Information management technologies
Problem with information overload
Internet users have largely given up trying to keep up to date with the vast amount of content being published on their 'favourite' web sites, let alone the slow moving sites that they need to track but are not motivated to visit 'just in case'. Portal vendors have tried to help by allowing users to aggregate bits of many web sites together, to minimise the number of web sites a person needs to access, particularly in a process context. Proprietary approaches to Syndication, or the publish and subscribe model to information access has been tried several times on the internet, taking the form of for example Internet Explorer channels, and PointCast personalised news feeds. Avantgo continues to find a niche publishing channels to PDA's. Email has become flooded with newsletters, status updates, just in case cc emails, and application specific notifications.
RSS to the rescue
What means abbreviate RSS? Since 1999 when it was developed by Guha at Netscape it has two translations “Really Simple Syndication” and “Rich Site Summary”[15]. RSS is a format for delivering regularly changing content. Many different news-related websites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS feed.
Why RSS?
RSS and its tremendous potential are exponentially opening new visions and opportunities for how to manage, organize and access the vast ocean of information that is submerging us. RSS allows easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the websites you are interested in. With RSS you save time by not visiting each website individually. Also ensuring privacy by not demanding users joining with websites email newsletter[16]. Given the simplicity of RSS, many people overlook its huge potential, which arises not from RSS itself, but from the concept of operation that it enables, (although popularity must in part be attributed to its simplicity), and the passionate way in which its users promote that concept, mainly right now through their own blogs and their new found productivity in subscribing to internet content change[17].
Different RSS usages
Most people think of RSS as a way of publishing news, blogs, or what's new information from web sites. The scope of RSS is much broader. Many applications need to allow people to be notified about things, and RSS is the way to do it. Microsoft employees have been evangelising RSS for a while, but recently Bill Gates down have started to talk up the technology which is important if it is to break into mainstream IT. RSS feeds for service bulletins describing problems with cars subscribed to by garages, change notification for important documents like aircraft maintenance manuals, tracking of documents posted to knowledge management tools, publishing new customers or key events that happen in a CRM system [18].
RSS Reader specific features
Many RSS readers have specific features to allow easy reading. FeedDemon, helps cull dead feeds from subscription list by automatically flagging as "Dinosaurs" feeds which are not updated within 30 days. Bloglines offers playlists, allowing to group feeds[19].
PodSmart
IBM offers new MP3 technology to enable people to listen to for example their e-mail and news feeds from an MP3 player or iPod. PodSmart makes it possible to read out loud work and personal e-mail, calendar appointments and news feeds on any MP3 player, including an iPod. The user can customize playlists, which means that PodSmart reads the user´s most important e-mails, urgent appointments and favorite news sources. It is also possible to listen to music [14]. PodSmart is not yet in the market but when it comes, it most surely will help to process more information.
Twine
As first semantic web application Twine offers many possibilities to find relevant information. It has aspects of social networks, wikis, blogs, knowledge management systems, but the main aspect is that is built with Semantic Web technologies. Twine allows people to share knowledge and information. Twine connects people for a purpose, it's not based around socializing, but to share and organize information. With twine you can import and export your bookmarks and share them with everybody. The semantic analysis is faster and smarter than full text search. Making content online machine readable cuts time and thought out of discovery of related information, letting users focus on higher levels of engagement.
Social bookmarks - Delicious
Social bookmarking is a way for people to accumulate, categorize, find and control information from web pages on the Internet.
Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website. Del.icio.us is a free service where thousands of people store their bookmarks, enabling you to see what's trendy and popular. Bloggers can encourage readers to add their posts, allowing greater reach for a blogger's content.
