IWMW 2005: RSS Let's Clear The Confusion And Start Using!

A centre of expertise in digital information management
RSS: Let's Clear The Confusion
And Start Using!
Brian Kelly
UK Web Focus
UKOLN
University of Bath
Email
B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk
UKOLN is supported by:
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2005/sessions/kelly-b/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/webmaster-2005/sessions/kelly-b/
Summary
RSS is great – let's use it
Learning Outcomes:
• Gain understanding of potential for RSS
• Be aware of the confusions over RSS
terminology
• Understand different approaches for
creating RSS
• Seen examples of RSS viewers
• Be able to make recommendations on
local use of RSS
• Be aware of quality assurance issues
Summary
RSS is great – let's use it
Learning Outcomes:
• Gain understanding of potential for RSS
• Be aware of the confusions over RSS
terminology
• Understand different approaches for
creating RSS
• Seen examples of RSS viewers
• Be able to make recommendations on
local use of RSS
• Be aware of quality assurance issues

A centre of expertise in digital information management2
Contents
• Introduction
• The Need For Better Ways of Disseminating News
• A Simple Lightweight Solution – RSS
• RSS Viewing Tools
• Exercise 1: Uses in your Institution
• RSS Creation Tools
• Beyond News - Exploiting RSS's Potential
• Exercise 2: Authoring in your Institution
• The Caveats (technical issues, content issues, …)
• Futures
• Exercise 3: RSS & Your Newsletter / RSS & Trust
• Conclusions
Introduction Subject to change, depending on
audience's interests and experience
Subject to change, depending on
audience's interests and experience

About Me
Brian Kelly:
• UK Web Focus – a Web advisory post for UK HE
and FE and cultural heritage communities
• Involved in Web work since January 1993, when
helped set up UK HE's first (?) institutional Web
service at Leeds University
• JISC representative on W3C (World Wide Web
Consortium)
• Based at UKOLN – a national centre of expertise in
digital information management
• Funding by JISC (Joint Information Systems
Committee) and MLA (Museums, Libraries and
Archives Council)
Introduction
Ran "Automated News Feeds" session
at IWMW 2001 in Belfast
Ran "Automated News Feeds" session
at IWMW 2001 in Belfast

About You
What do you do?
• Techie, software developer, …
• Information specialist
• Manager, policy makers, …
What do you know about news feeds, RSS, …?
• Knows what RSS stands for?
• Read RSS feeds
• Publish RSS feeds:
 Using simple tools
 Advanced developer (have read specs,
developed RSS software, …)
• What's RSS?
Introduction

What Do You What To Gain?
What do you want to gain from the session?
What topics would you like to be addressed?
Introduction

What Do We Want To Do?
We provide quality information services and we want all
to have rich access to services & know about them.
So we:
• Enhance service
• Run mailing lists
• Contribute to mailing list
• Run events
• Publish newsletters
• Provide Web sites
• Ask others to include
news on their Web sites,
newsletters, email lists, …
• ….
But:
• In what ways?
• Too much information,
too much spam
• Not everyone attends
• Not everyone reads
• Not everyone reads
• Time-consuming to
process
• Limited user choice
What we would like to do is minimise human bottlenecks in
processing 3rd
party context for use on Web and email, whilst
allowing users more flexibility in handling information overload
What we would like to do is minimise human bottlenecks in
processing 3rd
party context for use on Web and email, whilst
allowing users more flexibility in handling information overload
Background

Let’s Kill Email!
Email:
• We’re all familiar with it
• We all use it (even when away at conferences)
But:
• Why send messages which time-out when many
users will read them too late?
• Why not use delivery channels which are spam-free?
• Why not use delivery channels which are more suited
to receiving information (as opposed to discussions)?
• Why not use a solution which provides richer
structure/metadata
• Why not allow users to select their preferred
channels?
• Why not allow users greater customisation (e.g. don’t
deliver information when I’m on holiday)
Background

