[Web4lib] The Problem with RSS and Journals

[David Walker]

>> Cambridge Journals Online now has RSS feeds 
>> for all its journals . . . Springer has RSS feeds for 
>> its publishing alert service

This example by Peter is actually an interesting one, in that I think it
represents perhaps both the great potential and some of the drawbacks
(let's call them challenges) of RSS.

In my mind, journals and newspapers offer perhaps the best use of RSS in
libraries. Their content is timely, periodic, and of great value to our
users -- especially for faculty and other advanced researchers in
academic libraries.  And, in fact, many academic libraries currently
subscribe to e-mail based table of content systems that could be
replaced by RSS.

But there are several problems with publisher and database vendor
supplied feeds like the ones listed above.  They include:

(1) Few publishers or database providers offer them.

Some libraries have started collecting lists of publicly available RSS
feeds, the largest of which include no more than a few hundred titles.
The coverage is uneven, but could get better.


(2) Relevant publisher supplied feeds must be discovered, collected, and
maintained by libraries.

This is not strictly necessary, but without it, the feeds remain
scattered across various providers, publishers, and other web sites,
making them difficult for library users to find or use.   This is a task
that requires significant ongoing work for the library, including all
the problems of link maintenance.


(3) Publisher and database vendor RSS feeds link directly back to the
publisher or vendor web site, bypassing library proxy servers and
OpenURL resolvers.

This last point is particularly problematic.  The very purpose of RSS is
to offer *centralized* dissemination of information. But a user's
ability to access most published content is based on their *local*
affiliation.

Here, then, we have something of a conflict in technology.  

I may have access to some of the content provided by a publisher or
database vendor by virtue of my affiliation with my university, but if I
am outside of my campus IP range or the library does not have online
full-text access for that particular journal -- or, worse, has full-text
access from a different database) -- the vendor-supplied RSS feeds offer
me no way to access the actual journal article itself.  We may have the
article in print and certainly can get it through interlibrary loan --
but those are not options available to me through an RSS feed, or from a
vendor web site.

All of these problems greatly diminishing the value of such RSS feeds.

--Dave

=================
David Walker
Web Development Librarian
Library
Cal State San Marcos
760-750-4379
=================
 

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Peter Scott
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 8:07 AM
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] RSS

Speaking of RSS.....

Cambridge Journals Online now has RSS feeds for all its journals
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/byFeeds

Springer has RSS feeds for its publishing alert service
http://www.springeronline.com/sgw/cda/frontpage/0,11855,5-40691-12-14754
0-0,00.html

Google now has RSS and Atom feeds for its news service
http://news.google.com/intl/en_us/news_feed_terms.html
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