Sunday, September 18, 2005

David Walker's Awesome "RSS Creator" for Libraries. A Solution for RSS and Journals "Here is a prototype system I call 'RSS Creator,' which allows us to create RSS feeds for any journal or newspaper indexed and abstracted in our current subscription databases. http://public.csusm.edu/dwalker/rss.htm The system leverages Ex Libris' SFX and Metalib systems (using Metalib's XML-based API) to create the feeds, but the idea behind it is not specific to SFX or Metalib, and could be done with other technology. Here are some of the benefits: (1) Gives a library instant access to 20,000 to 40,000 or more feeds. The system can create an RSS feed for any journal or newspaper indexed by one of our databases, so long as that database is searchable via Metalib -- regardless of whether the publisher or database provider makes those feeds available now. (2) Requires virtually no discovery, collection, or maintenance. All of the information about the journals is already available (and updated) in the SFX knowledge base. A library simply downloads this information out of SFX, uploads it into RSS Creator, and RSS Creator takes care of the creation and maintenance of the feeds themselves. All of the feeds are in one place, conveniently available to our users. (This takes maybe 30 minutes every three months or so.) (3) All links point back to SFX RSS Creator simply creates an OpenURL for each article title, which links the user to our SFX menu. If a faculty member sees a journal article they want to read, regardless of whether they are on-campus or not, SFX will provide them proxied access to the full-text, provide information about print availability in our library, or even provide a pre-populated ILL form if we don't have access to the article online or in print. It is, in other words, a large, free RSS-based table of contents system. I just need to find some time in between more pressing matters to finish it up. But I'm hoping to roll it out to our faculty here this fall." [WEB4LIB mailing list] David Walker, Web Development Librarian at Cal State San Marcos, put this handy little program together, and it totally rocks! Check out the Flash demo to see how it works. It's actually very elegant, user-friendly, and incredibly useful. Dang, I wish I had time to play with this right now for our member libraries. I'm really going to have to start investigating ways to implement SFX (PDF) for them. [The Shifted Librarian] 8:23:02 PM      Google It!.

Trouble With Open Source?. [Slashdot] essay 1:59:31 PM      Google It!.

Hydrogen Generating Module to Help Your Car?. [Slashdot] 1:44:32 PM      Google It!.

Petitioning parliament by mouse. An e-petitioning system up and running in Scotland offers a new type of e-democracy. [BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition] This approach to involvement of the electorate has potential in many organizations which aspire to be other than dictatorships -- the feedback loop and the eDiscussion may make it real option of distributed democratic organizations or countries for that matter. -- BL 8:14:31 AM      Google It!.

I/O Electronic Brush for Painting. [Slashdot] 8:08:38 AM      Google It!.

Men seek kudos, women flexibility - Kelly Burke, Sydney Morning Herald. Women want flexibility and men want kudos when it comes to selecting a university or degree, a national survey of postgraduate expectations has shown.... The annual survey also found that women made their higher education decisions based on hard fact and [Online Learning Update] 8:01:30 AM      Google It!.

Web site launched for disabled - Taipei Times. The nation's first ever "obstacle-free Web site," an online learning program especially designed for those with mental and physical impairments, was launched yesterday. In a move to improve job and educational prospects for those with physical and mental [Online Learning Update] 7:59:55 AM      Google It!.

Drexel University Launches Podcast Series to Help Students Succeed in Earning an Online Degree. Drexel University, Philadelphia’s leading technological university, introduces Drexel’s eLearning Minute, a series of brief podcasts designed to address the unique issues and circumstances that new online students encounter and to offer advice on successf [Online Learning Update] 7:59:10 AM      Google It!.