e

1
evanced solutions RSS/XML/ATOM Feeds Intro
Welcome to this

• You will need to phone into a conference call for
  the audio portion of this webinar.
• Dial 916-233-4200
• Participant code 226436
• Please note IF background noise from your
  location is a problem, and if your phone has a
  mute function, please use it for the duration of
  the event (except when you are speaking to the
  group). If your phone does not have a mute
  function, please use the following codes     
• To silence your line press and 6 on
  your phone
• To un-mute your line press and 6 again

2
Agenda

• Show what is possible and give you some ideas
• Explain how the tool works and how you can adjust
  the feed to get what you want
• Point you to some resources for integrating RSS
  into your website and show you an example
• Discuss other applications of RSS in the library

3
Going Beyond the Calendar

• Some great examples of libraries utilizing the
  RSS/XML feeds to go beyond the calendar
• ImaginOn (NC) http//imaginon.org/default.aspChar
  lotte Mecklenburg County Public Library
• Barrington Public Library (IL) http//www.barringt
  onarealibrary.org/
• Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public
  Library (OH) http//www.heightslibrary.org/
• Orange County Library System (FL) www.ocls.info

4
Whats in the Feed

• Event Content in a marked up metafile format (XML
  data)
• lt?xml version"1.0" encoding"ISO-8859-1" ?gt
• - lteventgt
• - ltitemgt
• lttitlegtProfessional is as professional
  doeslt/titlegt
• ltdategtSaturday October 21st, 2006lt/dategt
• lttimegt0100 PMlt/timegt
• ltdescriptiongtBasic skills for group
  leaderslt/descriptiongt
• ltlocationgtDPL Program Roomlt/locationgt
• ltlibrarygtNorth Demo Librarylt/librarygt
• ltlinkgthttp//websitepath/evanced/lib/eventsignup.a
  sp?ID461lt/linkgt
• lt/itemgt
• - ltitemgt
• lttitlegtBEGINNING CONVERSATIONAL SPANISHlt/titlegt
• ltdategtMonday October 23rd, 2006lt/dategt
• lttimegt0600 PMlt/timegt
• ltdescriptiongtHendricks College Network Class
  designed for people who
• have little to no knowledge of Spanish.lt/descripti
  ongt

5
RSS vs. XML vs. ATOM

• All related forms of data feed
• RSS and ATOM standardize the output to specific
  formats that ease translation of the data
• RSS and ATOM use XML to do this
• XML is more of a raw data output that can be
  used in many applications

6
Getting the feeds

• Just a URL path/Eventsxml.asp
• Displays the events
• At Branch 0 (lib0)
• Todays date that are after the current time
• XML format
• However there are many parameters that can be
  passed through the URL to control the output

7
Link Formatting (continued)

• lib this is used to control the events for a
  given library/branch or events for all branches
  Default is 0. Use the library number (libx) or
  all (liball) to specify the librarys events
  that are to be displayed.
• Path to event calendar/eventsxml.asp?lib1
• do this is the date offset used to add X number
  of days to todays date Default is 0 todays
  date
• Path to event calendar/eventsxml.asp?liballdo
  1
• alltime this is used to display all event
  times, even events that are past the current
  time. Use alltime1 to override the default
  setting.
• Path to event calendar/eventsxml.asp?lib1allti
  me1
• nd this is used to specify how many days worth
  of events to show Default is 1.
• Path to event calendar/eventsxml.asp?liballnd7
  
• et this is used to limit the output to only
  certain event types. The default is to show all
  event types. You can specify multiple event types
  by separating them with a comma and a space
  (etAdultProgram,BookDiscussion)
• Path event calendar/eventsxml.asp?liballnd14
  etAdultPrograms

8
Link Formatting (continued)

• ag this is used to limit the output to only
  events for certain age groups. Similar to et
  above, you can specify multiple age groups by
  separating them with a comma and a space.
• kw this is used to limit output to only events
  which contain a given keyword.
• Path event calendar/eventsxml.asp?liballnd30
  kwknitting
• primarygroup determines whether only the
  primary event type and age group are searched
  (primarygroup1), or search secondary/tertiary
  event types and age groups for each event as well
  (default).
• dm this is used to output using a different XML
  format. Valid values are xml to use the XML
  format described above, rss2 to output a RSS
  2.0 feed, and atom1 to output an ATOM 1.0 feed.
  The default value is xml.
• Path to event calendar/eventsxml.asp?liballnd
  7dmrss2

9
Resources on RSS and your Website

• How you integrate RSS feeds into your website
  will depend on what tools you are using to
  develop your site
• Just a few sites/tools found doing a quick Google
  search
• http//www.rss-info.com/en_rssinclude.html
• http//www.slideshare.net/travelinlibrarian/integr
  ating-rss-into-your-web-site
• http//grazr.com/ -- RSS Web Widget Tool
• Many many more resources are out there

10
Digital Signage

• Feeds are also a handy way to connect your
  calendar data to digital signage systems.
• Most digital signage solutions support RSS
• Considering a Digital Signage Solution?
• We have a informal partnership with
• Interface Electronics Inc.
• John Noll
• 4579 Abbotts Bridge Rd.
• Duluth, Ga. 30097
• jnoll_at_interface.com
• 770-623-1066 ext 125