Graham Lavender on blogs and Twitter at John Abbott 2010

Blogs and Twitter
for Individuals and Institutions
Presented by
Graham Lavender
McGill Library
October 22, 2010

Everything I know about blogging I learned from John Dupuis

Join the conversation
Promote yourself
Why blog (or use Twitter)?

“A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”
- Wikipedia
What is a blog?

Top 10 Blogs

“Biblioblogosphere”
LISWiki
Walt Crawford’s Liblog Landscape
LIS blogs

Currency
Wide range of viewpoints
Learn about the community
Why you should read blogs

Ask your friends for recommendations
Blogrolls: read your favourite bloggers’ favourite blogs
Set up an RSS feed reader
Leave comments
How to read blogs

You are an exhibitionist
You were inspired by a really excellent talk
You enjoy writing
You want to impress potential employers
You want to become a participant in the online conversation
Reasons to start your own blog

Reasons to not start your own blog
http://www.flickr.com/photos/remibridot/2218573670/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/verityatthedisco/4193432039/

Creating a blog
My advice: sign up for a free account at WordPress

My Blog
http://inspiredlibraryschoolstudent.wordpress.com/

Have a focus
Write at least two interesting posts before you start advertising
Don’t obsess over the layout at first
Advertise, advertise, advertise
starting your own blog

Start with your friends, classmates, colleagues
Add yourself to the LISWiki
Leave comments on other blogs, especially ones on a similar topic
Write posts linking to posts from other blogs
Add your URL to your email signature and business card
Advertising your blog

Visit your favourite blogs, and try to discover some new ones
Don't worry that you always have to be 100% original and groundbreaking
Solicit guest posts
Don't take yourself too seriously
Staying Motivated

Established bloggers want to help you
Not many ILT students and information technicians are blogging
Start thinking and writing about the trends and issues they don't teach in school
You have more to say than you think
For students

McGill Library has two blogs:
The McGill Library Blog (for students, faculty, and other clients)
The McGill Library Staff Blog (for McGill Library staff)
McGill Library blogs

McGill Library blog (for clients)
http://blogs.mcgill.ca/library/

McGill Library Staff Blog

Prepare a business case
Start with a small group of people who are ready and willing to post
Create guidelines
Get support from the top
Don’t worry that it will be as hard to maintain as a website
Lessons Learned: the McGill Library Experience

Microblogging (Twitter)
Micro = very small
Blogging = blogging

I wrote about the CLA on my blog
I blogged about the CLA
I posted a blog post about the CLA
But
I wrote about the CLA on Twitter
I tweeted about the CLA
I posted a tweet about the CLA
Word usage

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1417

Like blogging, but each post is limited to 140 characters
Popular with celebrities and “celebrities”
Post to Twitter through text message, browser, or desktop application
Lifehacker’s Five Best Twitter Clients
TWitter

Let’s try it out

Twitter is:
More immediate
Less flexible in terms of length & content
Why not do both?
Twitter vs. Blogging

What I’m doing right now
What I’m going to be doing in the near future
What my friends are doing now/in the near future
What you should be doing now/in the near future
Twitter for individuals

At McGill:
Promote new services and events
Interact directly with students (examples: #1, #2)
Tweet while working on chat reference
Cheat sheet of possible tweets
Training (more than you might expect)
Twitter for Institutions

Accept that it will be scary
Use it to join the conversation
Use it to promote yourself
There’s nothing stopping you – DO IT!
Conclusion

Thank you!
Look me up online:
The Inspired Library School Student
Twitter: @guybrariang
My shared items on Google Reader
Facebook
LinkedIn
Flickr
Thank You

Graham Lavender on blogs and Twitter at John Abbott 2010

by guybrariang

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Graham Lavender on blogs and Twitter at John Abbott 2010 Presentation Transcript