O NLINE T OOLS FOR A RCHIVISTS : RSS Readers, Pod/Vodcasts, Videosharing, and Widgets Society of Florida Archivists May 5, 2010 Ava Iuliano, USF School of Library and Information Science

O VERVIEW Software Process Examples

R SS F EEDS, P ODCASTS, AND W IDGETS, O H, M Y ! Why should archivists care? Communication Promotion Connecting with users Staying Relevant What are they good for? Time savers! Distributing information Creating a larger web presence

RSS F EED R EADERS What are they? RSS: Really Simple Syndication Includes text plus metadata, including dates/authorship Allows publishers (YOU!) to distribute content easily- publish once, read many times Utilizes XML ‘Readers’ allow users to subscribe to feeds and read them as they are distributed in one, easy location Can be desktop-, web-, or mobile-device-based This is the icon most commonly used to denote RSS feeds are available

H OW TO USE RSS F EEDS /R EADERS Connect with your users! Distribute news blurbs Advertise events and speakers Alert patrons/potential sponsors to new items Communicate! Connect with other institutions! Find out what other institutions are doing Keep abreast of news happenings Get a feel for trends Become aware of different opportunities

G ET STARTED ! Examples of readers Google Reader NewzCrawler FeedDemon Omega Bloglines Awasu SharpReader NewsGator Sign up, search for feeds, and subscribe! It’s THAT easy!

H OW TO CREATE YOUR OWN Many other online tools come equipped with automatic RSS feeds, including blogs and Twitter. You can also create RSS feeds using software. For example, feedforall.com has a software program that will help you generate your own feeds.feedforall.com And…manually. If you are comfortable with HTML, you can generally pick up enough XML coding to create your own RSS feeds in a.txt file. The file is then posted in your website folder on the server. The information contained in the code can be broken up into 3 basic parts: Title, Link and Description.

W HAT IS THAT ?!

P ODCASTING /V ODCASTING What they are How to use them How to get started

W HAT ARE THEY ? Podcasts are audio files that are created and sent to a server, which allows it to be converted to XML format. (ie ‘Published on the web’) Periodic Syndicated Digital media files While ‘podcast’ is used to describe any syndicated digital media file, ‘vodcast’ is most commonly used to describe video files that are syndicated through the web.

W HY DO WE CARE ? You become portable! Users can download mp3,.wav, and other files to their mp3 players, computers and other devices. You become more visible! iTunes and other mp3 programs have a high usage rate. By creating a presence on these applications, you will reach more users. You distribute information in a variety of ways! You can use appropriate technology to reach out to your patrons effectively.

H OW TO GET STARTED Open source Software: Audacity Easy Podcast Feedforall BlogMatrix Sparks! Cast Easy (For Mac Users) Retail software ePodcast Creator ProfCast Hardware Microphone Webcam

THE PROCESS Set up microphone and open recording software Record session Edit podcast Convert to mp3 or other audio/video file type Post on your website!

V IDEOSHARING OR I’ VE GOT MY VODCAST … NOW WHAT ? YouTube Vimeo

V IDEOSHARING Websites like Vimeo and YouTube allow users to publish video files for the whole world to see With a video hosting site, you can bypass the heartache of posting the video on your own website. Added benefits are increased visibility; there are millions of users on YouTube and Vimeo! Uploading is easy! Create an account, click ‘upload’ and follow the instructions!

W IDGETS What they are? How to use them How to get started

W HAT ARE THEY ? Basically, a portable piece of code that can be installed by anyone into a webpage without editing. They can be ‘souvenirs’ that your users can implant in their websites to connect with you more easily. In essence, users can expand your online presence by including widgets on their own web pages, profiles, etc. Networking and connecting institutions is also easy, thanks to widgets!

H OW TO CREATE W IDGETS Online software allows you to create customizable widgets to include on your site. WidgetBox Konfabulator Dashboard (for Mac)

M ORE SCARY CODING !

A DDITIONAL R ESOURCES RSS: What RSS is, Where to get it, How to make it, How to Use it. The Interactive Archivist Blog Widget Developer Guide Podcast Software Resources Creating Vodcasts Discover more Web 2.0 applications! Widgets for Libraries

Q UESTIONS ? Ava Iuliano USF School of Library and Information Science or Don’t get hypnotized by technology!