Blogs, Wikis, and RSS Feeds in Your Organization
Blogs, Wikis, and RSS Feeds in Your Organization
Jessica Baumgart
Hudson Valley SLA
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Click on the link below to get to the outline of the presentation I gave to the Hudson Valley Special Libraries Association chapter.
I had a great time being there. The audience had some great questions. Despite delaying them from getting their dessert, they were still very attentive and willingly raised their hands and participated as appropriate.
I should note, per one audience member’s question, that most of the software I mention is software you can download from the Internet. It’s not software you can find in a physical store.
Wikipedia has a list of hosted blog services. I didn’t find an equivalent list for other kinds of weblogs, not even in the article about blogging.
I’m still processing most of the questions and comments and will probably add more to this post later.
One challenge of giving this kind of presentation is that no matter how long I have, it’s never enough time to adequately discuss everything at the level of detail some people want to have. Another challenge is balancing the levels of interest and knowledge in the audience. When someone asks a question, I usually glance at other people’s faces quickly to try to determine if other people are wondering the same thing or if everyone else’s level of knowledge is beyond that.
Perhaps the best thing about the talk is that I (finally) got to take my first trip on Amtrak. How silly is it that I love trains, but had never ridden Amtrak? It was terrific. The fall color, ocean views, and ride were excellent. I could pack lunch, a bottle of water, my knitting, hand lotion, and all sorts of things airlines prohibit or frown upon. And I didn’t have to sit in the middle seat—there wasn’t one! Rah!
Why am I here?
- Librarian with expertise in Web 2.0 tools
- Co-lead a weekly technology group
- Use blogs, wikis, and feeds
Why should librarians care?
- Blogs, wikis, and feeds are great and powerful
- Librarians have not only a role in using the tools, but also encouraging their clients to use the technology.
- If we drive technology in our organizations, we probably have a role in encouraging others to use the tools.
Blogs
Raise your hand if …
- You blog
- Your organization has a weblog
- You blog for an organization
- You use a corporate blog
What is a weblog?
- Blog software enables easy updating of Web pages
- Bloggers don’t necessarily have to know HTML
- There are many different kinds of blogs, different kinds of platforms for blogging
- Can blog on the Web, on an intranet, on your desktop, etc.
Why blog?
- Communication
- Knowledge management
- Annotated list of links
- Networking, community building
- Sharing sources
- Easy to archive and retrieve material
Why read blogs?
- News
- Professional development
- Be/stay informed
- Get someone else’s personal perspective, view of the world
- Time management
What’s new with organizational blogs?
- Early adopter phase seems to be over
- Not as many corporations are using blogs as expected
- Those who blog are still ahead of the game
Examples of Blogs
- ResourceShelf: http://www.resourceshelf.com/
- Rowland Institute at Harvard Library Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/rihlib/
- SLA Annual Conference Blog: http://slablogger.typepad.com/sla_conference_blog/
Examples
- beSpacific: http://www.bespacific.com/
- LISNews: http://www.lisnews.com/
- Issues in Scholarly Communication: http://www.library.gsu.edu/news/index.asp?typeID=62
More examples
- List of library weblogs: http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links.html
- Library Weblogs (http://puck.emeraldinsight.com/vl=3179721/cl=32/nw=1/rpsv/cgi-bin/linker?ini=emerald&reqidx=/cw/mcb/01435124/v25n4/s3/p183) takes a scholarly look at fifty-five library blogs.
Why Renesys Blogs
- Reach users
- Build community
- Give us a face
- It’s hip and expected
BabbleBlog- Members of the team can blog
- Incentive to blog
- Making blogging a priority
- Building an audience
- Marketing the blog
- WordPress
Wikis
Raise your hand if …
- You use a wiki to log information
- Your organization has a wiki
- You maintain a wiki for your organization
- You use a corporate wiki
What’s a Wiki?- Specialized Web site allowing easy editing
- Usually has a visible edit link or button
- Wiki syntax is somewhat easy to learn, not HTML
What’s new with organizational wikis?- Many are internal
- More wiki platforms, more variety
- Growth is slower than weblogs
A Web site anyone can edit?
Isn’t that bad?
Anyone Editing is Good.- Aids communication, especially among decentralized team members or over time
- Encourages participation
- Central repository for information
Anyone Editing is Bad.- “Help! I erased everything on the wiki!”
- Technology comfort level
- Ownership
- Wiki spam and vandalism
- Loss of content control
Some wikis have access controls.
Wikipedia: http://www.wikipedia.org/
Caution 1: Storing Information
- Anyone can edit the wiki
- Compatibility with other storage formats
- The right or best tool
- Wiki spam
- Vandalism
Caution 2: Using a Wiki as a Source
- Content can change at any moment
- Who’s responsible for the content?
- Credentials?
