1、Integrating RSS Feeds and Information Blogs in Courses Using WebCT,Jay Bhatt W. W. Hagerty Library Drexel University,Keeping Up-to-Date,New information published and made available quickly via the Internet News, research articles, announcements of new resources, company and product news, etc. High-t
2、ech companies in the biotechnology and nanotechnology industries Need to keep informed growing,Keeping Up-to-Date,Increased research focus in the academic environment Graduate students work with faculty in research and publishing Courses requiring research Undergraduate students Several new initiati
3、ves at Drexel such as DREAM (Drexel Research Experience in Advanced Materials) Drexel University Undergraduate Research,Keeping Up-to-Date (cont.),Various user groups use e-mail alerting services E-mail congestion from number of services they subscribed Purpose of alerting not fulfilled if users are
4、 not able to read all alerts Alternatives to keep up-to-date are necessary,Blogs and RSS feeds,BLOG: combination of the words “web“ and “logs” Updated frequently with new information Librarians create blogs to provide information on new resources and instructional tips and Engineering Resources Blog
5、,Blogs and RSS feeds,RSS Feeds - Rich Site Summary (Really Simple Syndication) Method of describing new content by publishers (bloggers) to web users Several electronic journals provide RSS feeds Users can keep up-to-date by adding their feeds into Bloglines,What is Blogline?,Bloglines Comprehensive
6、 and integrated service for searching, subscribing, publishing and sharing news feeds, and blogs Eliminates the need to download a feedreader (In order to receive feeds, you needed to download a reader.) Since it is web based without requiring a reader, one can read RSS feeds from any computer,EGMT5
7、81 Problems in Human Relations,Online course taught by Mike Scheuermann in the Engineering Management Program at Drexel Students explore many topics ranging from motivation, organizational behavior, groupthink, leadership, and group dynamics Threaded discussions, mid-term, and final paper are some r
8、equirements In 8 of the 10 weeks, 7-9 topics are discussed; Online chats are also required,EGMT581 Problems in Human Relations,Grading scheme 30% threaded discussions 20% online chats 15% mid-term paper 25% final paper 10% peer review of other student paper Importance of threaded discussions, chats,
9、 and papers APA style required,Bloglines and EGMT581,Why is Bloglines proposed? How it can be used in WebCT environment? Not many students refer to scholarly papers to support their views during threaded discussions Using bloglines a table of contents of journal articles can be received Search query
10、 in Ei Compendex (Engineering Index) now provides RSS feeds Search query can be integrated into bloglines http:/ (Bloglines site created for this course; linked from WebCT),Bloglines and EGMT581,Depending on the topic faculty can provide RSS feeds of journal articles for each week (not all journals
11、provide) Ingenta (an electronic database available from Hagerty Library) provides journal titles with RSS feeds Example: Week-6 topics include Personality traits, emotions, self-management, job-satisfaction Sample Journals that publishes articles on these topics Journal of Business and Psychology Eu
12、ropean Journal of Personality International Journal of Psychology Journal of Managerial Psychology,Bloglines and EGMT581,Simple search using keywords such as personality traits and job satisfaction in Ingenta retrieves many articles Journal title that provides RSS feed will have RSS icon Copy and pa
13、ste link into Bloglines Any new articles published in that journal will be seen in the Bloglines site Read abstract of the article. Full text from remote not yet activated. Keep you posted when full text access from RSS feeds is activated from WebCT,Accessing Articles Remotely,Go to Hagerty Library-
14、Journal Title site to see if access is available For example: Journal of Organizational Change Management type in the search box Journal Of Organizational Change Management / Electronic Resource Click for full text via SFX Click here for full text in: Emerald Availability: from 1994 volume 7 issue 1
15、; may be available from an another provider such as Proquest Authenticate Last Name and University ID or if you are accessing from DrexelONE just your email ID and pword,Search Queries from a Database,Ei Compendex comprehensive engineering research database covering more than 5000 journals,conferenc
16、es, and technical reports. Engineering Management related articles are also covered Engineering management , communication and Leadership as keywords finds app. 300 records Now provides RSS feeds of search queries IP authenticated environment required Latest updated records in Bloglines based on sea
17、rch query RSS icon copy and paste URL Very useful for the final term paper since new articles can be used,Conclusions,Excellent potential for integrating blogs using bloglines into WebCT Students can keep informed about new research and articles More investigation needed to make RSS feeds workable f
18、rom remote (subscription based databases) Reading assignments (new articles) can be integrated into threaded discussion Awareness and use of library resources for distance learners Keep envisioning new ideas for integration into WebCT. It helps!,Thank You,Our Contact InformationJay Bhatt Information Services (Engineering)Hagerty Library (Drexel University)215 895-1873 or bhattjjdrexel.eduMike Scheuermann Co-ordinator for Online Learning Office of Information Resources and Technology215 895-0244 0r mes27drexel.edu,
