LIBR 246-13 Building the Social Library Online

 

VISUAL APPEARANCE: 

 

     In my book, a blog with a successful "visual appearance" is one that shoots for simplicity while still offering visual variety.  By simplicity, I mean that not too many visual elements (such as pictures, videos, or differing background graphics) are simultaneously present in any screen capture.  An example of a blog with a successful appearance is David Silver's blog, "Silver in SF," at http://silverinsf.blogspot.com/ or "The Information Literacy Land of Confusion" at www.information-literacy.net/.  Do you notice how the visual layouts of these blogs are simple yet still offer visual variety?  Both blogs consist of two columns, (which I now favor instead of one or three columns).  Blogs with only one column tend to have bigger, monotonous clumps of text -- which tend to make me lose my appetite just like an overloaded plate of food, (see Stephen Abram's blog for examples of bigger, monotonous clumps of text at http://stephenslighthouse.sirsi.com/).  The "Silver in SF" blog and "Information Literacy" blog also effectively offer visual "variety" by experimenting with different font types, sizes, and colors, especially David Silver's – elegant and very cool!
     Numerous examples of blogs with too many visual elements can be found among the profiles of members of Flickr.com.  Granted, blogs loaded with pictures (and/or videos, graphics, etc.) may be perfect for someone wishing to purposely express information mainly through visuals, but I believe library blogs should not resemble a picture-loaded blog from Flickr -- such a library blog would risk being more for "show" and not for "substance," (i.e., promotion and collaboration concerning library news, resources, services, etc.). 
     The authors of blogs -- especially those of library blogs -- should furthermore be extra careful notto clutter.  (Clutter: "To fill or cover with scattered or disordered things that impede movement or reduce effectiveness," www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=clutter.) When you visit someone's cubicle or home or any other dwelling place and all you see is clutter, what do you think?  "Ugh!", right?  It's no different when you visit a blog with too many things going on.  Some blogs can also appear to be cluttered with too much text, not just graphics. Check out Stephen Abram's blog at http://stephenslighthouse.sirsi.com/. Although the content of the blog can very informative, my human nature is put off by all of the text being the same type, the same size, and the same color.  In contrast, varying use of font types, sizes and colors can save a blog from having that cluttered text look, (see "Silver in SF" again for a simple example of what I mean at http://silverinsf.blogspot.com/).  Despite a significant amount of text, Silver’s blog is easy on the eyes although it subtly experiments with different font types, sizes, and colors – and there’s also an attractive contrast between the bigger fonts of the main column at the left and the smaller fonts in the smaller column at the right.  If all of the text on Silver’s blog was the same type, the same size, and the same color, it would definitely have that monotonously cluttered look like Mr. Abram's blog -- yes, I said it!

 

FREQUENCY: Posting not too often and not too rarely!

 

     Phil Bradley is posting (almost) every day, (http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/).  The author(s) of “The Information Literacy Land of Confusion" (at www.information-literacy.net) are posting approximately every 2-10 days or so. Actually, it looks like the latter blog’s longer, somewhat more 'serious' posts are posted every week or so, while shorter, more humorous posts, (e.g., "Cooking with Pooh: Worst Book Title Ever?" http://www.information-literacy.net/2008/01/cooking-with-pooh-worst-book-title-ever.html) are posted every 1 or 2 days – to keep things “light,” I guess =) . Personally, I would not try to commit to a blog which posts something every 1-2 days – I would be too afraid to miss an immensely important post just because (for some reason) I couldn’t be online that day. I understand that I don’t have to “drop in” on a blog every day, that I could just “catch up” with a very active blog every few days or so, but come on people! … all of that begins to pile up too quickly! I’d rather be committed to a girlfriend, pardon me, a blog that requires a little less “maintenance” – yes, it makes for a happier relationship! =)
     On the other side, I think most of us would agree that a blog which is rarely maintained may not be worth visiting. By “rarely,” I’m referring to a blog that creates a post less than twice a month or so. I’ll even accept three posts per month if we’re talking about some high-quality stuff … but I have yet to find such a blog =( .

 

WRITING STYLE:  Ah yes … my favorite! =)

 

     "Writing style."  Should I be ‘straight-up’ and say that some people just have it, and some people just don't?  That either you're born with it or you're not? Even though it’s tempting to immediately say these things, we gotta (yes, “gotta”) be careful not to “jump the gun”!   Regardless of differing writing skills and talents, a blog’s success is dependent on whether or not its author’s current writing style is agreeable with the author’s target audience. A “nerdy” writing style or a “ghetto” writing style can be either successful or unsuccessful, depending on whether or not the style is agreeable and/or resonating with the target audience. I almost “jumped the gun” and began to say that it’s best to communicate (or write) in a “story-telling” kind of manner, as opposed to communicating like a serious newscaster. Well, what if I’m purposely seeking a no-nonsense, serious, and mature audience? In this case, I’m probably not going to begin by communicating in the way I do with the neighborhood teenagers. (With that said, I agree with my classmates who say, to paraphrase, that a blog should immediately indicate what kind of a blog it is, e.g., A blog written by _______ for _______ . Some declaration like this may help eliminate the chance of someone unintentionally walking into the wrong neighborhood!)  My writing style as the author of a blog would depend on my intended audience – PERIOD. And if the author of a blog fails to see this, (and furthermore fails to adapt to the preferences of her or his intended audience), then this blog would probably  suffer and not be successful. I don’t believe I should try to cite and provide hyperlinks to blogs with “successful” writing styles because doing so would require for me to have a personal conversation with the authors of numerous blogs to ask, “Is your writing style successful?” Each answer to an author’s level of “success” would depend on whether or not the author’s writing style is resonating with and engaging the target audience.

 

Just as not all library users are the same, neither should all library blogs be the same. As long as the style of a blog’s author matches the style of the intended audience, the blog should be a successful and effective one.

 

~Raymond Andrade