A Survival Guide for Librarians in the Digital Age
A Survival Guide for Librarians in the Digital Age
A blog, also called Weblog, is a Web page that provides frequent continuing publication of Web links and/or comments on a specific topic or subject (broad or narrow in scope), often in the form of short entries arranged in reverse chronological order, the most recently added piece of information appearing first. An example in the field of library and information science is LISNews.com, which accepts postings from its readers.
Blogs may be popularly seen as a type of web diary expressing a personal viewpoint, but some library blog directories show how the technology is being used for professional information dissemination. A list of library Weblog sites is maintained by Peter Scott on LibDex. Library Weblogs sorts entries by country, and makes prominent those blogs featuring an RSS feed. RSS (no consensus on meaning, but many accept Really Simple Syndication) feeds can be harvested by an RSS reader on your computer, which can automatically gather and present you with updated information from sources which you specify. (from LITA site)
Basicly, RSS is a lightweight XML format designed for sharing headlines and other Web content. Originated by UserLand in 1997 and subsequently used by Netscape to fill channels for Netcenter, RSS has evolved into a popular means of sharing content between sites (including the BBC, CNET, CNN, Disney, Forbes, Motley Fool, Wired, Red Herring, Salon, Slashdot, ZDNet, and more). RSS solves myriad problems webmasters commonly face, such as increasing traffic, and gathering and distributing news. RSS can also be the basis for additional content distribution services. Today, many librarie websites have deployed RSS feeds.
Some good references:
Pack, Thomas. "Through the Blogosphere" Information Today, Nov. 2004, v. 21 no. 10
"The Blogosphere" (special issue) Communications of the ACM, Dec. 2004, v. 47 no. 12.
Oxfeld, Jesse. "Blogs Rolling in 2005" Editor & Publisher, Jan. 2005, v. 138, no. 1
Open Directory: Library and Information Science Weblogs
Pilgrim, Mark. What is RSS? December 18th, 2002 from xml.com
From WebMonkey: "Sharing Your Site With RSS"
From Gerry McKiernan: RSS: General Bibliography
