Effectively Using Internet Technology Brian Cordeau University of Texas – San Antonio

Overview RSS (Really Simple Syndication) – What is it? Analyst Chat – How can we use it? Data Request Help Page – Bringing it together

RSS What is it? – Something new How can we use it for our office? – There are many different ways Can it be easily implemented? – Yes, through existing mediums Examples we have used

RSS, News Feeds, Orange Button What is an RSS Feed? – It is a useful way to keep visitors informed about what is going on in the office – Visitors can subscribe to the feed and get updates as they become available – It allows them to stay up to date with the office without having to check the website for updates

Some Possible Uses Website Updates – New pages, new reports, generally useful information about what is changing on the site Ideas for Quick Statements – Using Google Alerts – Example

Implementation Blogger – The most efficient way I have found – Allows your office to create a Blog and the RSS feed is generated automatically – It is easier to use than other RSS generators

Caveats Not all Internet users know how to use them This is public information – Be careful what you post Keeping the Blog up to date takes some time management

Useful Links into-xml.html into-xml.html Google: RSS, News Feeds, News Readers

Chat with an Analyst Why would we want to do this? – To provide quick information (in writing) What can we use to implement this? – AOL – Yahoo – Any Other IM service (Google Talk, ICQ, MSN..) What it is not used for? – Questions requiring in depth conversation – Sensitive Information

Why? Clients need – Quick status updates – Possible time frame – Answers to any questions about the process Future Clients – What do I use this Data Request form for? – What information goes in field X? – Do you have information on…?

Chat Services The Two that we use – AOL Instant Messenger – Yahoo Instant Messenger Each have a simple set up Chat Programs such as GAIM or Trillian combine these two formats

Some Points It is not used for in depth analysis – This would be tedious Not used to submit new requests – Direct users to Data Request form Currently we are in the testing phase

Implementation Simple to implement – Simply paste the screen name(s) into the web page – This allows users to cut and paste our screen name into their Contacts list – There are other ways using proprietary methods

Useful Links – Trillian allows multiple connections – Gaim also allows multiple connections

Our Data Request Help Page Frequently Asked Questions – Allows clients to get a feel for the Data Request Process Analyst Chat – Short Explanation about using Instant Messaging Positive Feedback – Allows future clients to see that we are doing a good job

Data Request FAQ General Questions – Time Frame – Types of Requests Filled – How does this work? Step-by-step – What information goes into each field on the Data Request form? – Each field is described here

The Finished Product The UTSA IR Website ( – RSS Feed and Blog – The Data Request Help Page FAQs Chat with an Analyst Positive Comments

Questions and comments? This Presentation will also be online after the conference