RSS and the WebPAC
Using Incoming Feeds Display and
RSS Feed Builder Applications
Corey Seeman
Kresge Business Administration Library
University of Michigan
http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~cseeman
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Incoming Feeds
• Value for the library
• Code Structure
• RSS Feed Pages
– Federal Reserve Documents & Research
– Reports New Releases (Forrester & Frost)
• RSS Feed Builder Product
• RSS Resources & Links
• Future Plans – Journal Pages
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Value for the Library
• RSS Feeds - very personalized (portals and
readers -- not “shared”)
• RSS Feeds are frequently changing XML
documents
• Allows us to push data and news to people as a
group – need to be things of common interest
• Add ability for patrons to copy to their own RSS
reader
• A tool for alerting patrons about new resources
• A tool for alerting patrons to events in their
library record **
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Code Structure
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Innovative Manual (2006LE and later)
Page # 106681 (General Listing)
Page # 106684 (RSS Feeds Coding)
Page # 105262 (Classes for Style Sheets)
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Code Structure
Token
<!--{RSS:[URL]:[ITEMS]:[DES]:[DATE]:[IMAGE]}-->
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[URL] -- URL of the RSS feed*
[ITEMS] -- # of items that will display in the page
[DES] -- T/F include the description
[DATE] -- T/F include the date & time
[IMAGE] -- Include the image
<!--{RSS:http://www.richmondfed.org/feeds/go.cfm
/speeches/rss:5:0:1:2}-->
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Code Structure
Style Sheet
• rssChannelTitle (title)
• rssChannelEntries (all entries)
• rssChannelEntry (single entry)
• rssChannelEntryDate (time/date)
• rssChannelEntryHead (header)
• rssChannelEntryDesc (description)
• rssChannelImage (image)
• rssChannelNoContent (text to display for no
content)
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Style Sheet
.rssFeedSource {font: bold 14px verdana; display: block; marginbottom: 10px;}
.rssFeed {border: none;}
.rssFeedName {}
.rssChannelEntries {margin: 20px 10px 40px 10px;}
.rssChannelEntry {margin: 5px 10px;}
.rssChannelEntryHead {}
.rssChannelEntryDesc {}
.rssChannelEntryDate {font: italic 10px verdana; color: #999;}
.rssChannelImage {border: none; margin: 10px;}
.rssChannelNoContent {}
.rssFeed h3, .rssFeedND h3, .rssFeedAB h3 {font-size: 12px;
margin: 10px;}
.rssgif {position: relative; bottom: -3px; left: 10px;}
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Code Structure
Style Sheet
• NOTE: A great deal can be done with the
style sheet that cannot be set in the
WWWOption. These include:
– Allowing for a portion of the entry to display
(first 5 lines).
– Allowing for a portion of the entry to print (first
5 lines).
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Style Sheet
• /*styles for RSS feeds with no descriptions*/
• .rssFeedND .rssChannelEntryDesc {display:none;}
• .rssFeedAB .rssChannelEntryDesc {height: 50px; overflow:
hidden; }
• You can add also elements to control printing
• Need to take into account “caching” of feeds by
the Innovative Server.
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Concept Pages
• Do not have to have feeds on a /feeds.html page
• Can be anywhere on a page in the screens
directory
• Cannot be in bib records*
– NOTE: you can place a display token in the
bib_display.html page (this controls the bib display in
WebPAC Pro)
– It would be the same for all the bib records
– It might be good place for library news or latest
collection items
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Concept Pages
• Pages at Kresge Library:
– /screens/guide_[name].html
– /screens/guide_fedres.html
– /screens/per_mii.html
• Organized like this for ease of finding and
editing
• Incoming Links are updated when TTL expires
(Time to Live) – an element in the feed
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC – Incoming Links
Federal Reserve Documents
• Shows Research, Speeches & Publications from Federal
Reserve Banks
• All freely available content
• Some of the 12 regional banks have RSS Feeds
• Including all in guides page (for easy expansion and
documentation of Fed publications)
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_fedres.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Incoming Links
Best Practices (Reports Database)
• Databases that are “report driven” with full
text searching in these reports
• Using RSS Feed Displays to showcase new
additions and news from the vendors
• Descriptions on page:
– WebPAC caches feed content
– You cannot have a page with descriptions and
one without using the same feed.
