Week 1: Blogs

Week of Feb 12th, 2007

• Introduction
• Presentations
• Activities
• Readings
• Examples

Introduction

This week is all about blogs! By the end of the week, you should:

• have a general understanding of the technical principles behind the way blogs work
• have a firm grasp on blogging terminology
• understand the basic differences between the major blogging platforms
• have formulated your own ideas on how to write good blog content
• have explored library blog “success stories” and be able to discuss your own ideas about what constitutes a “successful” blog.

Presentations

Webcast - February 13, 7:00 pm Eastern: A 21st Century Printing Press: Blogs as Publishing Mechanism - Rebecca Hedreen, Distance Education Librarian, Southern Connecticut State University.

• Streaming audio, text chat, and presentation slides about blogs (only works in IE)
• Presentation Audio (MP3) or Presentation Audio (WMA)
• Chat Transcript
• Rebecca's Presentation Blog

Webcast 2 - February 15, 2:00 pm Eastern: Next Steps: Taking Your Library’s Blog from So-So to Superb - Nanette Donohue, Technical Services Manager, Champaign Public Library

• Streaming audio, text chat, and presentation slides about blogs (only works in IE)
• Presentation Audio (MP3) or Presentation Audio (WMA)
• Chat Transcript
• Nanette's Presentation Slides

Screencast: Duck Soup: Using a Blog to Provide Product Support (blip.tv) - Karen Harker, Digital Infrastructure Research & Development unit, UT Southwestern Medical Center Library

Screencast: From Writer's Block to Library Blog (blip.tv) - Anne Welsh, Bibliographic Services, DrugScope; Editor, Catalogue & Index: Periodical of the CILIP Cataloguing and Indexing Group.

Screencast: Using the Tools: How Millenials Use the World Wide Web (blip.tv) - Jami Schwarzwalder, Recent Graduate, Indiana University MLS Program

Technologies and Activities

1. If you haven't already done so, introduce yourself on your blog! (When you were accepted into the course, you were given a username and password to log into Drupal, the content management system we're using for this course. More info on how to post to your blog, check out the course wiki).
2. Explore a few of the examples below and think about what makes a blog "successful" (e.g.: what makes a blog work?). Post your thoughts & ideas to your blog.
3. Take a look at some of the blogging tools outlined in this Wikipedia article. If you were to start a blog for your library, which blogging tool would you use and why? Post your thoughts to your blog.
4. Take a look at the details for your final project, the proposal, to become familiar with the requirements. Start thinking about what technology you may want to focus on in your proposal.

Readings

Please read these as your interests dictate and as time allows. These are not strictly required, but will aid you in your understanding of the subject.

The following list is broken down into two categories: "Basic Readings " and "Further Readings". If you have limited experience with blogs and blogging technology, you may find it useful to read some of the articles in the "Basic" category first. The "Further Readings" provide an opportunity to explore blogs in greater detail and might be of interest to those who already have a firm grasp on the technology (or if you are just really into blogs!).

Basic Readings

Anatomy of a Blog - as the title suggests, this article outlines the elements and features that make a blog a blog. A great place to start if you have limited experience with blogs.

Weblogs: A History and Perspective - a foundational article that describes the history of the format.

Choose the Right Blog Tool - outlines the things to think about and questions to ask when choosing a blogging tool/platform.

Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services - an overview of the technology, things to consider before setting up a library blog, and some possible uses of blogs in libraries.

Blogs for Libraries - more examples of the potential uses of blogs in libraries.

Further Readings

Blogging Strategy 101: A Primer - while this article discusses blogging from a corporate perspective, it includes a number of useful tips & strategies that could easily be applied to libraries.

St. Joseph County (IN) Public Library: How Do You Spell "Blog"? - an overview of how one public library uses a blog for outreach.

Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes - a "must-read" for anyone responsible for blog design!

Weblog Ethics - a discussion of the importance of being an "ethical blogger".

Examples

Here are examples of libraries using the technologies and of some of the tools libraries are using to make this happen.

Libraries

• Ohio University Libraries Business Blog (academic)
• Kansas State University Library Blogs (academic)
• Virginia Commonwealth University Library Suggestion Blog (academic)
• Ann Arbor District Library (public)
• Madison-Jefferson County Public Library (public)
  
• Western Springs History (public)
• St. Joseph County Public Library GameBlog (public)
• MabryOnline.org (school)
• ... for more library blogs, check out the Blogging Libraries Wiki.

Tools

• wordpress.org - a free, open source blogging tool for those who have their own domain & hosting package.
  
• wordpress.com - free, hosted blogs using the open source blogging platform, WordPress (no domain & host required, your blog will be at http://yourblogname.wordpress.com).
• Blogger - owned by Google, Blogger provides free hosted blogs as well as a blogging tool for those with their own domains.