Program Assessment User Session Experts (PAUSE)

Information Sessions: RSS & Email Subscription Services

October 17 - 18, 2006

2

Agenda

• Question and Answer Session

• Review of information and procedures, as needed

• Potential discussion topics– Downloading RSS reader– Installing RSS reader– Subscribing to RSS channels– Accessing Email Subscription Service– Subscribing to Email Subscription Service

3

Feedback and Questions

• How are things going with RSS and the Email Subscription Services?

• How many people are now using RSS and the Email Subscription Services?

• Questions or comments?

4

Testing Schedule Overview

• 10/11 Participation instructions emailed to Participants

• 10/17-18 Optional RSS / ESS Information Sessions

• 10/27 Midpoint on-line survey emailed to Participants

• 11/8 Final on-line survey emailed to Participants

• 11/14 On-line journals and final on-line surveys due

5

Review of Week 2 Information

Review of Information on RSS and

Email Subscription Services

(as needed)

6

Agenda

• Agenda and Introductions

• Background Questionnaire Review

• RSS and Email Subscription Services

• Subscribing to RSS Feeds (a live demo / discussion)

• Subscribing to E-mail Service (a live demo / discussion)

• Subscription Services Testing and Wrap-up

7

Purpose of Session

• Proposing to add 2 new capabilities to our websites:– RSS– Email Subscription Service

• Demonstrate prototype capabilities

• Ask you to help test the prototypes– give feedback so we can make enhancements

8

Subscription Services – Covered Topics

• Need for Subscription Services• Overview of RSS – RSS and Knowledge Resources

– What is RSS?, Benefits / Limitations, and How RSS works• Demo of RSS• What is the Email Subscription Service?

– What is it?, Benefits / Limitations, and How the Email Subscription Service works

• Subscribing to RSS Feeds (a live demo / discussion)• Subscribing to E-mail Service (a live demo / discussion) • Introduce concept of PAUSE testing the Subscription Services• Ask for participation in testing• Survey

9

Background on Need for Subscription Services

• Diversity and breadth of knowledge

• Applications Overview – 16 categories >> 176 specific applications (see http://www.itsoverview.its.dot.gov/)

• Lessons Learned – 9 Lesson Categories >> 45 categories (see http://www.itslessons.its.dot.gov/)

• States – see information by the 50 states (see http://www.itslessons.its.dot.gov/its/benecost.nsf/LessonStateHome)

10

Background on Need for Subscription Services

• Applications Overview – 16 categories >> 176 specific applications (see http://www.itsoverview.its.dot.gov/)

11

Background on Need for Subscription Services

• Lessons Learned – 9 Lesson Categories >> 45 sub-categories (see http://www.itslessons.its.dot.gov/)

12

An Overview of RSS – RSS and Knowledge Resources

• RSS allows you to receive selected "news items", such as:

– "What's new" in Knowledge Resources (e.g., Costs, Benefits and Lessons Learned KRs)

– ITS-related news items from Bernie Wagenblast's Transportation Communication Newsletter

– Application Area news items (e.g., Arterial Management > Traffic Control)

– Lesson Category news items (e.g., Design and Deployment > System Design)

13

An Overview of RSS – What is RSS?

• RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” (but can also stand for “Rich Site Summary”, or “RDF Site Summary”)

• Works as an automated way to see "What's New" on a Web site– Requires a sender (manual or automated) and a subscriber

• Also used as a method for distributing headline content and data between sites

• Commonly used for news items and web log (“Blog”)

14

An Overview of RSS – Benefits and Limitations of RSS

• Benefits

– Users can create customized news feeds that show only topics of individual interest

– When this is performed for many sites, a customized view of information from many sources is aggregated in one place

– This can save time over accessing many sites daily in order to discover new items

15

An Overview of RSS – Benefits and Limitations of RSS

• Limitations

– 82% in a recent survey did not know what RSS was*

– Requires work to set up the RSS reader

– Requires work to identify sites to get news items from

* http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115075895691584597-J7Zkgfyy0QteJpjOz_Obi7mmUH0_20060627.html?mod=blogs – Lee Gomes of Wall Street Journal

16

An Overview of RSS – How RSS Works

• Originating site creates an RSS “feed” or “channel,” which is an XML file accessed by a standard URL. – An RSS file consists of a list of items, each of which contains a title,

description and a link to a web page– Date information

• Users instruct their RSS tool to “subscribe” to the feed. – Tool automatically accesses and downloads new file(s) for each

subscription and parses them to show summary and headline information in a convenient, easily viewed format.

