Transcript RSS feeds - Steven C. Perkins

RSS, Blogs & Resource
Discovery
HALL Meeting, 11 Jan 2006
Steven C. Perkins, J.D., M.L.L.
Coordinator of Reference
Services
University of Houston Libraries
[email protected]
The Evolution of Web Pages
Before there was a World Wide Web there was
Dr Ted Nelson and XANADU®,
http://xanadu.com/
 The first browser, WorldWideWeb, created
editable web pages,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldWideWeb
 Later web browsers did not allow you to
interactively edit the web pages on the server.
 Static web pages ruled the WWW until . . .
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The Introduction of the Wiki
In 1995, Ward Cunningham established the first
Wiki, at the Portland Pattern Repository, and
interactive web page editing was back in the
WWW, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory
 29 Dec 1997 saw the first use of WebLog on the
RobotWisdom website,
http://www.robotwisdom.com/log1997m12.html
 Originally hand-coded, blogs were quickly
automated, and are now mostly maintained
through a browser-based application
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What is a Blog?
A Blog is a Web Log, an interactive web page
that allows readers to post comments on the
items posted to the blog.
 See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog for a
detailed explanation.
 Blogs can be used with RSS feeds to keep your
readers notified of important information.
 Many organizations use blogs to ensure that
everyone receives information in a timely
manner.
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Questions to ask before starting a Blog
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What are you using it for?
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Alerts
Updates
Discussion
Who will manage
How many editors
Public or Private
Types of Blogs
Audio blogs, includes PodCasting,
http://www.Audioblog.com/,
 http://www.Podshow.com/
 Videoblogs, http://www.videoblog.com/
 Moblogs for mobile phones,
http://go.blogger.com/mobile-start.g
 PhotoBlogs like Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/
 Klogs, Dashlogs, and Linklogs can be used to
point users to information sources
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Blog Directories
Bloglines is a blog aggregator where you can
search for blogs on the subject of your choice,
http://www.bloglines.com/
 Law Professor Blogs links to legal blogs,
“blawgs” by law professors,
http://www.lawprofessorblogs.com/
 Library weblogs can be found at
http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html
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Some Law Blogs:
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LLRX, http://www.llrx.com/
Legal Periodicals from W&L,
http://bloggery.wlu.edu/lawrevs/
Law Library Technology, http://www.lawlibtech.com/
BeSpacific, http://www.bespacific.com/
Lawrence Lessig, http://www.lessig.org/blog/
The Becker – Posner Blog, http://www.becker-posnerblog.com/archives/2005/08/the_ten_command.html
Problems with Blogs
Most blogs are abandoned after being started.
LiveJournal has nearly 8 million blogs but only 3
million are actively maintained.
 Open blogs can be subjected to comment spam.
 Hosting a blog on your own server may be very
troublesome.
 Using an off-site host can also cause problems.
 You could get sued. See, the EFF: Legal Guide
for Bloggers, http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/
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Problems (cont.):
Legal problems include Intellectual Property,
Defamation, Privacy, Employment,
http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/
 Legal protection is Section 230 of the
Communications Decency Act of 1996,
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode
47/usc_sec_47_00000230----000-.html
 Bloggers reporting the news and those reporting
on public records have some protections beyond
Sec. 230, http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/
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Who is Using Blogs in AALL?
