Library and academic interest in "push" technology?

[Prentiss Riddle]

First my question, then some background and my own tentative opinion.

THE QUESTION: There's some buzz at my institution about so-called
"push" or "push/pull" technologies, such as Pointcast, BackWeb and
Castanet.  I'd like to know whether libraries or academic institutions
out there are doing anything with these technologies and, if so, what.


BACKGROUND AND MY TWO CENTS SO FAR:

Supposedly, "push" technologies send information to the user while
"pull" technologies require the user to seek information.  The most
commonly cited digital "push" technology in wide use today is the
Pointcast news service, and news seems to be the most mature
application of "push" although quite a few other domains are
conceivable.

In fact, "push" is a rather ambiguous term.  I see several axes which
often get confused in discussions of "push":

   (1) Data transfer: server-initiated "push" vs. client-initiated "pull"
   (2) Content selection: provider-driven "push" vs. user-driven "pull"
   (3) Content volatility: real-time content vs. static "archival" content
   (4) Customizability: individual user profiles vs. organizational
         profiles vs. no profiles at all

The axes are pretty nearly independent.  For example, even archetypal
Pointcast is not "push" by definition (1) but relies on the client to
poll the server for updates.

My off-the-cuff response to "push" technologies in an academic setting
is that the presently available news services may become a popular form
of infotainment among our users and patrons, but unless the content
becomes much more highly specialized in the academic disciplines, they
may remain pretty peripheral to our core research and educational
missions.  (Depending on the discipline -- currently available news
services may be fairly relevant to the business and technology
curricula and less so to the sciences and humanities.)

Another question is whether an educational institution should merely
let users subscribe to predetermined channels offered by a "push"
service, or compose its own "corporate" channel built from the
service's content, or produce its own original content.  Producing
original content for "push" technology can be the most expensive part
of the package -- depending on the timeliness of the content and the
production values required, it could dwarf the production cost for
typical print and online (web-based) university promotion.

For more on the "push" phenomenon, see:

	Wired 5.03: "Push!"
	http://www.wired.com/wired/5.03/features/ff_push.html
	(An aggravating mix of over-the-top hype and useful insight.)

	Network Computing 4/1/97: "The Push For Internet News Services"
	http://techweb.cmp.com/nc/806/806ws1.html
	(Test report on five "push" services.)

I'm looking forward to hearing what others are up to.

-- Prentiss Riddle ("aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada") riddle at rice.edu
-- RiceInfo Administrator, Rice University / http://is.rice.edu/~riddle
-- Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.