Initial Attempts
Initial attempts at richer solutions e.g. BBC News:
• Solutions included:
• Scrolling Tickertape news display on your PC
• JavaScript to pull news items to your Web site
• Subscriptions to email alerts
• Content often generated from single source
• User has choice: chose content; no tickertape
displayed when away; suspend email; …
There was a clear need for an open solution, which would allow use
of standard authoring tools and viewers by any news provider
There was a clear need for an open solution, which would allow use
of standard authoring tools and viewers by any news provider
Background
But:
• Accessibility problems (JavaScript dependency, ..)
• Proprietary
• Everyone else needs to replicate software, …
• No benefit of scale through standard solutions

RSS – A Universal Solution 
RSS:
• Initially developed as
syndication tool for
My.Netscape portal
• Potential for this
lightweight solution quickly
recognised
• Blogging software
integrated RSS feeds
• Many RSS readers and
authoring tools developed
• RSS becomes part of
JISC's Information
Environment (IE)

RSS Viewers
Lots of different ways of reading
RSS news feeds, which allows
user to select preferred
approach:
• Web page
• Tickertape
• Pop-up alerts
• Bookmark interfaces
• Email (email-style) interface
• …

RSS Aggregators
An RSS aggregator:
• Brings together RSS news feeds from various
sources
• We've seen desktop & Web aggregators designed
for use by individuals (my favourite services, my
weather report, my stocks and shares, …)
A server-based RSS aggregator:
• Allows service provider to aggregate news feeds for
its communities
• Feeds for student on a particular course
• Feeds related to a funding body
We will now see the JISC RSS Aggregator, designed to
provide easy access to news from JISC services and facilitate
sharing and community building across the JISC community
We will now see the JISC RSS Aggregator, designed to
provide easy access to news from JISC services and facilitate
sharing and community building across the JISC community
ViewingRSS

The JISC RSS Aggregator
JISC RSS
Aggregator:
• Single point of
access to news from
JISC services
• Efficient (limited
management
needed centrally)
• Well-designed,
attractive interface
• Developed by EEVL
Is this needed in
institutions?
http://www.eevl.ac.uk/jiscnews/http://www.eevl.ac.uk/jiscnews/
This software is available from EEVL (or see alternatives )This software is available from EEVL (or see alternatives )

Group Exercise 1
Now that you've seen an overview of RSS:
• List areas in which RSS could be used
within your organisation
• List areas in which your organisation
would wish to receive news feeds
provided by others
Exercise
E

Issues Arising From Discussion
Areas in which RSS could be used within
your organisation
• Addressing workflow issues
• Evaluating & deploying technologies
• User issues
• …
Areas in which your organisation would wish
to receive news feeds provided by others
• Persuading them
• Reliance on third parties (can we trust them)
• …
Exercise

RSS File Format
RSS is a powerful, lightweight format. How do
you create RSS news feeds?
CreatingRSS
RSS Channels
<channel>
<title>BBC News | UK | UK
Edition</title>
<link>http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/u
k/default.stm</link>
<description>BBC UK News
updated every minute of every
day</description>
</channel>
RSS News Items
<item>
<title>Tony Blair quits over Iraq</title>
<description>Tony Blair quits the
cabinet, accusing George W Bush of
breaking promises over UN's role in
rebuilding Iraq.</description>
<link>http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/uk_politics
/3019871.stm</link>
</item>
NOTE: Trust is an important aspect of news feeds – is the
supplier of news embedded in your Web pages, providing
accurate information – the above news is not true!
NOTE: Trust is an important aspect of news feeds – is the
supplier of news embedded in your Web pages, providing
accurate information – the above news is not true!

