Final Project - Internal Blog

Using the social software we've studied in Five Weeks to a Social Library, the first need I would like to address at our library is that of internal communication. An internal blog would greatly enhance our communication, particularly among librarians who take shifts at the Reference Desk. (For example, by not spending time trying to troubleshoot the same printing problem another librarian just dealt with an hour earlier. Or not repeating the same search for the same reference question.)

Blogger is an ideal tool for this purpose. It is free and open source, and extremely simple to set up and use. There would be nothing to install on our computer or servers, and we could access the blog from any computer through the Web. Further, access to the blog (both posting and reading) can be restricted to invited members. It would therefore be a simple matter to set up the blog and invite only the reference librarians and other staff members who take shifts at the desk to participate.

Blogger allows labels to be assigned to each post. This would allow us to create categories for quick searching for old posts: for example, trouble-shooting, news, printing—and subject areas for reference resources we've located, like English, Psychology, or Business.

Ideally, whenever someone begins a shift at the Information Desk, she should log into the blog. It would then be a matter of moments to read updates from the previous shift, or add a new post when anything noteworthy happens.

Some of the librarians will probably find this easy to remember and will be anxious to use the new system. Others may find it hard to remember and probably will see it as more work than help. Having everyone subscribe to the email alert feature would ensure that everyone at least sees the new posts. Perhaps if these reminders are fairly frequent and are seen to be helpful—and if the blog administrator provides "gentle reminders" about reviewing the blog and posting—all the librarians and Info Desk staff will eventually make the blog a part of their routine.

Following are some links to articles and sample blogs that will demonstrate how libraries are effectively using internal blogs:

http://libraryvoice.com/archives/2005/01/28/blogging-for-internal-communications/

This article on Blogging and Internal Communication from the Library Voice blog (January 2005) sums up very succinctly the purpose of such a blog and how it works. One great idea in this post: have student assistants as well as staff receive email updates when there's a new blog post. This would help greatly on keeping student workers in the loop so they would have the right information when they serve patrons.

http://barnardrefdesk.blogspot.com/

Barnard Reference Desk internal blog. It includes messages about print cartridge replacement, database resources, etc. It uses Blogger, but is not organized by labels.

http://referencenewman.blogspot.com/

Newman Library Reference

Blog with "newsy" items. Index of reference resources on right, but the list is huge and overwhelming. Does contain a link to their wiki (which, incidentally, is a PB Wiki and requires a log-in.)

http://mplic.wordpress.com/

Memphis Public Library Reference Highway

Reference sites are organized into categories. It's a nice-looking and well-organized blog; however, it appears to have no function other than as a list of resources.

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/crous018/ic/

This is a "newsy" blog for staff. It doesn't appear to have Reference resources listed as part of its links.

Here's an article from the blog "Tame the Web" on ten guidelines for developing an internal library blog:

http://www.tametheweb.com/ttwblog/archives/000422.html

If Phase I (Reference Blog) goes well and is accepted by the staff, Phase II of this project might be a wiki, in which the Reference Resources, trouble-shooting tips on printers, etc. are organized in a more efficient manner.