One Way to Take Aggregators Mainstream.
Aggregators and Usability
"When we launched RSS feeds at Medscape, it was up to me to create the page that explains to physicians what the heck it's all about. That's when it really hit home that it's next to impossible to explain how this all works to people who are not intimately involved in blogging or working on the Net in some other way. I still get emails at least a few times a month that basically say, 'This sounds good, but what the heck do I need to do?'
I see three potential ways out of this logjam: 1) Wait for Aggregator vendors and RSS feed developers to come up with a better way to integrate their products so non-technical users can actually use them without getting buried in an avalanche of acronyms, right mouse clicks, and orange and white icons. 2) Wait for Microsoft to build RSS readers/aggregators into IE and/or Outlook. 3)Pursue an idea that came from Jenny at the BloggerCon aggregator session: 'pre-filled' news readers/aggregators. I'd be very interested in working with a freeware news reader/aggregator vendor to distribute, through Medscape, a special version of of their software, pre-filled with Medscape's 25+ news feeds to as many doctors as want it (my main candidates? AmphetaDesk and NetNewsWire Lite. Morbus? Brent?)." [Tales of Hoffman]
I'll reiterate what I said at the BloggerCon aggregators session: aggregators need to get easier to use. After that goal is achieved, they need to get easier to use, after which point they need to get easier to use. Then we can take them mainstream and start teaching "normal folks" to use them effectively and efficiently.
I think some of this can come from libraries, much the way we teach internet classes now. I mean, seriously - who exactly do you think is going to introduce aggregators to the public at large? If there was an easy-to-use aggregator, subscribing to sites was easier, more sites provided RSS feeds, and we came up with a usable alternative to a button that says "XML," I can see where a library might pre-populate it with local feeds from the library itself along with other local, relevant agencies.
At a university, the library could do this for students and faculty, especially by department. At a public library, this could be done for local residents (combining feeds for local government, local media, local schools, etc.). At a special library, it could be done for the organization's employees. And a school library could do this for both teachers and students (which might dovetail with some information literacy instruction). There could also be permanent links to an online reference service, reference databases, and the online catalog. And imagine the day we get secure authentication in aggregators, so library patrons can just enter their barcode numbers to subscribe to fee-based magazines, journals, or databases.
[The Shifted Librarian]
Friday, October 10, 2003