RSS Authoring Tools
Many ways of creating RSS files:
• By hand (don't!)
• Dedicated RSS tools
• Web-based tools
• Blogs (see SOSIG)
• Generation of RSS
and HTML from
database
• Transformation of
HTML  RSS
(or vice versa)
• Externally-hosted
value-added service providers e.g. Feedburner
• …
CreatingRSS
http://www.sosig.ac.uk/news/http://www.sosig.ac.uk/news/

RSSxpress
RSSxpress:
• Combined RSS
viewer, editor,
directory and
validator
• Developed at
UKOLN
• Widely used for
creating RSS files
http://rssxpress.ukoln.ac.uk/http://rssxpress.ukoln.ac.uk/
CreatingRSS
Note: UKOLN planning
updates & new RSS tools.
Suggestions welcome.
Note: UKOLN planning
updates & new RSS tools.
Suggestions welcome.
Similar tool: RSS Configurator - <http://www.prs-ltsn.ac.uk/rss/rssconfig.html>

Publishing Your RSS Feed
When publishing your RSS feed:
• Save file at stable location on Web server
e.g. <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/rss/ukoln.xml>
• Validate file (please!) e.g. using RSSxpress
interface, etc. (Broken news is bad news!)
• Ensure Web administrator gives correct MIME
type for .xml, .rss, … file
• Include <LINK> in your HTML news page so that
tools like FireFox dynamic bookmark can be used
(see later)
• For completely new feed register at RSSxpress,
JISC Aggregator, Syndic8, etc.
• View feed in various types of RSS viewers
CreatingRSS
Validators available at <http://librdf.org/rss/>,
<http://feeds.archive.org/validator/>, etc.
Validators available at <http://librdf.org/rss/>,
<http://feeds.archive.org/validator/>, etc.

Viewing RSS Feeds (1)
RSS may be used in ways
you have not considered:
• Search results
• Email
• …
If you include a <LINK> tag, users can automatically
add a dynamic bookmark to Firefox
If you include a <LINK> tag, users can automatically
add a dynamic bookmark to Firefox

An example of an email
interface to an RSS file:
• This shows
Thunderbird open
source email client
• Similar software (but
licensed) available for
MS Outlook
• User can chose
whether to view Web
page or just text
• This has been
described as
“authenticated spam-
free opt-in email” 
Note that with some RSS tool the user can
choose to view text-only. Great for the user
– but should you worry about your logo not
being displayed?
Note that with some RSS tool the user can
choose to view text-only. Great for the user
– but should you worry about your logo not
being displayed?

"If you've got a late-model wireless device and want to try
accessing your favorite syndicated content on-the-go,
give FeedBurner's Feed Reader (MFR) a test drive:
• Supports feeds in all major formats
(RSS, RDF, and Atom)
• Smart "If-Modified-Since" content
retrieval conserves wireless bandwidth
• …
Other examples of viewers for PDAs:
• Plucker
• Hand/RSS for Palm
• See <http://palmtops.about.com/
cs/productreviews/tp/Palm_RSS.htm>
Note this is intended as a illustration and is not a product
endorsement! The software has not been tested and it is
not known if it complies with appropriate standards.
Note this is intended as a illustration and is not a product
endorsement! The software has not been tested and it is
not known if it complies with appropriate standards.
ViewingRSS

How is RSS Being Used?
IoP provide RSS
feeds for:
• Events
• Features
• Jobs
• Latest papers
• news
• Press releases
• …
http://syndication.iop.org/?cathttp://syndication.iop.org/?cat
UsesOfRSS

What The Libraries Are Doing
Many libraries,
especially in the
US, are taking a
similar high profile
approach to RSS
http://www.hclib.org/pub/search/XML/LibnNotes/GetXML.cfm?
Topic=Consumer%20Information&Display=Consumer%20Information
http://www.hclib.org/pub/search/XML/LibnNotes/GetXML.cfm?
Topic=Consumer%20Information&Display=Consumer%20Information
Note that the URL
of the RSS file
shows it is being
generated by a
Cold Fusion script
UsesOfRSS
Issue: How persistent is this feed likely to be?

RSS - User Issues
Some issues to think about:
• RSS is great, but what RSS
tool / model should we
provide for our users?
• RSS file has been described
as 'the programmers
undergarments". How do we
ensure users know what to
do with an RSS file:
 View it
 Copy URL and paste into
RSS viewer
 Draft and drop into RSS
viewer
Native XML file view
Styled XML file – but where's the
navigation?
Is there a need for tips in the link
to the RSS file?

