Paper summary:
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) has a variety of library uses. Feeds are available from a variety of electronic databases including Pubmed and Proquest. Book reviews can be obtained from Amazon.com. Journal feeds provide tables of contents, while newspapers feeds link back to full text articles. Both Radio New Zealand and the New Zealand Herald provide feeds. The New Zealand Government also has a feed. Libraries can collate such feeds into a reference list for users to subscribe to, or incorporate the information from the feeds directly into web pages. Libraries also generate their own feeds and provide users with announcements about things as library hours or new resources. How, then, in 2006 are New Zealand libraries using RSS?
To gain an overview of usage, libraries using RSS were identified via a google search. A content analysis technique was then used to identify the number and type of libraries using RSS, the purposes for which the feeds were used and their content. Few libraries were found to be using RSS, but the research has established a baseline for practice which can be used to in future years to see if RSS, as an information tool, has evolved into a core feature of library websites.
Presenter profile:
Ailsa Parker
Web genres are an area that I am keen on researching, particularly in relation to libraries and their websites. This interest was initially prompted by proposed changes to our website at Whitireia Community Polytechnic and now I am always on the lookout for emerging genres, such as blogs and RSS feeds. In a library, the latter seem to offer alternative ways to communicate with our users, so I started looking at other library sites and this led to the topic of my paper. In addition, I have also set up a trial blog and some RSS feeds on the library website at Whitireia, where I work as Deputy Library Manager.