Week 1- Blogs

WOW! OK...so I'd heard of blogs and I've subscribed to bloglines and I've read them. But, I'd never tried to create one or honestly considered how they could be part of our library's services. So, I approached this week with mild curiosity and a willingness to listen. Did I have a lot to learn! :)

I've now tried out WordPress and looked at Blogger and discovered that I need to spend some time really playing with the features to see what all I can do and which platform I prefer. Right now, I'm leaning towards WordPress but I think it's just because I've spent more time in it and so it's more comfortable. I even created an account with MySpace and my daughters helped me with layouts, pictures, and a song but I haven't started the Blog on that site yet. This really opened my eyes to the possibilities for reaching more library users with all types of information in a variety of formats. We no longer have to hope that people will come to us or to our web site, we can go to them. We can create a Blog and formally invite people to join us on an information adventure.

I like the personal feel of interactive participation instead of just posting information on a web site and hoping people find it. I think what makes a blog successful is providing the option for people to participate and provide feedback or ask questions. If the information is current and relevant, it can stir quite a bit of discussion and everyone likes to feel they are a part of what's happening. Everyone likes to be heard and acknowledged.