What Else Can You Do? (1)
What else can RSS be used for?
Syndication:
• You have content you want others to include in their
Web site (e.g. IWMW 2005 conference details)
Alerts:
• Alerts of new search results, items in eBay, ….
Tracking:
• You want users to be able to track progress of their
items (currently available for Parcel tracking; how
about book order; fault reports; …)
Personalised Interfaces:
• Weather from weather service; stocks & shares; ….
Replacing E-Mail:
• …
UsesOfRSS

Email:
• You can read
your GMail email
using an RSS
viewer
• Lsoft now provide
RSS for their
email archives
e.g. JISCMail
archives
(and thoughts on
differences?)
Awasu RSS reader has free plugin for reading emailAwasu RSS reader has free plugin for reading email

Search Amazon:
• Third parties
services can be
used to generate
RSS results for
Amazon searches
• See:
<http://www.oxus.net/
amazon/>
<http://www.watchcow
.net/news/2004/10/
full-frontal-firefox-
integration.php>

Search
Amazon:
Third parties
services can be
used to generate
RSS results for
price changes
on Amazon
http://www.watchcow.net/http://www.watchcow.net/
Further infoFurther info

Exercise 2
Now you have seen the range of possibilities
for RSS and the different approaches to
creating RSS files:
• Discuss the authoring models you feel
may be applicable within your organisation
• Outlines the advantages and
disadvantages of the approaches
• List other potential barriers to effective use
of RSS
Exercise
E

Exercise 2 - Discussion
Authoring models / Advantages and disadvantages
• By hand or dedicated editors
 Simple
 Prone to errors, data re-entered & not repurposed
• From backend database / CMS
 Repurposed existing data
 May be included as standard
• Conversion
 Repurposed existing data
 Which way: RSS  XHTML or vice versa (pros & cons)
Potential barriers to effective use of RSS
• Inertia?
• Lack of interest to end users? (supplier-driven?)
• …
Exercise
E

Content Issues
• Accuracy, relevance, timeliness, … of content
• Display of content (don't make assumptions)
• Context of content (e.g. MLA news from UKOLN)
Quality Issues
Technical Issues
• Important to validate RSS file
• Incorrect syntax / characters
may or may not be displayed
• Be aware of non-standard
characters (e.g. £, —, ©, ...)
• Note that special characters
(e.g. < and >) may cause
problems
• Avoid clever tricks – keep to
standard (may work in some
cases but not others
http://www.eevl.ac.uk/onestepjobs/http://www.eevl.ac.uk/onestepjobs/

Architectural Issues
We need to think about:
• Technical architecture for creating RSS
• Architecture for processing RSS (ourselves,
partners and 3rd
parties)
• RSS Design:
 How many items
 Removal of old items
 Finding old items
• Support issues:
 Developers
 Content creators
 Users

Case Study – QA Focus (1)
QA Focus:
• JISC-funded project
• Developed a QA
framework, 80
briefing papers, …
As part of exit strategy :
• Documents available
with CC licence
• RSS feed to enable
3rd
parties to embed
details (syndication)
• Documented QA
• OPML file
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/rss/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/documents/briefings/rss/
User can select
groups of RSS
files to add to
RSS reader
User can select
groups of RSS
files to add to
RSS reader

Case Study – QA Focus (2)
The approach (similar to IWMW feeds):
• RSS and OPML files created by hand 
• Tried using 3rd
party XHTML  RSS, but
didn't work
• No time (expertise) for simple backend
scripting
• Files validated and viewed by RSS viewer
• Policies documents – subtext is you can
trust us

What Does RSS Stand For?
RSS naming and versions can be very confusing
Caveats
RSS 0.9
Developed by Netscape to allow
3rd
party content to be embedded
in My.Netscape portal
RSS=Rich Site
Summary
Issues
• Which to go for? (JISC IE uses RSS 1.0)
• Really Simple Syndication is probably the best abbreviation
(RSS 1.0 abbreviation is recursive and confusing)
Issues
• Which to go for? (JISC IE uses RSS 1.0)
• Really Simple Syndication is probably the best abbreviation
(RSS 1.0 abbreviation is recursive and confusing)
RSS 1.0
RSS=RDF Site
Summary
RSS – great idea! Let's make it
extensible and part of Semantic
Web; so we'll use XML RDF.
RSS 2.0 RSS=Really Simple
Syndication
RSS – great idea! Let's keep
it simple. So we'll use XML.

