Why I Think RSS is the Most Important "Thing"

So I keep saying that RSS is the most important "thing". Of course, that's just an opinion -- but at least I'd like to justify it. Here are the reasons I think RSS is the most important "thing" to learn:

• RSS gives you up-to-the minute content. When I first discovered RSS, it was like my learning curve went into warp speed. I learned a lot of stuff very quickly, because I was getting content very quickly.
• RSS is like having your very own customized daily newspaper. You get to choose what goes in and what does not.
• RSS connects well with blogs. That means I can get up-to-date news from family members alongside my news about the war in Afghanistan.
• RSS works well with wikis. You could have used RSS to check to the history page of the top ten books wiki and be updated as it got editing (oh yeah, NOW I tell you! :) )
  
• RSS is what makes other social sites like del.icio.us, facebook, myspace, etc. work. You were probably using RSS without ever knowing what it meant.
  
• RSS means, potentially, that people have to "visit" websites less. If customers can get your news where they want it, why would they bother going to your website?
  
• Our new website will be using RSS.
• RSS is used in widgets to enhance the content of websites. If you had a blog about cats, why wouldn't you want to put an RSS feed from something else fun, like LOLCats (mature content warning, but probably safe for work).
• For the cataloguers out there, RSS uses a way of organizing information called XML, some have suggested that XML will/may/ought to replace MARC as a standard for organizing content.
• RSS also works for soundfiles and videos, as we will see when things 11, 12 & 13 come out.
• RSS can work on a web service, like Google Reader, or directly in your favorite browser like Firefox or Internet Explorer as a "live bookmark."
• Yahoo widgets lets you grab RSS feeds directly to your desktop, without ever using a browser!
  
• The more I talk about RSS, the more uses I find for it, so I'll stop now.

In short, RSS pretty much drives most of Web 2.0. When a new Web 2.0 tool comes out, it probably utilizes RSS in some way or another.

Chocolate and more? Join the Wiki-war?

If you have already completed thing #6, you may have noticed that there is a "sidebar" that says something about rules for the wiki-war.

If you read these rules, you would notice that I am offering chocolate to those people whose books are sitting on the top-ten list at precisely four o'clock pm this friday. One of the people whose book(s) is on the top ten list will receive a "Denis Cunningham original" t-shirt for their troubles as well, complete with a nifty slogan that will convince anyone of your technical acuity. The actual slogan and design is a surprise, since this is the very first time we are offering it.

Remember the password is "learning20".

Why am I doing this? Well, it's to share a few points that made alot about wikis.

• If you have a diverse enough crowd, no individual voice is capable of influencing the whole. Case in point: all of my original entries in the top-ten list are gone!
• Imagine if we had thousands or millions of people working on the same page!
• Each individual contribution is small, yet the entire resource can be immensely useful. Take a look at the list -- there's already 33 "top ten" or "former top ten" books there!
• The list will be send off to the reader's services team as a resource if they so desire.
• You could probably see the potential for such a tool as a resource for "read-alikes" or something like that.
• The neat thing about the wiki is that even though I created it, I have no control over the content. I could change the whole list right now and one of you could very easily change it back!
• In short, a wiki is more than just another wysiwyg editor like the one on your blog. It's just difficult to demonstrate that without a challenge. :)
  

. . . and we're off!

Now that the first two "things" have been released, I can already see quite a bit of enthusiasm around new technologies and the program. Some folks out there have assumed that one of the "things" in the future will be "start your own blog." Ok. I admit, it is. As you can see on the right, thing #3 has already been released early.

That brings me to another point -- what is the value of peeking at this blog every so often? Well, it's like this: I would like to establish a communication device to identify new technological trends and ideas. I do not want to fill up people's email to do it. A blog is one of many ways to do this. In fact, *this* blog may be the way this happens in the future.

So, I'm going to make it worth your while to view this blog periodically:

• For one, all of the "things" have a post on this blog with tips on how to complete them.
  
• Besides the 23 things, there will be some mini-challenges with prizes (perhaps involving chocolate) to help illustrate a point about new Web devices.
• I will drop hints about what the future 23 things will be from here. If you visit this blog, you will have a head-start on them.
• I will announce other "23 things" prizes via this blog. (Did you think I was just going to stop at a laptop?)
• There will be pointers to some fun and silly things happening on the web via this blog.
  

Welcome to Learning 2.0!

This is where all the magic will happen as you start your Learning 2.0 journey. Sure, you can find out what you need to know without ever visiting this website, but you will be missing quite a bit:

• Everything you see in emails, posters and pamphlets will be available here first.
  
• Resources online and elsewhere related to the 23 things.
• Tips and tricks on completing the 23 things.
  
• Other interesting tidbits about Web 2.0 technologies, in case you were curious.
• Updates on the program as it progresses from October to April.
  
• Comments from people who are interested in these sorts of technologies.
• Maybe we'll post some fun things too. Like YouTube videos and interesting podcasts.
  
• Who knows? Maybe some other bloggers will notice us and make their own comments about the campaign.
  

Learn About the Campaign by Visiting the Blog

Description:

Read the guidelines, posts and the timeline for the "23 things"

Hints:

• You are already doing it! Keep going!
• There are lot of links to access on the right hand side of this page. Click away and see what's on this thing.
  
• There is a square called categories as well. Every time I write a post, I create categories (or "tags") to keep them organized -- kind of like subject headings. There will be more on this later on.
• If there is something that doesn't really make sense to you, you can always send me anonymous feedback.
• There were alot of people at the training session for this on September 21st. Maybe you can ask someone from your branch who went for help?