• http://www.opmlworkstation.com

OPML Workstation provides OPML creation, editing, hosting and distribution services, free of charge. OPML, for those not in the know, is a free-form, highly versatile markup language aimed at creating hierarchical outlines including multiple kinds of resources (nodes may include text, links, HTML, RSS feeds, rich media, or other XML). Here's my working example. More information on OPML at OPML.org.

At this point, OPML is primarily the province of techies. However, I think it has enormous potential as a simple platform for distributing all kinds of information in an academic context, in a way that's both familiar and intuitive (we've all seen outlines) and versatile (it can be embedded in webpages in many forms).

As an experiment, I've created a simple "course outline" with OPML Workstation for a course I'm teaching and I've embedded it into a free wiki page (via PBwiki.com) using the excellent OPML browser called Grazr.  It can be viewed here. (The only part of this setup that I've actually shelled out money for is file hosting, for which I use Box.net.) The "outline" contains bookmarked links relevant to the course; a small library of uploaded documents like a syllabus and handouts; and weekly responses to the reading written by students. Nothing too fancy, but the hierarchical organization makes it easy to collect all this data into a very small space and to navigate through it with ease. It is also possible to browse hosted outlines directly through the OPML Workstation site; this one can also be seen here.

If anyone else has figured out a way to use OPML to simplify life, please don't hesitate to get in touch.