RSS primer for Knowledge Base Publishers

Montague Institute Review now available as a news feed

August, 2003

With this issue the Montague Institute Review monthly table of contents alert becomes available as an RSS news feed. This means that members and subscribers can choose between reading alerts as an e-mail message or an automatically updated news story.

What is RSS?
RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is an XML format designed for sharing headlines and other Web content. Print and Web publishers such as BBC, CNET, CNN, Disney, Forbes, Motley Fool, Wired, Red Herring, Salon, Slashdot, and ZDNet use it to distribute stock tickers, sport scores, weather reports, news headlines and other information. To keep current on this and other information published on the Web, users have three options:

1. Visit the Web site. Users can add a site to their virtual library or list of bookmarks and periodically go there to see what's new. The problem is remembering to do it.

2. Sign up for e-mail alerts. Users can subscribe to an alert service, where the publisher sends periodical announcements to an e-mail address (see our sign up page). As more companies and individuals use spam filtering software, it's increasingly likely that legitimate alerts will not be delivered. Even when they are delivered, it's difficult for users to keep track of them.

3. RSS feeds. Users subscribe to "channels" that are refreshed automatically. If e-mail alerts are the equivalent of postal mail, RSS feeds are the equivalent of TV programs or syndicated newspaper columns. The latest edition simply shows up for you to read. No more remembering to check the publisher's Web site. No need to use spam filters (because you get only what you ask for), no exposure to viruses, and you can get all your news items in one place.

How it works for users
To get the Montague Institute Review alerts was a news feed, users need to do the following:

1. Install an "news aggregator" program. Although you can look at an RSS news feed using a Web browser, it looks like this — raw XML code. To view the feed in a user-friendly format and to display your favorite feeds on one screen ("aggregate" them), you need to install another program. We use AmphetaDesk (currently it's free), but you can get more functionality with Newzcrawler ($25).

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AmphetaDesk display of the Montague Institute Review news feed. This desktop program does three things: 1. Display news feed XML code in human-readable form. 2. Allows you to select and view your favorite news feeds on one screen. 3. On a schedule you set up, updates the information in your selected feeds.

You can also view news feeds at certain Web sites, such as the RSS viewer at the University of Bath (see below).

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RSS Viewer at UKOLN (University of Bath). Note that, unlike the AmphetoDesk viewer (above), this Web site displays the Montague Institute Review logo. To see this screen "live," go to the RSS Xpress Web site, paste this URL — http://www.montaguelab.com/digest.xml — in the RSS URL box, and click the "View" button.

2. Select the sources you want to monitor. There are two ways to add a source:

a. Go the source's home page and right click on the icon (or the RSS link, if there is one). Select COPY from the menu and paste the URL into a form on the news aggregator program. The Montague Institute's URL looks like this http://www.montaguelab.com/digest.xml.

b. Select the source from a directory that lists available feeds, such as Syndic8.com, RSS-Xpress, or News is free.

3. Read the alert. If you use a news aggregator program on your own computer, open it and view the contents. If you use a Web site, go the site and enter the news feed URL (some sites allow you to create a personal page containing selected feeds so you don't have to enter the URL).

How it works for publishers
Publishing a news feed involves the following steps:

1. Select the content. In our case, it's our monthly alert (see a chronological list of previous alerts).

2. Put the content in RSS format. There are a variety of ways to do this. Since our content is already stored in a relational database, it was a simple matter to export new items to XML format.

3. Announce the feed. Tell your readers about the news feed and register it with directories like the ones listed above.

Publishers can also incorporate other news feeds into their Web sites. For example, the current contents of the Montague Institute news feed is displayed in the left sidebar of this page. In the example below, a UK not-for-profit organization displays food industry news items from Moreover.com's news feed.

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News feed on a Web page. Publishers can not only create news feeds but can also display feeds published by others. The food industry news items on this page come courtesy of Moreover.com, a fee-based news service with over 5000 sources.

Bottom line
For users, RSS feeds are a convenient way of keeping up to date with favorite publications without exposure to spam and viruses. The problem is that not all publications or Web sites offer them, and they represent yet another function to be installed and learned.

For commercial publishers, feeds can overcome the barriers imposed by spam filters and save time administering e-mail distribution lists.

For Knowledge Base Publishers, feeds are a convenient way of announcing new content, keeping current on favorite research sources, and publishing current content from other publications on special interest Web sites.