Example iTunes U Atom feed?

Question

Hi
We’re making arrangements to set up an iTunesU store for our university. We're also building a sql database which will publish our media content through to our CMS and build the web feeds. So I need to ensure the web feeds are compliant with iTunes U.
I understand that iTunesU will accept rss and atom feeds but that atom is the preferred format because it affords the publisher the option of specifying multiple media types in a single feed item. i.e. in an atom feed you could specify multiple mp3's or an mp3, mp4, m4v etc in a single feed item. Is that correct?
Also, can you point me to examples of well formed iTunes U atom and rss feeds? Perhaps you have some example feeds on the Apple website?
Thanks

Answer 1

As always, standard disclaimers apply, I defer to Duncan for an official reply.
I would not say that RSS is preferred to Atom necessarily. Rather, the basic consideration for the iTunes U admin is what each of those feeds "maps" to within iTunes U. In iTunes U, an RSS feed can be made to map to a group (that is, a tab within a course). An Atom feed, on the other hand, maps to a whole course and creates groups (tabs) as required by the feed. Often, within a course, you create tabs to match media types ("Video", "Audio", "PDF", etc.). But in principle, and so far as I know, the course-to-Atom feed mapping can be anything that is logical…that "makes sense"…for your site.
In effect, Atom gives the iTunes U admin a very simple way to automate the creation of a course and link it to a single (Atom) feed. In the past, an admin would first have to create the course, then tabs, then link each tab to a separate RSS feed.