSS
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What are some other uses of RSS?

• Multimedia delivery
• Works In Progress
• Microsoft SSE Really Simple Sharing
• Google Base Online database of lists of items
• Messaging and application synchronization
• Google Calendar Event exchange

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Questions?