1. Delivering Substance: Using RSS & Podcasts in the teaching library NYMA JLA Presentation May 17, 2007 Kathryn Shaughnessy Assistant Professor Instructional Services Librarian

2. RSS in Libraries RSS is… Rich Site Summary Really Simple Syndication A growing method of delivering text & audio information –Time-shifted or real-time notification of web-site update –Self-selected or personalized syndication An informational broadcast in “lite-XML” or RDF Users access RSS feeds at their convenience via aggregator or Feed-reader

3. RSS in Libraries RSS timeline… 1997: Dave Winer (Userland) develops “scriptingNews” formatscriptingNews 1999: Userland & Netscape “RSS0.91” continue to develop and improve upon formatting versions, simplifying and standardizing the XML 2000: RSS 1.0 developed by Dornfest (O’Reilly) using RDF and namespaces; DW/USerland develop xml version of “RSS 0.92” 2002: MetaWeblog API uses Winer’s RSS 0.92 with XML-RPC for Blogging delivery; DW designs xml-based RSS 2.0 2003: RSS 2.0 Specs released through Harvard under a Creative Commons license 2004: “iPodders” search for a way to retrieve old blogs and audiofiles – develop RSS (Winer) and podcast software (Curry) for podcast delivery From RSS at Harvard Law, by Dave Winer & Hobson & HoltzRSS at Harvard Law

4. RSS in Libraries RSS evolution … News delivery Business applications--Marketing Website updates Blogging : Personal / information sharing Podcast delivery Education & Research

5. RSS in Libraries Current Uses of RSS in Libraries –Podcast feeds for lectures and class projects –Scholarly Communication/Open Access journal updates –Library News/Program updates –New book updates –ProQuest (Currently Business) & Ebsco (in Development) –Information sharing among professionals

6. RSS in Libraries RSS for Professional Development in Libraries RSS feeds from Professional Associations: ACRLog: http://acrlblog.org/index.php?feed=rss2 http://acrlblog.org/index.php?feed=rss2 RSS feeds from Professional Journal-Blogs Library Journal Tech Blog: http://www.libraryjournal.com/LJTechblog.xml http://www.libraryjournal.com/LJTechblog.xml RSS feeds from other practicing librarians Stephen Bell (Academic) : http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/atom.xml http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/atom.xml RSS feeds from Vendors/Innovators OCLC Lorcan Blog: http://orweblog.oclc.org/index.xml http://orweblog.oclc.org/index.xml

7. RSS in Libraries RSS in the Academic Library –DLIS Academic Library or Education Admin class: RSS Feed from Chronicle of Higher Education –Guest Lectures: RSS feed of Lectures out of University Channel –Distance Learning: Setting up RSS feed for class projects within the WebCT or St. John’s Central

8. RSS in Libraries Creation of Online Content for Libraries: Tutorials  Captivate Podcasts  Audacity Blog  WordPress Wiki  PBWiki, WikiPM RSS is key to enhancing distribution / communication of instruction and timely research RSS & RefWorks Portal Group / Courseware

9. RSS in Libraries Practical Questions: –Investment of Money in a feedreader: minimal Computer access Aggregator: –free or fee-based –Desktop or web-based Newsgator (www.Newsgator.com) & Bloglines (www.bloglines.com) seem most popular now; a directory of readers is available through dmozwww.Newsgator.comwww.bloglines.com Does your institution already have a feed reader?

10. RSS in Libraries Practical Questions: –Investment of time to use a FeedReader: to learn aggregator to build up *your* collection of sites –Personal interest –Professional development –Reference-based to weed out less-helpful sites over time –Investment of time to create feeds: Use a blog to create an RSS feed Talk to your IT folks about creating an RSS feed

11. RSS in Libraries Strengths of using RSS in libraries (worth the time/effort): –Richer resource-base for research/reference –Facilitates keeping up in your specialty field –Facilitates keeping abreast of news within your organization –Convenience of checking all sites at once, on your own time –Sharing/Learning from other library professionals –Saves time in long-run, since info comes to you