RSS 1.0 Extensions
“Developing Feeds With RSS and Atom”, (O'Reilly),
Ben Hammersley lists some RSS 1.0 extensions:
• RSS for LOM,
<http://www.downes.ca/xml/RSS_LOM.htm>
• Distribution of molecular information in CML,
<http://wwmm.ch.cam.ac.uk/moin/CmlRss>
But some of the proposals mentioned seem not to be
being developed
Note:
Some of the proposals mentioned seem not to be
being developed
But interest in XHTML 2 and news feeds and
W3C's standardisation of Atom
A News Standards Summit was held in Amsterdam in
May 2005. See <http://www.newssummit.org/2005/>
A News Standards Summit was held in Amsterdam in
May 2005. See <http://www.newssummit.org/2005/>
Latest News
Caveats

Limitations Of The RSS Format
Limitations Of RSS Format
• RSS's strengths are based on its simplicity
• The simplicity means limited display capabilities and
functionality
• You can't apply rich formatting or embed hyperlinks,
search interfaces, … in RSS feeds
• Actually can by using XML escaping techniques
• Such tricks make work in some viewers (e.g.
browsers) but could cause problems in others
• Do you want to repeat the problems caused during
the browser wars in late 1990s (pages looked and
behaved differently in different browsers)?
• Aim to maximise interoperability rather than
maximise functionality
Caveats

Limitations Of RSS Statistics
RSS Statistics
• There are lies, dammed lies and Web statistics!
• Be wary of RSS statistics
Issues
• RSS aggregators may harvest resources which
are not read
• RSS items may be retrieved while your PC is left
on over the weekend
• 40% of my visitors now get information via RSS.
What does this mean? What are the
implications?
Caveats

Beyond Text (1)
Podcasting:
• Automated delivery mechanism for transferring
sound files to you MP3 player (or PC)
• Concept invented in 2004
• Exponential growth
• Based on RSS 2.0 (plus enclosures)
Is it of interest?
• Accessibility
• Learning processing information on the move
Twenty-nine percent of US adults who own MP3 players like [the] iPod say
they have downloaded podcast programs from the Internet, the Pew Internet
and American Life Project found... more than 6 million people are listening to
a form of communication that emerged only last year ….
Twenty-nine percent of US adults who own MP3 players like [the] iPod say
they have downloaded podcast programs from the Internet, the Pew Internet
and American Life Project found... more than 6 million people are listening to
a form of communication that emerged only last year ….
See Wikipedia entrySee Wikipedia entry
Futures

Beyond Text (2)
On 5 April 2005 the Bibliocasting list was announced:
".. dedicated to discussion of streaming media in library
environment. This list grows out of increasing popularity
of "Podcasting," .. use of RSS .. to download audio
programs (like audio blogs) to computers and MP3
players.
So what to post on the list? Examples of how libraries
can build on the growing excitement of Podcasting;
Questions on how libraries can use podcasting and
other multimedia information they create to promote
themselves and provide better service; …
We have also set up a podcast for the list...that's right,
you can listen to the list. Each post is transformed from
text-to-speech, and syndicated using RSS."
Futures

RSS & Podcasts
RSS feed of automated text-MP3 conversion of email messages
on biblio list:
• “… can you image anything more boring to do with an
iPod”?
But this led to UKOLN experiment:
• Take UKOLN news item
• Use festival to convert to WAV and lam to covert to MP3
(open source utilities)
• Now have an MP3 sound file
Potential of this idea:
• Sound version of news available to blind users (avoiding
reading navigational elements, etc.)
• Use with RSS Podcast to deliver automatically to MP3
player
• Potential for application with dynamic RSS feeds (e.g. new
Google search results, info on Glastonbury tickets on sale
on eBay below chosen price, …)
Futures

Integrating RSS & Podcasts
Awasu:
• An RSS reader &
Podcasting client
Also has plugins for:
• IMAP/POP email
• Alerts for searches
• …
Thoughts:
• We once wanted a
Web interface to
everything
• Do we want an RSS
interface to new
stuff?
Thoughts:
• We once wanted a
Web interface to
everything
• Do we want an RSS
interface to new
stuff?

