What are RSS based Applications?
Just like early HTML applications, were christened "Web based Applications", these new set of RSS services are no
ordinary feeds, it is fair to classify these as "RSS based Applications". Who said you need a UI and buttons to
write a consumer application?
SPL provides three types of feeds. The first lets you keep track of your books
via RSS, subscribe to a unique feed with the books barcode and your unique PIN.
https://catalog.spl.org/rss/itemsout.jsp?barcode=<your barcode>&pin=<your PIN>
The other two feeds allow you to track updates to the catalog and the status of books you have on hold.
Here is an idea: integrate this functionality with the uber cool
Delicious Library, and say.. Blockbuster - so you have a visual representation of the dvds/books you have borrowed and
perhaps a way to see when they are due back. Same goes for any service with an expiration - connect it with an RSS
feed.
Other fun places to integrate this could be the new Orb devices -hook it up with an RSS feed of your book. Turns red
when it is overdue :-) - sounds like a project for hackaday.
1. The Ann Arbor District Library at http://www.aadl.org also has RSS feeds running of holds, with new items soon to follow. I've done a tiny bit of integration and fed them into my blog which you can see at http://vielmetti.typepad.com - the right sidebar has an up to the moment list of what I am waiting for with an indication of where I am in the hold queue.
Posted at 4:47AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Edward Vielmetti