Blogs and Wikis

Blogs & Wikis A RRLC Pizza Workshop with Kate Pitcher November 12, 2007

Tonight’s Workshop Objectives:
Define blogs & wikis
Understand the difference between blogs, wikis, and other websites
Search for blogs & wikis
Understand what RSS is and learn how to subscribe to RSS feeds
Create a blog
Create a wiki

What is all the hype about?

Blogs
“…online journals or websites where users can post commentary, links and news…”
“[Blogs] enable the rapid production and consumption of Web-based publications”

Vocabulary to Learn…
Permalink
Blogroll
Syndication
RSS
Tagging
Ping
Trackback

What makes a blog different?
Dated entries (“posts”)
Each “post” has a permanent webpage created automatically (“permalink”)
Links to favorite or recommended blogs (“blogroll”)
Content is syndicated to users (“RSS feed”)
Readers can leave comments
Posts are archived
Ping search engines when you update your blog

Why a blog?
Categorization of posts
Tagging the content of posts
No need to know HTML
Role of hyperlink
Interactivity with reader
Frequency & currency of content
Blogging community

St. Joseph County Public Library

Anatomy of a post…

SUNY Geneseo, Milne Library

Clicking on Comments in the SJCPL Blog… A comment left by a library patron on the Milne Library News blog…

Integrate & collaborate with your campus courseware or portal….

BLOG ACTIVITY #1
What makes a blog different from a webpage?
Compare the following three sites :
Politico http://www.politico.com
Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com
Instapundit http://www.instapundit.com

Where can I find blogs?
Google Blog Search http://search.blogger.com/
Blogarama http:// www.blogarama.com /
Technorati http:// technorati.com
IceRocket http://www.icerocket.com/
Blog Search Engine http:// www.blogsearchengine.com /

BLOG ACTIVITY #2
Use a search engine to find a blog on the topic of…
Library 2.0

Some statistics…
150 blogs in the late 1990s¹
4.12 million blogs in 2003¹
57 million Americans read blogs every day³
5% of Internet users use RSS aggregators to get news²
8% of Internet users have created a blog or web diary³
Sources : ¹ Trammell & Ferdig, 2004. ² Pew Internet & American Life Project, January 2005 ³ Pew Internet & American Life Project, July 2006

Why should your library have a blog?
News
Current events
Interaction with library patrons
Market and promote different library services
Easy to create, maintain and update
No HTML skills necessary
User feedback
FREE!

What makes a successful blog?
currency
frequency
relevance to library or patron’s needs
well written
interaction with patrons through comments
know your purpose and focus
simplicity
lots of hyperlinks
syndicate the content with an RSS feed
publicize

Tips for successful blogging…
Collaborate
Edit
Policy
Interaction
Purpose

Some library blogs…
Ann Arbor District Library
http://www.aadl.org/
Moraine Valley Community College
http://www2.sls.lib.il.us/MVCC/librarynews/
Stark County Law Library
http://temp.starklawlibrary.org/blog/
Georgia State University Library
http://www.library.gsu.edu/news/index.asp?typeID=62
Waterboro Public Library
http:// www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm

What you need:
Application (many free services will host your blog: Blogger , WordPress , LiveJournal , etc. )
Commitment (“buy-in” from your contributors)
Technical support (at least one person who can fool with the code behind the application if you want to host it on your own server)
Training

Free blog applications
Blogger http://www2.blogger.com/
WordPress http://wordpress.org/
LiveJournal http://www.livejournal.com/
Diaryland (hosted) http://www.diaryland.com/
Pitas (hosted) http://www.pitas.com
Slash (open source app) http://www.slashcode.com
Greymatter (open source app) http://noahgrey.com/greysoft/
LifeType (open source app) http://www.lifetype.net/

Other blog applications (cost $$)
Movable Type ($) http://www.movabletype.org
TypePad ($) http://www.sixapart.com/typepad/index
Radio Userland ($) http://radio.userland.com
Manila ($) http://manila.userland.com/

BLOG ACTIVITY #3
Create your blog:
Go to Blogger and create an account
Choose a URL for your blog.
Pick a template.
Write your first post!

What is RSS?

What in the heck is RSS??
R eal S imple S yndication
R ich S ite S ummary RSS = XML code
RSS is the language used to read headlines (or “feeds”) from blogs or websites
.htm = .rss
Graphics used to indicate RSS files

How RSS Feeds work… Blog Today’s post Archived posts RSS Feed Feeds into an aggregator or Newsreader Subscribers Subscribers Subscribers Subscribers

RSS Advantages
visitors can access multiple sites without having to go to each one
subscribe to the RSS feeds of sites you like and the content comes to you
use a news aggregator to read the headlines and links in one place
do not need to give out your email address to web sites to receive updates
will need a aggregator to read content
Jardin, Xeni. “Why RSS is Everywhere.” Wired. April 2004. 19 May 2004 http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.04/start.html?pg=7 .

How do I find RSS feeds?
Look for an icon marked XML or RSS on your favorite website or blog. It usually looks something like these 
Do a search in Google or another search engine for rss feeds or your favorite subject followed by RSS
Use Feedster or another search engine specifically designed to find RSS feeds

Example of a website’s RSS Feeds directory

The Washington Post website: RSS feeds are available for all sections of the newspaper

Example of XML code which makes up the Washington Post’s RSS feed for the headlines from their daily paper...

