Blogging In The Library Revised Oct 16

BLOGGING IN THE LIBRARY

NYLA presentation 2007

What is a blog?

• Blog is short for Web Log. It is a website where content listed in reverse chronological order.

• A blog is a collaborative space either stand alone or within a website that visitors can post comments, link to, add to, or just read on a weekly, daily, hourly basis.

Why have a library blog?• Blogs can improve your results in search engine rankings.

• Blogs and blogging software make updating information on your website about programs etc. much easier. You don’t need to know html or complicated formatting.

• Blogs can be used to keep people (both staff and customers) informed about progress on construction, closings, etc.

• Blogs can be used to share information among departments, different locations.

• Blogs can put a human face on your organization. 

Types of Blogs

• Personal blog• Business blog

– Internal – External

Public blogs

• Treat like newsletter– Professional – What is your image?– Must be maintained. You can’t make a

blog and then leave it. – Who will be posting? What is their

authority to be the voice of the library to the public, PR department, library director, etc.?

– Comments: are you going to allow comments, who will respond?

Internal Blog

• Mission Statement – why start an internal blog?

• Clear guidelines – what do you expect to accomplish with this form of communication?

• Etiquette – what is and is not acceptable on a professional blog.

Blogging rules

• Make a commitment, must keep blogging

• Have something to say. • Have Mission Statement.• Clear guidelines.• Etiquette.

Why blog in a library?

• COMMUNICATION!!! • In a multi-location system or even a

system with two people, communication is key.

• What can the administration do to foster communication?

• Make it open to all employees • A professional forum • Foster internal customer satisfaction

Examples of Good Blogs

• http://www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm

• http://www.aadl.org/• http://papercuts.tscpl.org/• http://findlaylibrary.blogspot.com/

Examples of Good Blogs (cont.)

Library Construction

• http://www2.sls.lib.il.us/MVCC/construction/

• http://lndlibrary.blogspot.com/• http://

bradfordcountylibrary.blogspot.com/• http://newjmslibrary.blogspot.com/

“Bad” Library Blogs

•What’s a bad library blog? (From Walt Crawford)

• Short version: A blog that nobody in the community has any use for and that the librarians or other staff find painful to update.

• Even then, that’s not so much bad as pointless and a waste of time.

• A library blog that states an explicit mission and leaves that mission wildly unfulfilled–e.g., “We’ll provide weekly updates on new activities” as part of the banner on a blog that gets updated once every other month.

Examples of “bad” blogs

• http://bcplstarkefloridachildren.blogspot.com/

• http://www.nassaulibrary.org/rooseveltblog/

• http://sgvlibrary.blogspot.com/• http://blog.johnedwards.com

Blog examples from other agencies

• http://www.nea.gov/bigreadblog/ National Endowment of the Arts reading blogs

• http://www.loc.gov/blog/ Library of Congress

• http://mcrecycles.blogspot.com/ “Talkin’ Trash” the Montgomery County, MD Solid Waste Services Department blog.

Software and other technical

issues

• http://www.ojr.org/ojr/images/blog_software_comparison.cfm blog software comparison chart.

Resources• Blogging and RSS: a Librarian’s Guide by Michael

P. Sauers, Information Today, 2006 ISBN 9781573872683

• http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/technology/blogs.shtml Federal government website about blogs in government.

• Scoble, Robert and Israel, Shel, Naked conversations : how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers, John Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2006.

Contact Information

• Nancy J. Weissnancy.weiss@queenslibrary.org718-990-0780

• Bonnie Hodesbonnie.l.hodes@queenslibrary.org718-990-078089-11 Merrick Blvd.Jamaica, New York 11432