– User can then access more detail by navigating to content source from the RSS tool

17

New Washington Post

Technology Channel Story

RSS – Washington Post Technology source

Channel =

WashingtonPost.com –

Technology

18

RSS – Transportation Communications Newsletter source

Channel = Intelligent

Infrastructure – Arterial

Management Systems – Traffic

Control

New TCN news story

for Traffic Control

application area channel

19

RSS – Lessons Learned Knowledge Resource source

Channel = Intelligent

Infrastructure – Arterial

Management Systems – Traffic

Control

New Lessons Learned entry

for Traffic Control

application area channel

20

Summary of Differences between RSS and Applications Overview

• Only new items• Tailored to your interests

regarding the types of ITS information you receive

• Links to some stories may expire over time

• Accessed through an RSS reader and browser

Applications Overview RSS• Archival• Searchable, for all information,

not just new information• Accessed via browser

21

RSS – Experiences Using It?

• Has anyone used RSS?

• Anyone want to share their experiences (good or bad)?

22

An Overview of the Email Subscription Service – What is it?

• Email Subscription Service is a method to distribute targeted and timely information to a subscriber using ordinary email– Subscriber selects subject and frequency of email receipt

• Uses any email account– No need to install specialized software– No need to establish new email account

23

An Overview of Email Subscription Service – How does it work?

• Subscriber accesses webpage that describes the process for signing up to receive email

– User provides email address and selects topic or topics of interest– User specifies frequency of email receipt (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly.)

• Emails sent to address provided by user according to user specified schedule

– User may modify or cancel email receipt at any time

24

An Overview of Email Subscription Service – Benefits and Limitations

• Benefits– Subscribers automatically receive information via email– Information may be compiled from several sources and consolidated into

a single email– This can save time over accessing many sites daily in order to discover

new items

• Limitations– Email could be considered spam– User can be overwhelmed by amount of email received (independent of

this service) and the emails from this service could get lost in email in-box

25

Summary of Differences between RSS and the Email Subscription Service

• Delivered through email system and items clickable through a browser

• Duplicate news items are filtered out

Email Subscription Service RSS

• Accessed through an RSS reader and items clickable through a browser

• Duplicate news items may occur

• Only new items• Tailored to your interests

regarding the types of ITS information you receive

• Links to some stories may expire over time

26

Subscribing to RSS Feeds & Email Subscription Service

• Subscribing to RSS Feeds (a live demo / discussion)

• Subscribing to Email Subscription Service (a live demo / discussion)

27

• Purpose: Gather feedback to allow enhancements to the RSS and Email subscription service prototypes, to better suit your needs.

• Participants can subscribe to either the RSS or Email Subscription Service, or both.

• Participants will be given an overview and instructions on RSS and/or Email Subscription Service to help them set up RSS or the Email Subscription Service and participate in the testing.

PAUSE Testing of Subscription Services

28

PAUSE Testing of Subscription Services – Process

Steps involved in helping to test the RSS and Email subscription services:

1. Indicate your interest in participating in testing the RSS or the Email subscription service, or both.

2. Receive email from Volpe on participation details3. Install RSS reader software / subscribe to channels, and/or

subscribe to email service.4. Use RSS and/or Email subscription service.5. Record comments on your usage in electronic journal.6. Complete two on-line surveys.7. Receive our thanks for participating, and a summary presentation

on RSS and Email subscription service.