Why Have A Blog

Why have a blog? ILI 2007 Masterclass: Using Blogs Effectively Within Your Library Sunday 7 October 2007 Resources bookmarked with this tag: ili2007-blog-masterclass Why have a blog? Kara Jones Research Publications Librarian Library & Learning Centre University of Bath [email_address]

Communicating

We have something to say:

Newsletters

Alerts

Emails

Posters

Flyers/brochures

Bookmarks

Listening:

Suggestion boxes

Feedback forms

Ask-A-Librarian

Communicating

Innovating communication

Blogs help to:

Give the library/librarian a voice

Provide up-to-date and timely information

Gather feedback from library users

Create a community

Keep a record

Innovating communication

Types of blogs

Personal

Professional

Internal only

Publicly accessible

Individual author

Collaborative or team effort

Subject or topic focused

Wide-ranging coverage

Text only

Multi-media, images, chat…

Types of blogs

Using blogs to enhance your library services

Blog because you have something to say

Is a blog the best tool for the purpose?

Good blog posts are:

Engaging

Participative

Frequent

Responsible

Look for examples of good practice – subscribe to feeds from similar blogs.

Enhancing Library services

Outreach services

About:

This blog is for teens aged 12-18 years old.

It is maintained by Mosman Library (Sydney, Australia)

Rules

1. Be excellent to each other

2. Keep language and links clean

3. Enjoy the space

<http://teens.mosmanlibraryblogs.com/> Building a community of library users Outreach services

News gathering and dissemination

Disseminate information to your library users:

*New websites

*Service notices

*Announcements

*Updates

*Event information

About : < http://innertemplelibrary.wordpress.com/about/> The aim of this selective current awareness weblog is to provide up-to-date information regarding new case law, changes in legislation, and legal news, which we hope will be of interest to lawyers practising in the UK. The content is selected and updated daily by information professionals on the staff of the Inner Temple Library in London. News gathering

‘ From the Librarian’s desk’

Thoughts from library staff encourage openness, transparency, and adds a voice to the library.

Michael Golrick: Random thoughts about librarianship, my role in the profession intermixed with occasional personal vignettes. < http://michaelgolrick.blogspot.com/> ‘ From the Librarian’s Desk’

Community building

LISNews.org

“ LISNews is a collaborative weblog [aka blog] devoted to current events and news in the world of Library and Information Science. … LISNews is updated frequently, usually 7 days a week. We are a non-commercial site, supported by our users.

About LISNews . <http://lisnews.org/about.shtml/>

Librarians benefit from the sharing of good practice and experiences. Blogs are a timely way to offer advice and commentary on current library issues. Community building

Library resources

Highlighting library resources

About us: < http://bathsciencenews.wordpress.com/> The aim is to provide a place for us to disseminate library information to our departments, and to provide an opportunity, usually via comments, for people to feedback to us. We’d love to have your ideas, suggestions, criticisms, thoughts on any of the posts we write so please do send them in. Library resources

Task groups

Capture and collect the thoughts of members involved in a task group or project.

Use archive features to record your work and tags to categorise sections.

About: <http://elearning.lse.ac.uk/blogs/socialsoftware/> This blog has been set up to facilitate communication between the project team who are working on a project to investigate social software and libraries. Task groups

Editorial commentary

For journals, newspapers, e-zines, etc.

Allows for faster responses to hot topics

... the editorial blog by Marydee Ojala, Editor of ONLINE: The Leading Magazine for Information Professionals . ONLINE Insider intends to extend the reach of the print publication, presenting a more timely commentary on the products, people, and events that shape today's online world. It explores new technologies as they impact the working lives of information professionals, explains resources for specific topic areas, and expounds on information management tools and techniques. < http://www.onlineinsider.net/default.html> Editorial commentary

Reflective journaling

Chronicle your professional development.

Reflection helps see a path of progression and make clear your achievements.

Share your activities

I'm a librarian from Singapore. The postings are library-related (mostly). I tend to ramble (my wife would agree). As with things in life, my thoughts are incidental (i.e. insignificant). DISCLAIMER - Views expressed here are strictly my own and do not represent the official stand of my employer. < http://ramblinglibrarian.blogspot.com/> Reflective journaling

Blog as website

Experimentation with blogs as organisational library websites

Mission Statement The existence of the Ann Arbor District Library assures public ownership of print collections, digital resources, and gathering spaces for the citizens of the library district. We are committed to sustaining the value of public library services for the greater Ann Arbor community through the use of traditional and innovative technologies. <http://www.aadl.org/aboutus/> Blog as website

Embedded blogs

Blogs can be embedded within other platforms or services as a lightweight news application.

This blog is embedded in the University of Bath wiki. It is a News service with blog functionality, such as reverse chronological order posts, comments, and tags. <https://wiki.bath.ac.uk/pages/viewrecentblogposts.action?key=Inrep> Embedded blogs