Welcome to the new and improved XIST web site

Welcome to the new and improved XIST web site. We are now using web log ("blog") technology as a main component of our web site, to better manage content and as a means of offering an ongoing dialogue on topics in our area of interest and expertise: information management (IM). As information managers we have found blogs to be informative, entertaining, and mildly addictive. I'm sure we will be linking to some of our favourites over time. We hope that this site becomes a place to communicate new ideas, rehash older assumptions and generally learn from each other. Our comments are open. Please let us know what you think.

We first became interested in blogs as a way to keep up with what friends and others were thinking. One of the great things about blogs is that you get insight into what the blogger reads and finds of interest. Following the links from blog to blog and from site to site reminds us of the early days of the web: even in an electronic world of infinite information there was a feeling that within a community of practice, or a field of interest, you could get to know the key people and their ideas. We hope to provide you with some ideas in the area of information management and the application of new technologies to IM practices.

Blog technology also offers a fast and efficient way to publish content to the web. At its essence, blog software is simply an easy-to-use but sophisticated content management system. The software allows contributors to worry about the content of their message not the technical details of packaging and managing it. Blogs are certainly helping to realize the concept that on the web everyone's a publisher.

Another key development in our interest in blogs was the ability of most of the software used to blog to produce RSS (Really Simple Syndication). RSS allows automatic syndication of content to disperse locations, different software applications, and different digital appliances. It's a new take on the concept of pushing information to your audience. RSS [http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/12/18/dive-into-xml.html] is an XML based format that can be read by an RSS reader. RSS readers can be built into web browsers (I use Sage with Firefox), stand alone or available as a web application. (Bloglines is a well designed, free web based RSS reader that has become very popular). With a RSS reader I can monitor many blogs and other RSS services. I can get updates without my e-mail inbox getting jammed or having to remember to check a series of bookmarks in my web browser.

For a good overview of RSS take a look at http://www.reallysimplesyndication.com a site set-up by Dave Winer to expose people to the possibilities of RSS.

Over the next few weeks XIST will be developing our blog roll (or list of blogs we like and use). If you are interested in jumping into the world of RSS take a look at the 221,512 feeds at http://www.syndic8.com. Bloglines maintains a list of popular feeds at http://bloglines.com/topblogs.

XIST currently has a few feeds going. If you want to subscribe to our main blog the feed is available at http://www.xist.com/01/index.xml. You should keep an eye out for the little orange XML box. This is a standard way to link to an RSS feed. Once you are looking for them you will notice many sites have them.

We hope you enjoy the ideas we share on our blog and share a few of your own with us. Interested in writing in our blog? E-mail us.

XIST Management and Staff