12. Podcasts: History & Overview A podcast is… A growing method of delivering audio information –Time-shifted –Place-shifted An informational “broadcast” saved as an audio file (mp3) and distributed via the web (strictly speaking via RSS) Listeners download/listen at their convenience via desktop/laptop or on a personal player

13. Podcasts: History & Overview Podcasting timeline… August 2004: “iPodders” search for a way to retrieve old blogs and audiofiles – develop RSS (Winer) and podcast software (Curry) July 2005: iTunes supports/distributes podcasts, get 1 million subscribers in first 2 days August 2005: 8,000 podcasts, 6 million listeners December 2005: Podcast selected as “Word of the Year” by editors of New Oxford American Dictionary: "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player" January 2006: iTunesU offers “free” courseware distribution Hobson and Holtz Report, 8/4/2005 http://forimmediaterelease.biz/index.php/weblog/2005/08/05/ )http://forimmediaterelease.biz/index.php/weblog/2005/08/05/ Oxford University Press, US website, http://www.oup.com/us/brochure/NOAD_podcast/?view=usahttp://www.oup.com/us/brochure/NOAD_podcast/?view=usa

14. Podcasts in Libraries Podcast benefits: repetition for difficult content/material & for listeners who have difficulty with English and allows multitasking (e.g.: commuting or exercising). increased “frequency and depth” of learner interaction, especially in language & music -- inspired creation of podcasts – allows for “just-in- time” learning with subsequent in-depth discussion increased communication between students & faculty (voice connection), but also between library and IT departments; led to improved collaboration and planning, both within & among institutions. Duke Report, 2004 – 2005 and SJU feedback 2005-2007 Podcast Pitfalls Creating/editing takes time Keeping them manageable size/length Troubleshooting user error

15. Current Uses of Podcast Resources Reference-quality lectures (NPR, Stanford & Princeton)NPRStanfordPrinceton Patron Instruction / Orientation (Drexel)Drexel Community News (U. of Western Ontario)Western Ontario Outreach to potential students/users/members (Peterson’s)Peterson’s Scholarly Communication (U. of Florida)U. of Florida Audio tours (Purdue)Purdue CE / Professional Development (LOC, LIS radio, InfoSpeak)

16. Finding External Podcast Resources Finding New Podcast Resources: –Podcast Directories Google search for “podcast Directory” –List-serv Bibliocasting http://mail.asis.org/pipermail/asis-l/2005-April/001977.html Archive at http://iis.syr.edu/archive/bibliocasting/http://iis.syr.edu/archive/bibliocasting/ –Blogs and your favorite websites –Suggestions from others Users, Other librarians, Subject experts/ co-workers/ faculty Collaborate in a wiki! http://podcastresources.pbwiki.com

17. Finding External Podcast Resources Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/results.php?cat=2&mode=atp://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/results.php?cat=2&mode=a FirstGov http://firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/Podcasts.shtmlhttp://firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/Podcasts.shtml OYEZ Supreme Court Podcasts http://www.oyez.org/podcast/http://www.oyez.org/podcast/ WhiteHouse Radio Addresses: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/radio/http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/radio/ NASA http://science.nasa.gov/podcast.htmhttp://science.nasa.gov/podcast.htm AAAS Science podcast http://www.sciencemag.org/about/podcast.dtlhttp://www.sciencemag.org/about/podcast.dtl UNICEF http://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/video_podcast.htmlhttp://www.unicef.org/videoaudio/video_podcast.html BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/ NPR http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.phphttp://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php For more see http://podcastresources.pbwiki.comhttp://podcastresources.pbwiki.com

18. RSS & podcasts in Libraries Future uses in libraries –For public libraries –For special libraries –For academic libraries –For outreach/equitable service to handicapped –For scholarly publishing

19. RSS & podcasts in Libraries Thoughts & collaborations? Please contact me: Kathryn Shaughnessy, x1454 shaughnk@stjohns.edu Instructional Services Lab, Augustine 304