Sharing Content Through Syndication

ACE/NETC

June 2, 2005

Presented by:

• Deb Coates, ISU

• Nichole Burgett, ISU

• Ray Kimsey, NCSU

• Floyd Davenport, ISU

• Kevin Gamble, eXtension

What we know

• We have content

• We want to share it

• People want our content (we hope)

• People will use our content if they can find it

Factors

• Too much information

• Too little time

• Infrequently updated information

• Information where timeliness matters

• Visibility

• Accessibility

Syndication?

What is Syndication?

• Packaging news and other web-published information for re-distribution

• XML standards (RSS, Atom)

• Feeds carry content and information about content (metadata)

What is RSS?

• Rich Site Summary

• RDF Site Summary

• Real Simple Syndication

What is RSS (con’t)?

• A format for syndicating news and news-like sites

• RSS can syndicate:– Major news sites (NYTimes)– News-oriented community sites

(Slashdot)– Weblogs

Also, Aggregation...

Aggregation

• Collect syndication feeds in one place

• Sort information by topic

• Re-syndicate information

• Searchable

• Archivable

So...

• Sharing content through syndication uses RSS and News aggregation to ‘push’ content directly to subscribers

• Syndication reaches new audiences and makes it easier for people who want the news you have to receive it

Two years ago...

• Most Extension news sites not dynamic

• No syndication feeds

• Need to aggregate topic sites (food safety) for critical information and efficiency

Factors

• Locally managed content

• Collaborative aggregation

• Alerts

• Multiple formats

• Standards-based tagging

• Local Contributions (anyone can contribute)

Tasks

• Registration system

• RSS Validation application

• Parse, store and aggregate items

• Allow users to search for and display lists of items

• Allow users to pull feeds by topic and to re-post feeds on local web sites

What does it take to prepare a site for RSS

• Convert from static to dynamic

• Develop categories

• Set up data entry procedures

Outcomes

Demo

Web Services

Provide a Web Service Interface

• Another way that you can retrieve dynamic news feeds built upon specialized query options.

Advantage

• Platform independent since we are using a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)

Microsoft .NET and Apache/PHP

$ws_feedparms = array( 'feedID' => 61, // blog id - 57 is Deb's blog 'maxItems' => 10, // max number of items to return 'width' => 250, // column width 'textSize' => 12, // text size 'titleTextColor' => '000000', // text color 'textFont' => 'Arial, Helvitica, san-serif', // font face 'textAlign' => 'left', // text alignment 'titleBackground' => 'ffffff', // title background color 'xmlButton' => true, // display xml button image 'boxBackground' => 'ccdddd', // box background -- color 'openNew' => true, // open new window 'desLimit' => 150 // description limit);

Parameters

Metadata tagging of news

• Allow for customized feeds based on:– Topic area, example food safety– Location, southern coastal, USDA Hardiness

Zone– Intended audience– State or region of the country– Many other ways

Content Sharing Through Syndication

A project with:

• Iowa State University

• North Carolina State University

• University of Nebraska

• New Mexico State University

• ...funded with a grant from ADEC

eXtension and RSS

News is a central part of all CoPsThe vision is something like:

Topix.netNeed:

Dublin Core MetadataFull text feeds

Reality: Not likely - capacity is not thereCreating capacity? - virtual news

creation engine likeWiki News

Check it out:

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/feeds