Rightly Sore Subscribers:
Where Libraries are Going Wrong with RSS
Gemma Blackburn, Library Systems Developer
Mary Walker, Electronic Resources Librarian
Wichita State University Libraries
Brick & Click: An Academic Library Symposium, November 7, 2008
Today’s Agenda
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What is RSS?
RSS Usage
Overview of RSS Options for Libraries
Introducing RSS to Library Patrons
Future of RSS
What is RSS?
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RSS trends are surprising
RSS shrouded in mystery
Emerged in the late 1990s
Tool to move information in an automated
fashion
• Part of the Web 2.0 suite of technologies
• Most popular use is content summary
How does it work?
• Content into metadata elements
• In XML document
• Fed into a feed reader or aggregator
RSS by many other names
• RDF - Resource Description Framework Site
Summary
• Rich Site Summary
• Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
• Atom
RSS Usage
• If RSS is such a great tool, why are so few
people using it?
• Users = Classic Early Adopters
2005 Yahoo! Study
% of Internet users aware of RSS
% of Internet users knowingly using RSS
12%
4%
2006 Media Buyer Planner Study
% of US Employees aware of RSS
9%
% of US Employees using RSS
2%
Aware/Unaware RSS Use
• There are many more unaware RSS users than
aware RSS users
• 27% of internet users are unaware RSS users
• 4% of internet users are aware RSS users
• How is this possible?
What is Email?
Most email programs use a protocol called SMTP
Users don’t understand SMTP, but do understand the
concept of email. The same is true with RSS.
How RSS IS being Used
• Some companies are trying to promote RSS use
without promoting RSS by branding as something
else
• Majority of RSS comes from personal portal pages
– My Yahoo!
– iGoogle
• Information is chosen by the user and fed into the
portal
My Yahoo!
Examples of feeds in a My Yahoo! Account
This user is completely unaware of what RSS is,
but is able to manage RSS feeds
RSS Potential
• RSS has so many uses, and so much potential
as an information delivery tool
• Profit-driven companies are not embracing
RSS because of the low number of users
• Non-profits, such as libraries, are more open
to experimenting with RSS, and have many
options available
Uses for RSS feeds
Common Uses
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TOC alerts
News
Announcements
Search alerts
Library Uses
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Library blogs
Book reviews
OPAC search results
Circulation activities
New e-resources
Library news
New purchases
Libraries as intermediaries
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List of RSS aggregators
List of journals with TOC feeds
Providing collated feeds from other sites
Incorporating other sites’ feeds
Providing RSS-based search engines
E-Journals and RSS
Libraries creating lists of journals that provide RSS
Ebling Library – RSS Journal and News Feeds
http://ebling.library.wisc.edu/rss/index.cfm
Health Science
Serials in Cyberspace
http://www.uvm.edu/~bmaclenn/
Multidisciplinary
University of Nevada, Reno Libraries
http://www.library.unr.edu/ejournals/alphaRSS.aspx
Multidisciplinary
E-Journals and RSS
Publishers providing similar lists for their journals
ACS Publications
http://pubs.acs.org/alerts/rss/index.html
Chemistry
APA Journals
http://www.apa.org/journals/rss.html
Psychology
RSS & Library Patrons
• Libraries and librarians are promoting RSS use
more aggressively than the profit driven
industry
– 25% of ARL libraries have RSS feeds available
– 12% of business have RSS feeds available
• We are willing, but are we able?
RSS & Library Patrons
• Little attention has been given to the BEST
USE of RSS within the library field
• Statistics show a great disparity between the
enthusiasm of feed publishers and the
potential user base
• Libraries are in a good position to lead the way
in promoting RSS as a TOOL and not as a
TECHNOLOGY
RSS & Library Patrons
“People do not want to learn a new software if
there is no motivation to do so”
• Most RSS feeds consist of a button on a page
– Click on the button and nothing happens
– How are users supposed to know what to do?
– Users don’t want to have to learn how to use an
RSS Aggregator
– The whole RSS process is not intuitive
RSS & Library Patrons
• RSS needs to be intuitive
• If users have no concept of what RSS is, it
needs to be promoted as something else
– Part of a personal portal
– An extension of email
– An extension of a web browser
RSS & Library Patrons
• RSS needs to be easy to use
• Make it easy for the patrons to subscribe
– My Yahoo! / iGoogle buttons
– Add This buttons
– XSLT for visual display of RSS
Assessment of RSS Use
• Use statistics are important to gauge the
success or failure or individual feeds and
services
• RSS statistics are difficult to assess, but more
options are available;
– Google Analytics
– My Yahoo! / Add This
– Feed Burner
Future of RSS
• Fully integrated
• Used in the mainstream
• keep end user needs & interests in mind
Libraries have the potential to lead
the way for all RSS users!
Any Questions?
Thank you!
Gemma Blackburn, gemma.smith@wichita.edu
Mary Walker, mary.walker@wichita.edu