Related Standards (1)
We've discussed RSS and RSS  Also relevant:
• Atom:
• Proposal to merge RSS
• See <http://www.atomenabled.org/> and
<http://www.intertwingly.net/wiki/pie/FrontPage>
• OPML:
• Outline Processor Markup Language
• Can be used to manage (e.g export/import)
groups of RSS feeds
• Widely used by BBC
• See <http://www.opml.org/>
• Seemingly informal governance – but popular
Futures

Related Standards (2)
iCal:
• Syndication standard for event information
• Example: click on iCal file for conference dates
and date automatically added to your calendar
• Used by CETIS
• See <http://www.usetasks.com/documentation/
tasks/ical_apps.html>
NewsML
• Heavyweight standard for syndicating news
• "NewsML is designed to provide a media-
independent, structural framework for multi-media
news."
• Used by news profession (e.g. Reuters)
• Includes embargo deadlines, version control, etc.
• See <http://www.newsml.org/>
Futures

Engaging With Standards (1)
An opportunity to engage with development of the
standards:
http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/admin/rss2calendar.asphttp://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/admin/rss2calendar.asp Exploiting RSS
1.0's Extensibility
• Using RSS 1.0
+ events
• What additional
extensibility is
required?
 Subject
 xxx
Note: RSS 2.0 extensibility based
on XML namespaces doesn't
resolve semantic interpretations
Note: RSS 2.0 extensibility based
on XML namespaces doesn't
resolve semantic interpretations

Engaging With Standards (2)
http://www.intertwingly.net/wiki/pie/ConceptualModelhttp://www.intertwingly.net/wiki/pie/ConceptualModel Engaging With Atom
Development
• Atom – son of
RSS 1.0+2.0?
• Blog-focused –
what about
library's and
publisher's needs?
• See Atom Wiki -
<http://www.intert
wingly.net/wiki/pie/
FrontPage>

Exercise 3A: Newsletter
Exercise:
Your organisation produces many newsletters
You have been asked to update the technical
architecture
• Is there an opportunity to use innovative
technologies (& need for the technologies)?
• What role can RSS have?
• What authoring model should you use?
• What support will end users need?
• How do you address the issue of trust?
Exercise
E

Exercise 3B: Trust Issues
You feel RSS is a key technology for your
organisation. You want to use if to disseminate
mission-critical info (course info, exam results, …)
You are worried that use of RSS may be hindered by:
• Concerns by 3rd
parties in letting you publish on
their Web site
• Your legal adviser's worries
• …
What should you do to address such concerns?
Is a service agreement needed? If so, what should it
cover
Exercise

Exercise 3B: Trust Issues
RSS Partner service agreement
This agreement related to the RSS feeds listed.
The PARTNER SERVICE agrees to:
• Make reasonable effort to ensure that the RSS feeds
are persistent until at least DATE.
• Validate RSS files when they created or updated and
ensure usable in wide range of RSS readers
• Make reasonable effort to ensure that titles and
descriptions have consistent length and style
• Make reasonable effort to ensure that the content of
the RSS feeds is accurate and appropriate
• Allow the content to be reused as defined in the
Creative Commons licence
Exercise

Conclusions
RSS:
• Powerful lightweight solution for news
syndication
• Provides users with flexibility in how they
choose to receive content
• More than just news – potential for richer
syndication of content, dynamic content, …
• Quality of content important in ensuring
end users trust the content
• Need to develop appropriate publishing
procedures for news
• Still some issues about standards – but this
shouldn't prevent deployment

Discussion
Opportunity for general discussion

IWMW 2005: RSS Let's Clear The Confusion And Start Using!

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