The Library Geek

(Part 2 of 2)

I checked the discussion group of the class but nothing specific to the problem I have was posted. I had suspicion that a theme or plugin I installed, as I have been playing with trying out several themes and plugins for the blog, might have messed up my settings. Since I have no coding background I did the next best thing, I googled for a solution using several phrase combination to describe what happened.  Some of the solutions involve coding and fearing that I might make the situation worse I did not go that route. I also stumbled upon a feed validator and submitted my link and sure enough the report said that certain lines were missing. The solution that I have some confidence of doing was actually the most extreme, which is to reinstall WordPress on my directory on the Senna server. It might sound crazy, but to me it makes sense since I also have seen how when I open the link to the blog in a computer with strict firewall settings  set by a system administrator, the page does not display properly and some parts are missing. So I rationalized to myself that reinstalling would at least clean up the problem.

I did not make this decision lightly since up to the wee hours of the morning I was trying out combinations of uninstalling, changing settings, installing plugins to try to coax the feeds to appear. I did the installation this morning. I prepared for it by exporting the XML file of the posts as a backup. I also used this backup to check if the comments feed would appear if I use WordPress as the host. I went to another computer and opened a personal account with WordPress and imported the backup. The blog loaded and the RSS comments feed worked. So that confirmed that the problem is with my WordPress installation on my Senna directory. I again followed the instruction setup for setting up the blog and the installation finished without a hitch.

I did not have to use the XML file backup as the information is on the MySQL database on my directory when we first set up the blog. I clicked on the RSS comments feed and there it was! Not anymore a blank page.

I added the subscription to Bloglines and then…nothing, a blank page.

I almost lost my sanity.

So aside from problems under the hood of my original WordPress installation, it seems Bloglines does not like my comments feed; so I did what every consumer does when faced with a product or service dilemma, I switched to Google Reader.  I am now using Google Reader and it is chugging along smoothly picking up feeds. The only thing I miss with Bloglines is the ability to resize the left window, easy way to create folders and not many advertisements. The thing that gives me pause using Google Reader is its tendency to create a profile of you as an information consumer. I used my email account for Google Reader and sure enough it already has links for LIS sites and the Palo Alto Online as recommendations. I can see how some would find value in that, but it just smacks as too invasive in my opinion. Here are screen shots of my Bloglines and Google Reader aggregators.

2.      Create a web page and import feeds from a local library.

With this part of the assignment I decided to use a Dreamweaver HTML template. It was easy enough since you can split the screen and see how the page will look like and see the part of the code you have to replace with the code for the imported feed. I have already mentioned that PACL maintains four blogs so I decided to get creative and use a two column page and import feeds from the Reference and Resources, Kids, and Teens blogs. To distill the code from the links from those pages I used the assignment recommended Feed2JS and building the page went on without a hitch. Here’s a link to the page.

3.      Resource guide of RSS feeds

On the last part of the deliverables I choose to do a current awareness page for a fictional professor teaching political science and governance courses at a university. I imagined that this professor is also an environmentalist and that he incorporates the teaching of green technologies on his survey course on social and political issues. He requested a resource guide that would feature the shift of perspectives and behaviors by tech companies with regards to green technologies and he further added that this resource guide would be used by his students to pick up ideas for term papers due for the semester. With the foregoing scenario, my take is to present a web page that contains RSS feeds of tech blogs, resources of conferences in the environment, and news feeds to reflect the changing perspectives of tech companies in their manufacturing process and disposal of industrial wastes. RSS feeds are the logical choice as this shift towards a greener technological process is a recent one and therefore very dynamic. I intentionally picked a diverse group of sites from the Green Tech blog of CNET News to a site maintained by a Ball State University professor and author on emerging technologies, to a resource site on going green for manager. The common denominator among these sites is their passion for environmental activism. I used a total of five sites as a source for feeds and a widget that displays “Go Green Tips of the Day” which I think would be a hit among the students. I used Netvibes to create the site. I misinterpreted part of the instruction and uploaded the HTML files of the site to my directory in the Senna server. Prof. Faires clarified via a chat conversation that it only needs to be uploaded if the web page was constructed via code and not through Netvibes.

This turned out to be an opportunity to test if the RSS feeds would update on the HTML files uploaded to the Senna server. It did not; it is only the link coming from the Netvibes version that continually updated its feeds, the uploaded one stuck to its last update before being uploaded. Here is a link of the Netvibes version, and compare it with the one on the Senna directory.

In closing this RLP, or really long post, I am a believer that there is great value in using RSS feeds as a tool for information professionals and for ordinary users alike. Even information retrieval and reference tool sites like Connotea and CiteUlike that deals with scholarly journal also offer subscription feeds in their sites. Libraries have used it to inform their patrons of events and programming in their libraries. Organizations have taken advantage of it to release information to staff. It can be read using a variety of ways, delivered through the browser, a portable device, email, or an aggregator. It can be shared to others. RSS feeds take advantage of information that is already out there, is a time-saver, and can be customized to suit the taste and needs of any information user.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.