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
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”
Campus applications of RSS
Broadcast Services – KSMU
 University Communication

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?

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
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

Broadcast Services - KSMU
Links from the home page to the
generated feed
 Using XSL stylesheets, browsers can
convert the RSS to formatted HTML
 <LINK> tag in home page header makes
auto discovery of feeds possible

With XSL stylesheets, go from this…
…To this
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title=“…" href=“…">
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title=“…" href=“…">
University Communications
RSS version 2.0
<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Missouri State University News</title>
<description>The office of university communications at Missouri State University is
your connection to the university community. </description>
<link>http://www.news.missouristate.edu</link>
<item>
<title>Feb 24, 2006 - University debate team receives first ever first-round id</title>
<description>The 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.</description>
<link>http://www.news.missouristate.edu/news/releases/feb06/debateteam.htm</link>
</item>
<item>
<title>Feb 24, 2006 - Festival brings movie industry experts to Springfield</title>
<description>Missouri 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. </description>
<link>http://www.news.missouristate.edu/news/releases/feb06/festival.htm</link>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
University Communications
Editor: Macromedia Dreamweaver
University Communications
Validate the Code
University Communications
Home Page
University Communications
What is RSS?
University Communications
Browser View of XML file
University Communications
Reader View of XML file
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.
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.
Types of Readers

Portals


Web-based


E.g., Bloglines, Google Reader
Desktop based


E.g., My Yahoo ,My MSN, My AOL ,Personalized Google Homepage
E.g., Feed Demon, NetNewsWire, Straw
Outlook based

E.g., NewsGator, IntraVnews
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

How other institutions use RSS
How other institutions use RSS

University of Pennsylvania’s 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

How other institutions use RSS
What are some other uses of RSS?
Multimedia delivery
 Works In Progress

SSE – “Really Simple Sharing”
 Google Base – Online database of lists of
items
 Messaging and application synchronization
 Google Calendar – Event exchange
 Microsoft
Questions?