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_besprac.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_besprac.html**
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Incoming Links
Frost and Sullivan (Reports Database)
• Databases that are “report driven” with full text
searching in these reports
• Using RSS Feed Displays to showcase new
additions and news from the vendors
• If user logs in first, they can then follow the links
from the feeds (no proxy issue) – not always the
case
• Offers many RSS Feeds – will offer selected to the
community
URL:
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_frost.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_frost.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_frost.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Incoming Links
Forrester (Reports Database)
• Databases that are “report driven” with full
text searching in these reports
• Using RSS Feed Displays to showcase new
additions and news from the vendors
• Offers many RSS Feeds – will offer selected
to the community
URL:
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_forrester.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_forrester.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_forrester.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS and the WebPAC - Incoming Links
Missing Ann Arbor??
• Some can be fun
• Offer a chance to get the feel for campus for
people who are away from Ann Arbor
• Include weather, news, sports, business
school news, etc.
• URL:
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_a2.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/guide_a2.html
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RSS and the WebPAC - Feed Builder
• Pages for “locally” hosted ejournals
– Records in the Millennium Catalog - Issue TOC in
Notes Fields for Keyword Searching
– Static Page with RSS Feed display & search ‘widget’
• Medical Industry Intelligence
• Soon: National Real Estate Index, The Dividend (Ross
School Journal), other locally hosted resources.
• News searches for subject/topic pages
• Incorporating Library News in subject/topic
pages
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Feed Builder Product
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Separate Product (ask customer sales)
User Manual Page #106987
Configuring Feed Builder - Page #106988
Setup is done with Millennium Web Master
mode
• Works from Create Lists Saved Searches OR
Review Files
• Can have up to 100 saved searches in Create
Lists
• TTL for all Feed Builder files is 24 hours
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS Feed Builder
• Allows the library to strategically push
information to selected audiences.
• Provides an additional mode of
delivery for library related information.
• Any records you gather with Create
Lists can be pushed out via Feed
Builder.
• Each Feed is built with an independent
configuration file
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Editing the Configuration Files
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Sample Configuration File
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Config File
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format=RSS2.0
hostname=lib.bus.umich.edu
query_type=b
query=mii
max_items=20
title=Medical Industry Intelligence
desc=A new issue of Medical Industry Intelligence is
available
lang=eng
item_title=:Vit|:Vbt
item_desc=:Via|:Vba
record_type=b
date_adj=720
range=5000
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Elements of a *.conf file
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Create Lists - Saved Searches
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Create Lists - Saved Searches
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File Naming Conventions
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Configuration File:
/iiidb/http/live/config/feeds/mii.conf
Listed under Feeds just as “mii”
RSS Feed:
http://lib.bus.umich.edu/feeds/mii.xml
Sample Page:
– http://lib.bus.umich.edu/screens/per_mii.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Old Display – Medical Industry Intelligence
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
New Display – Medical Industry Intelligence
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
New Display – Medical Industry Intelligence
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Public Display - XML
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS Feeds into catalog pages
ebrary (e-book package Database)
• New books added monthly.
• RSS Feed Builder will show latest editions.
• Catalog search widget
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS Feed Builder - ebrary
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS Feed Builder - ebrary
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Future Plans – Journal Pages
• Create pages with RSS feeds for Table of
Content Alerts
• Links to full text through proxy
• RSS Feeds need to hold data or the public
display will be blank
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
RSS Resources & Links
• RSS Compendium
– http://allrss.com/
• US Government Feeds (First Gov)
– http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/RSS_Li
brary.shtml
• http://www.2rss.com/
• http://www.completerss.com/
• http://blogs.fletcher.tufts.edu/rss4lib/
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007
Questions?
Corey Seeman
University of Michigan
cseeman@umich.edu
http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~cseeman
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cseeman/index.html
RSS and the WebPAC - IUG 2007