Mon 03 Jan. 2005

Using Dublin Core in RSS feeds

The Aardvark Speaks

Due to Atom, much of what I am going to say here may seem obsolete;
still it seems important to talk about the use of Dublin Core (DC) with
weblogs in general and RSS feeds in particular, as it could be useful
for the scaleabilty and interchangeability of weblog content, and point
out the following facts:

  1. DC would be useful for weblog description;
  2. DC is possibly problematic to implement with weblogs;
  3. DC needs to be implemented correctly, or not at all;
  4. RSS Feed readers should be able to parse DC correctly.

A “lengthy and highly technical post”, but a recommended read for anyone interested in RSS / metadata standards.

The state of blogging (in Germany)

The latest Pew Report on the US blogosphere is quoted in a c’t article (Google translation) where the reaction in the forum is indeed something to ponder.

Judging from the majority of comments, Heise readers are not among the most enlightened folk you could hope to encounter on the net. A deep seated aversion against anything new from America seems to pervade the of minds of most participants - in some cases, to the point of outright belligerence. Very few of them exhibit any recognition whatsoever of the possible value and potential benefit that weblogs represent.

Now, although there are a growing number of successful blogging services in Germany:

…plus, of course, the major players like TypePad and Blogger do provide localized versions of their services…

…the phenomenon has yet to gain the same measure of acceptance in Germany which it has already achieved elsewhere.

While I am certainly generalizing from the views of a select few Heise readers, they presumably do belong to the more technically-savvy portion of society here. After all, the c’t does have the equivalent standing in Germany of publications like Wired, and relatively speaking, its forums are akin to the likes of Slashdot.

It is perhaps not realistic to expect a great deal of optimism, especially in the current depressed socio-economic climate of the country, but in view of their potential as agents of change, it is to hoped that the coming year will bring a manner of improvement in the reigning perception of weblogs.