Technology Tuesday Webcast Series:

1
Technology Tuesday Webcast Series
Want To Go Blogging?

• March 9, 2004
• Presenter Lori Bowen Ayre
• LBAyre_at_galecia.com

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Agenda

• What are Blogs and Bloggers?
• Blogging and Libraries
• Planning Your Library Blog
• Best Practices
• Reading Blogs and RSS Feeds
• Where to Learn More

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Bloggers
Residents of Planet Blogistan or Web Logs
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In The BeginningAll Blogs Were Personal

• chronological lists of links to stuff that
  interests the author (blogger), interspersed with
  information, editorializing and personal asides
• often impassioned and sometimes sloppy they
  frequently surprise and just as frequently lose
  focus
• -Rosenberg (1999)

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Today, Web Logs Are

• also a tool to do what we've always done
  collect, categorize, and make information
  accessible. After all, adding a blog to your
  library's site is free and easy. It is also a
  quick way for you and your staff to communicate
  information to your public and, if you choose, to
  provide a forum for your public to join the
  discussion.

-Blake Carver (2003)
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Library Organizational Blogs

• news about the library or community
• new arrivals books, VCRs, CDs, DVDs
• list of upcoming events
• staff picks for the week
• most circulated/requested books
• new in the childrens department
• teen book club

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Blogging and Libraries

• Why do I care?

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How Public Blogs Benefit the Library

• website can be a destination for library and
  community news
• can be responsive to patron feedback
• can quickly respond to current events
• can allow for interaction between patrons and
  library using comments
• more involvement with website by multiple staff
  members

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Escondido Public Library
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Library Provides Online BookClubFor Kids
http//bloggerbookclub.blogspot.com/
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Librarys Genealogy Blog Enriching Lives with
Ancestral Ties

• http//www2.sls.lib.il.us/mt/enriching/

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Redwood City Liblog
13
Planning Your Library Blog
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Components of a Blog

• sequential entries
• most recent on top
• updated frequently

• informal feeling
• clear theme or purpose
• available for syndication

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Marin County Free Library Blog
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Blog Planning Steps

• define purpose of blog
• set expectations
• who will post entries?
• are comments from public allowed?
• if so, what is policy on deleting posts?
• how often will blog be updated?
• define style and accessibility guidelines
• define how posts will be archived
• consider getting help with set-up
• easier to blog than set up a blog

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Purpose of Blog

• who is it for
• the community
• your patrons
• other librarians
• what kind of information can visitors count on
  finding
• acquisitions news
• readers advisories
• news about events at the library / in the
  community / in the library world
• book reviews
• opinions and editorials

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Expectations of Bloggers

• decide who will be the authors
• define topics/events for each author
• schedule how often does each person posts
• provide guidelines for length of posts
• decide if links will launch in same window or new
  one -- make sure authors know how to do it
• if using images, make sure authors know how to
  upload

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Expectations of Public

• provide mission statement
• purpose
• theme
• frequency of updates
• can public provide feedback?
• comments
• email

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Archiving Blog Entries

• old entries always available by date
• can also be available by topic
• define topic categories before starting
• should relate to mission
• limit number of topics to 10 or less

Tame the Web Libraries and Technology Archive
Categories
Source http//homepage.mac.com/mstephens7/B143020
931/
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Choosing the Right Technology

• can you answer yes to following questions?
• we have a server that can be used for our blog
• we have a person who can download and configure
  blogging software
• we have a person who can integrate our existing
  website with new blogging page so blog page has
  the same look and feel and we have links between
  home page and blog page
• if you can, you can install blogging software
• if you cannot, you should use a hosted service

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Blogging Software

• Movable Type
• http//www.movabletype.org/
• desktop blogging software
• free for non-commercial use
• MT provides installation services too
• Typepad
• http//www.typepad.com/site/features/
• desktop blogging software - inexpensive but not
  free
• Pmachine
• http//www.pmachine.com/
• content management software or available as
  hosted service
• iBlog
• http//www.lifli.com/Products/iBlog/main.htm
• desktop software for Max OS X

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Hosted Blog Services

• Blogger.com
• http//www.blogger.com/
• yourname.blogger.com or you can host blog on your
  own domain
• Blogspot.com
• http//www.blogger.com/blogspot-admin/
• yourname.blogspot.com
• tBLOG
• http//www.tblog.com/
• yourname.tblog.com
• Xanga
• http//www.xanga.com/
• xanga.com/you
• for more see http//www.lights.com/weblogs/hostin
  g.html

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Advantages Disadvantages of Hosted Service

• advantages
• no setup
• anyone with login can contribute
• great way to try it out

• disadvantages
• templates are restrictive
• URL not on your domain (usually)
• free services are limited

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Best Practices
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Each blog entry should.

• have a title
• be dated

• be signed by author
• optional visitors can post comments

Source http//www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/
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Most Recent Entries are Always At Top of Page
Source http//www.lessig.org/blog/
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Archived Entries Available by Date and Topic
Source http//www.workingfaster.com/sitelines/
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Frequent Postings

• blogs should be updated 2 or 3 times per week
• the more frequent the updates, the more likely
  people are to return

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Available for RSS Readers

• an RSS reader (or news aggregator) is software
  that allows user to collect all new blog entries
  (RSS feeds) in one place rather than visiting
  each web log sequentially
• a blog is syndicated when it can be read by RSS
  readers

• formats that can be read by RSS readers are
• XML
• RSS 1.0
• RSS 2.0
• RDF
• the blogging software usually makes syndicating
  very easy to do

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Reading Blogs

• Staying in the loop with RSS Feeds and Blogrolls

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Benefits of Reading Blogs

• increase awareness of library issues
• networking opportunities
• venting

• weblogs have become an outlet for the average
  librarian to connect with others around the
  world, exchange ideas, and belong to a group.
• Steven M. Cohens November 9, 2003 Library Stuff
  post entitled The New Breed of Library Weblogs

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Steven M. Cohen on RSS feeds

• In order to keep current, like many librarians I
  had all of the web sites that I visited daily
  bookmarked (about 50) in my browser at work and I
  would painstakingly visit each site throughout
  the day .
• Now, I get almost all of the content I want from
  all of these sites delivered to one place as soon
  as the site is updated, saving precious time.
• The most amazing part is that I am notified when
  any of the sites I subscribe to are updated
  within minutes. And I didn't have to be an
  experienced techie to set-it-up.

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Subscribing to an RSS Feed

• copy the link
• paste in subscribe box of your RSS Reader

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A Peek at an RSS Feeder Bloglines
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Blogrolling

• definition (noun) The section of a weblog that
  lists the sites that the blogger reads on a
  regular basis.  This is usually located on the
  side of a blogger's frontpage, or on a separate
  page linked off of the frontpage.

Source http//www.microcontentnews.com/resources/
glossary/

• benefits
• great way to share RSS feeds
• the new bookmarks or favorites

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How to Learn More
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Online Course The Beginners Guide to Weblogs
and RSS

• Steven Cohen online course via Learning Times
• 4-week course - live online session once per week
  
• sessions April 6, April 13, April 20, and April
  27, 2004 from 200 pm to 300 pm EDT (GMT -4)
• 150
• http//www.learningtimes.com/rss115.shtm

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Good Books on Blogging

• Essential Blogging by Powers, Doctorow, Dornfest,
  et al. OReilly Associates, 2002. 29.95
  http//www.oreilly.com/catalog/essblogging/
• We Blog Publishing Online with Web Logs by
  Bausch, Haughey Hourihan. John Wiley Sons,
  2002. 29.95.