RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (but also sometimes refers to Rich Site Summary or RDF Site Summary). It is a web feed format for sharing and distributing regularly updated web content. It's an online current awareness service.
Syndication is the process of subscribing to an RSS feed. An RSS aggregator (sometimes called a reader), allows you to receive and view data feeds from various sources in a single interface. Once you have copied the RSS feed URL from a web site into your aggregator, it checks the pages regularly and displays any updated data content that it finds usually in the form of a headline or brief descriptive content.
RSS has changed the nature of the web by providing a way for people to keep up to date with content changes on specified web pages and blogs etc automatically. It's taken away the necessity for people to have to continually browse the web (eg through search engines) for relevant information or to rely on their memories for relevant sites. It links people and information together more effectively and efficiently than was previously possible.
b. del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website. What does this mean and what are the advantages for workgroups? Discuss how del.icio.us uses the term 'tag' in a different context to what Web publishers would be familiar.
Social bookmarking is the saving and management of website URLs (as bookmarks) which can then be shared with others, organised and searched via sites such as Delicious. "Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them" (Wikipedia).
Delicious users organise their bookmarks "with informal tags instead of the traditional browser-based system of folders" (Wikipedia). Although tags run the risk of being misspelt, unclear and misleading "a simple form of shared vocabularies does emerge in social bookmarking systems" (Wikipedia). Users don't need to use a controlled (pre-set) vocabulary which may not suit their needs. Delicious pioneered the folksonomy as opposed to the taxonomy.
Social bookmarking sites such as Delicious allow workgroups to easily share sites of interest. They faciliate the flow of information between members who can also be alerted to new information via an RSS feed.
c. How do you see services such as those provided at the GoToWeb20.net site as changing the way that YOU and your future workgroups operate?
I'm confused about the two goto sites. The first one I went to was gotoweb20.net which looks like this:
It seems to be a site of sponsored links and limited web search results and not much use to any future workgroups of mine.
The other site is go2web20.net. It looks like this:
I'm familiar with this site and it's a great source of information about the latest Web 2.0 applications. I don't think it would change the way my future workgroups operate except as a source of information about possible new tools for us to investigate and/or adopt.d. Explain how the Elgg social engine works on a Web site where it is installed? Is this the type of application you want on your server in the workplace?
Elgg is free open source social software which must be hosted on a server. There are two options given for download. You can either download the full Elgg bundle which comes with a selection of pre-loaded plugins or choose the core engine and make your own selection of pluggins. This tailorising option is an attractive Elgg feature. Elgg seems most appropriate for the workplace. It is free, private and secure, and offers many features which are of use in a work environment: a blog, instant messaging, wiki, forum, event calendar, media sharing, social grouping, tagging and bookmarking.
Reference:
Wikipedia. Social Bookmarking. Retrieved October 18, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking
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