Wikis Come in Different Colors
- Different wiki platforms have different functionality
- Think about what you want or will use the wiki for
- Desirable features
- Cost
- Intranet, Web site, hosted
Different wiki software
- MediaWiki: http://www.mediawiki.org/
- Twiki: http://twiki.org/
- PBwiki: http://pbwiki.com/
- MoinMoin: http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/
- Wet Paint: http://www.wetpaint.com/
- And many more
Examples of wikis
- Wikipedia and its sister projects: http://wikimedia.org/
- Library Success: http://www.libsuccess.org/
- SLA Boston Chapter: http://silversmith.olin.edu/slawiki/
- Atom, the XML standard: http://www.intertwingly.net/
wiki/pie/
Future of wikis
- More wikis in use for more things
- Growth in the business world
- Change people’s ideas about the Web being static
Future of wiki software
- More enterprise solutions
- More features, like XML feeds
- Easier to use
Why Renesys Wikis
- Communicate in a spread out company
- Knowledge management
- Keep everyone’s thoughts organized
- Share information and files
- See what others do
Renesys’ Wiki
- Every full-time employee can contribute
- Directory information
- Sections for the major projects
- Personal pages
- Meeting minutes
- Anyone can make pages for anything
- TWiki
Challenges
- Incentive to contribute to and use the wiki
- Making wiki maintenance a priority
- Sharing wiki maintenance
XML Feeds
Raise your hand if you …
- Know what XML feeds (RSS, Atom, etc.) are
- Receive feeds
- Use an aggregator or news reader for yourself
- Use an aggregator for work
- Have coded your own XML feed
Feeds
- Powerful way to distribute and receive content
- XML file on a server
- Usually appears when there’s new content
- Most people use software to read them
- Possible to route feeds to Web sites
Feed examples
- Librarians’ Index to the Internet: http://lii.org/ntw.rss
- Dysart and Jones: http://www.dysartjones.com/atom.xml
- University of Alabama RSS Feeds for Recently Cataloged Titles: http://library.ua.edu/rss/
Assorted feed examples
- Buoys: http://www.gomoos.org/rss/hourly-buoy-data.rss
- Weather: http://www.weather.gov/alerts/ny.php
- Traffic alerts: http://www.traffic.com/New-York-Traffic/New-York-Traffic-Reports.html?ct=ma_map
Feeds used on sites
- Flight data: http://www.flightview.com/TravelTools/
- the World as a Blog: http://www.brainoff.com/geoblog/
- Portals:
- http://my.harvard.edu/
2 main kinds of feeds
- RSS: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
- Atom: http://atomenabled.org/
- Both are XML feeds
- Differences: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/jkbaumga/2004/10/29/difference-between-rss-and-atom/
Feed relationships
XML -> RSS -> Atom
- RSS is a kind of XML feed.
- Atom evolved from RSS.
Signs something offers a feed
- Icons
- Text
- Subscribe
- Syndicate
- What works best? http://bokardo.com/archives/interface-elements-for-providing-feeds-and-having-people-subscribe-to-them/
Differences between reading a feed and a site
- Lose niceities of the Web site
- Stream of content with no distractions
- Easy to find what’s new
Aggregators
- Aggregators read feeds
- Many kinds
- Good aggregators should handle various feeds and files
- Public vs. private aggregators
Desktop news readers
- Come in all flavors
- NetNewsWire: http://ranchero.com/netnewswire/
- Pluck: http://www.pluck.com/
- BlogBridge: http://www.blogbridge.com/
- MSN screensaver can be aggregator: http://screensaver.msn.com/
- And many more
Web aggregators
- Bloglines: http://www.bloglines.com/
- My Yahoo!: http://my.yahoo.com/
- Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader/things/intro
- And many more
More about news readers
- Review of PC aggregators: http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,116018,00.asp
- Review of Mac aggregators: http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/06/15/rss.html
- Six readers: http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=7875
- List of aggregators via Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_aggregator
Enclosures
- Send files via feed
- Podcasting
- Vlogging, or video blogging
Library/Librarian Podcasts
- List from Open Stack’s Greg Schwartz, who also podcasts: http://openstacks.net/os/archives/000838.html#000838
More about feeds
- RSS Feed bibliography: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/GenBib.htm
- An Introduction to RSS Feeds: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/jkbaumga/2004/02/12/my-rss-article-is-now-available-pdf/
- The scratchpad’s Feeds department: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/jkbaumga/category/feeds/
- RSS4Lib: http://blogs.fletcher.tufts.edu/rss4lib/
Finding feeds and blogs
- Look for syndication/subscription hints on sites
- Some general Internet search engines
- For a specific feed, try looking for the title and add ‘feed’ or ‘RSS’ or a similar term to the search query.
- Search engines specializing in feeds
- Directories
Search engines specializing in feeds and blogs
- Feedster: http://www.feedster.com/
- Technorati: http://www.technorati.com/
- NewsIsFree: http://www.newsisfree.com/
Finding feeds and blogs: directories
- Blogwise’s list of blogs: http://www.blogwise.com/
- Open Directory Project’s list of LIS weblogs: http://www.dmoz.org/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Weblogs/
- SciencePORT: http://www.scienceport.org/
- Syndic8: http://www.syndic8.com/
Managing feeds
- Create one feed from many
- Frankenfeed: http://frankenfeed.com/
- Tag feeds:
- RSSor: http://rssor.utblog.com/
- FeedAlley: http://feedalley.com/
- feedmarker: http://www.feedmarker.com/
Time management/information overload
- “Don’t feeds and blogs mean you get lots more content with no more time to read them?”
- Yes, actually it does
- But using a feed to read a source saves lots time and makes it easy
- Blogs can be great digests
Words of Wisdom
- Pick the right tool for the job
- Make sure the tool has a clear purpose and people understand what it is and why the organization is using it
- Make sure people know how to use it
Thank you!
Jessica Baumgart
Renesys
jkbaumga a t yah oo . c o m
http://renesys.com/
http://babbledog.com/
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/jkbaumga/