Newsreaders
Plug-ins ( example: Sage )
Web-based ( example: Bloglines )
Standalone applications for your desktop ( example: FeedDemon )

RSS Newsreaders…
Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com
FeedDemon http://www.feeddemon.com
NewsGator http://www.newsgator.com
Sage http://sage.mozdev.org/ (Firefox users)
FeedReader http://www.feedreader.com/
AmphetaDesk http://www.disobey.com/amphetadesk

Library-related RSS Feeds
Pubmed http://pmbrowser.info
Library Stuff http://www.librarystuff.net/index.rdf
LISNews http://www.lisnews.com/lisnews.rss
Library Jobs http://feedster.com/makerss.php?
Research Buzz http://www.researchbuzz.com/researchbuzz.rss
Resource Shelf http://www.resourceshelf.com/resourceshelf.xml
LISFeeds.com http://www.lisfeeds.com

RSS ACTIVITY #1
Go to Bloglines http://www.bloglines.com
Create an account.
To subscribe to your own feed, you will need to go to “Add Feeds” in the left sidebar.
Type or copy & paste the URL of your blog into the search box.
Click on the checkbox next to your blog and click Submit.
You will notice your blog title show up in the left sidebar. You are now subscribed to your own blog!

Wikis Image courtesy of The Content Wrangler at : www.thecontentwrangler.com

What is a wiki?
Collaborative website
Users may edit, add content or delete
May be used as a repository, discussion forum, or composition system
Low barrier to use

The best known example… Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Example of a Wikipedia article

What makes a wiki different?
Multiple users may edit content
Searchable
No formal HTML coding experience needed
Very similar to many content management systems
Upload documents and files

Anatomy of a wiki

DC Comics Database Project http://en.dcdatabaseproject.com/Main_Page

How does a wiki work?
Most wikis either use a downloaded client on your desktop or through a server; or are web-based through an Internet browser
Edit  script sends a raw text file to your browser in an editable form, allowing you to modify the content of the page
Save  clicking the button sends the modified text back to the wiki server, which replaces the existing text file with your changed version
When you request a wiki page, the script gathers the corresponding text file, changes its marked-up text into HTML, turns user-selected words into hyperlinks, inserts this information into a page template, and sends the result to your browser

Useful features…
Track recent changes to wiki
(RSS feeds can be incorporated so users can be notified immediately)
History of page revisions
(With some wiki apps, you can revert back to a previous version of the wiki)
Accessibility of documents and information through a web-based browser

Email notification of changes

Some disadvantages…
Anyone (if you don’t require login) can contribute and edit documents
Must use special “wiki” editing syntax to make changes or contribute content – this can be cumbersome for some users to learn

WIKI ACTIVITY #1:
Go to https://my.pbwiki.com and register for a wiki account.
Next, go to the Workshop Wiki: http://librarysocialsoftware.pbwiki.com and login (password is rrlc ).
Next, click on New Page and create your own wiki page. Give it a name.
Finally, add some text to your page. Make sure to include your name and your library.

When to use a wiki
Collaborate, create and store
Wikis are …“topical; carved from the inside out” (M.C. Morgan, Bemidji State University, http://ferret.bemidjistate.edu/~morgan/cgi-bin/blogsAndWiki.pl?WikiAndBlog ) Users Groups Easy Create Wiki Add Content Delete Edit

Library wiki examples
LIS Wiki http:// liswiki.org/wiki/Main_Page
Library Instruction Wiki http:// instructionwiki.org/Sharing_resources
Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
ALA Professional Tips Wiki http:// wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/index.php/Main_Page

Ohio University Libraries http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki/index.php/Main_Page

Milne Library WebDev Wiki http:// intranet.lib.geneseo.edu/webdevwiki/doku.php?id =home

Accidental Map Librarian Workshops (Boulder, CO) http:// maplibraries.pbwiki.com /

Why use a wiki in your library?
Document management (i.e. training documents, manuals, meeting minutes, etc.)
Archive
Intranet
Collaboration by many (faculty, students, community users, etc.)
Knowledge base
Project management tool
Staff internal communication

What you need:
Application (many free software apps: PBwiki , Wetpaint , MediaWiki , DokuWiki ; just to name a few)
Commitment (“buy-in” from your contributors)
Technical support (at least one person who can fool with the code behind the application)
Training

Web-based Wiki tools (all free)
PBwiki http://pbwiki.com/
Wetpaint http://www.wetpaint.com
SeedWiki http://www.seedwiki.com
Wikia http://www.wikia.com/wiki/Wikia

Wiki server software apps
MediaWiki (open source) http:// www.mediawiki.org /
DokuWiki (free; open source) http://wiki.splitbrain.org/wiki:dokuwiki
TWiki (open source app) http:// twiki.org

Blogs vs. Wikis: What should you use?
What do you want the software to do?
Is it for the public or internal use?
What is the technology “aptitude” of those you want involved?

When to use a blog:
You need a tool for communication purposes within a group
“chronological; staying on top of things” ( M.C. Morgan, Bemidji State University, http://ferret.bemidjistate.edu/~morgan/cgi-bin/blogsAndWiki.pl?WikiAndBlog )

When to use a wiki:
You need a place to store and collaborate on group documents
“topical; carved from the inside out” ( M.C. Morgan, Bemidji State University, http://ferret.bemidjistate.edu/~morgan/cgi-bin/blogsAndWiki.pl?WikiAndBlog )

Go pbwiki.com and log into your account.
Underneath the box for “Join a wiki”, click on the link for “Create a wiki”.
Create your own wiki!!
WIKI ACTIVITY #2

Kate Pitcher
Reference/Instruction & Web Development Librarian Milne Library, Room 201A
SUNY Geneseo
Contact Information: Email: [email_address] Phone: (585) 245-5064 Web: http://www.geneseo.edu/~pitcher AIM: beebugkate
This presentation is available at:
http:// librarysocialsoftware.pbwiki.com

Blogs and Wikis

by kepitcher on Nov 14, 2007

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Blogs and Wikis — Presentation Transcript