blogs ~
wow
less what, more how, more
a presentation by Amanda Etches-Johnson, IL2008

wow
less what, more how, more
http://academiclibrary2point0.pbwiki.com/blogs-il2008

why blog?
• share news & events
• reach out to your users
• chronicle the library
• give your library a human voice
• syndicate, syndicate, syndicate

why blog?
• easy
• effective
• conversational + interactive
• distributed

a word
about RSS
• your users can read your content
even when they’re not on your
page.
• you can reuse your own content
on other pages.
{ check out
}
RSS in Plain English

wow
putting the
in your blog

designmatters
• simple
• clean
• useful links
{ }
http://www.loc.gov/blog/

what’s your
mission?
• why are you blogging?
• purpose & scope dictate content
{ }
http://library.duke.edu/blogs/scholcomm/about/

know your
audience
• this dictates content, design, everything!
• make no assumptions
• contextualize
{ }
http://www.emich.edu/halle/what_is_rss.html

drop the
PR-speak
• It’s not a press release
• Don’t speak as “The Library”!
• Third person? Passive voice? NOT
compelling!
• Humour is good
{ }
http://www.loc.gov/blog/?p=353

the more
the merrier
• Share authorship
• Who? Staff who are enthusiastic and
enjoy writing
{ }
http://www.libraryforlife.org/blogs/lifeline/index.php

steal that idea
• What are they doing right? (and how can
we copy it?)
{ http://labs.nypl.org/
}
http://library.mcmaster.ca/lab

got substance? add
style
• It’s not hard to make your blog pretty
• Use other media (images, video, etc.)
{ }
http://library.plymouth.edu/page/2

got content?
get it out!
• Display headlines on your home page
• Get it on other pages
{ }
http://www.lib.k-state.edu/

make your blog a
2-way street
• Open up comments
• Engage your users
• Have a comment policy
• Invite the community to self-moderate
{ }
http://bfgb.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/the-oxford-english-dictionary/

more for less
• why blog when you can microblog?
• status updates, quick info, reference
questions, etc.
{ }
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/ugl/
http://twitter.com/yalescilib

questions?
{ advice?
experiences to share? }

thanks!
{ }
http://academiclibrary2point0.pbwiki.com