The AALL Annual Meeting,
http://weblog.law.ttu.edu/aallamo/
 The CS-SIS, http://cssisblawgs.blogspot.com/
 Law Libraries,
http://cssisblawgs.bloki.com/index.jsp?name=blog
s&folderId=93662
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BLOG Resources:
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Blogging and RSSing the Librarian Way,
http://www.sla.org/Presentations/05Toronto/DITBloggingR
SSingtheLibrarianWayTrends.ppt
All About Blawgs, by Robert Ambrogi,
http://www.abll.org/pdf/ambrogi.ppt
Blog Software Breakdown,
http://www.asymptomatic.net/blogbreakdown.htm
Blogger Tour, http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g
Blogging: Reading and Creating Blogs,
http://www.law.emory.edu/cms/site/uploads/media/bloggin
g_notes.pdf
Blog Software
Three of the main software tools used for
blogging are: Blogger, TypePad, and Movable
Type
 Blogger is owned by Google,
http://www.blogger.com/
 Six Apart, owns TypePad, MovableType, and
LiveJournal, http://www.sixapart.com/
 Radio UserLand is another widely used blogging
tool, http://radio.userland.com/
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RSS:
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RSS has several meanings
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There are different versions of RSS
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Most Blogs have the capability of automatically
generating RSS feeds
Who is Using RSS for Law?
The Federal and State Governments
 Law Firms
 AALL
 Law Schools and Law Libraries
 Individual Lawyers and Librarians
 Everyone else you know
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Federal and State governments:
FirstGov:
http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Li
braries/Podcast_RSS.shtml
 GPO:http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/ind
ex.html
 Utah State Courts, Appellatte Court Opinions,
http://www.utcourts.gov/
 Louisiana Supreme Court Opinions,
http://www.lasc.org/
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RSS and Law Firms
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr
 Clark Wilson LLP
 Stark & Stark
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AALL:
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AALL TS-SIS,
http://www.aallnet.org/sis/tssis/index.htm
Law Schools and Law Libraries:
Washington & Lee Law Journals Feeds for tocs:
http://law.wlu.edu/library/feeds/
 RSS at Harvard Law,
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/directory/5
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What an RSS feed looks like:
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<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>The Channel Title Goes Here</title>
<description>The explanation of how the items are related goes
here</description>
<link>http://www.directoryoflinksgohere</link>
<item>
<title>The Title Goes Here</title>
<description>The description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.linkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
<item>
<title>Another Title Goes Here</title>
<description>Another description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.anotherlinkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Creating RSS Feeds:
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Code it by hand: write, save, validate, announce
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Add it to a Blog page, supported by Blogger,
Typepad, etc.
Serving an RSS feed:
Use your own RSS server, Slashcode and
Slashalikes,
http://www.skybuilders.com/Users/Derek/research
/slashalikes.html
 Use your Blog, most Blog software supports RSS
feeds
 Register your feed with a service,
Feedburner, www.feedburner.com/,
Technorati, http://www.technorati.com/ping/
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Validating an RSS Feed:
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Userland validator, http://rss.scripting.com/
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Feed Validator for Atom and RSS Feeds,
http://feedvalidator.org/
Finding RSS Feeds:
RSS News Feeds for Law,
http://www.virtualchase.com/resources/rss_law.ht
ml
 Bloglines, www.bloglines.com/
 Technorati, www.technorati.com/
 My Yahoo and Google Homepage or Google
Reader
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Reading RSS Feeds:
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Some web browsers can read RSS feeds: FireFox, Safari,
Opera sage.moxdev.org/
Live Bookmarks,
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/live-bookmarks
Use Mozilla Thunderbird email client,
www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/
Many people use separate RSS readers to manage their
RSS feeds: FeedReader, and BlogLines
http://www.feedreader.com/ http://www.bloglines.com/
Google Reader reads RSS
http://www.google.com/reader/things/intro
More RSS Readers:
Jeremy Wagstaff's list,
http://loosewire.typepad.com/blog/2004/08/a_direct
ory_of_.html
 Lockergnome list,
http://channels.lockergnome.com/rss/resources/arti
cles/quickstart.phtml
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RSS Resources:
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RSS for Content Publishers and Webmasters,
http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/
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RSS Resources from MALL,
http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/mall/inet_rss.htm
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RSS Specifications, everything you need to know
about RSS, http://www.rss-specifications.com/rssspecifications.htm
Thanks for your attention and time
Steven C. Perkins, JD, MLL
 Coordinator of Reference
Services
 University of Houston M.D.
Anderson Library
 713-743-9775
[email protected]
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