Blogs in a Library Environment

1
Blogs in a Library Environment

• Kathy Petlewski
• Plymouth District Library
• mkp_at_plymouthlibrary.org

2
What Is a Blog?

• A Weblog is a hierarchy of text, images, media
  objects and data, arranged chronologically, that
  can be viewed in an HTML browser.
• Dave Winer Weblogs at Harvard Law
  http//blogs.law.harvard.edu/whatMakesAWeblogAWebl
  og
• accessed 8/23/2005

3
Easier Definition From Webopedia

• Short for Web log, a blog is a Web page that
  serves as a publicly accessible personal journal
  for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs
  often reflect the personality of the author.

4
Characteristics of a Blog

• Tend to have short entries
• Updated on a regular basis
• Fewer bells and whistles than web pages
• Displayed in reverse chronological order, with
  the newest coming up first

5
Components of a Typical Blog

• Title of Blog Unique Name for your blog
• Title of Individual Entry or Posting
• Date Stamp for each entry This is the time the
  entry is posted to the blog.
• Main Body of individual entry - Sentence,
  paragraph or essay with links and names and
  current news

6
Components of a Typical Blog Cont.

• Author - Often a nickname or pen name is used
• Archives Listing of past posts either by
  category or date
• Permalink Reference link to a permanent page
  just for one post.
• Comments Tag (optional) Allows readers to react
  to post

7
Components of a Typical Blog Cont.

• Other Links (optional) Links to related pages,
  authors favorite pages etc. 
• RSS/XML Tag (optional but highly desirable)
• TrackBack (optional) A way for one blog post to
  link to the post of another blog.

8
Blog Page Example
9
Blogging Background

• 1996 - Marc Andreessen's What's New? page at
  the National Center for Supercomputing
  Applications
• 1997 Dave Winer starts Scripting News,
  currently the longest running weblog on the
  Internet http//www.scripting.com/

• Technical Blogs Help and advice for techies
  Slashdot news for nerds - http//slashdot.org/
  (1997)
• In 1998, Jorn Barger coined the term weblog
• Blogger and Pitas started offering blogging
  services in 1999.

10
Typical Kinds of Blogs

• Political Blogs Bloggers were allowed in 2004
  National Conventions with press credentials.
• Personal Diaries of life-changing experiences
  Baghdad Burning http//riverbendblog.blogspot.co
  m/ or View from the Sidewalk
  http//view-sidewalk.blogspot.com

• Citizen Journalism CBS/George Bush National
  Guard Story in the 2004 campaign
• Hurricanes Katrina and Rita blogs from reporters
  from The Weather Channel http//www.weather.com/bl
  og/weather/ (2005)

11
Why Should My Library or Media Center Have a Blog?

• Marketing Promote Library events and programs,
  list new movies, books and links to their
  reviews.
• News Keep students informed of new collections,
  building expansions, new personnel telling our
  story

• Online Book Discussions Let readers post
  comments
• Community Information collect and post local
  news and events
• Homework Alerts Have a central place for student
  to check to find out about resources to help with
  current assignments.

12
Why Should My Library or Media Center Have a Blog?

• Staff Development Share tips and tricks with
  software, search engines etc.
• Knowledge Sharing Post difficult reference
  questions and resources used to answer them.
• Database for Web Site Resources As new,
  worthwhile sites are created, add to the blog
  archives.

• Project Tracking and Management Post updates and
  timelines for building expansions, new
  circulation systems etc.
• Professional/personal Development post a resume
  with links to projects, papers, articles done by
  you.
• Staff Picks Great for community building, share
  music, books, movies that are favorites. This is
  also a great help for Readers Advisory.

13
Pause Before You Blogto consider

• Purpose of the blog
• Who will be in charge of setting up and
  maintaining the blog?
• How will you train your staff to post/use blog?
• Technical support and equipment needed
• Ease of use
• Features needed/required on blog
• Cost considerations

14
To Host or Not to Host

• Do you have the necessary hardware?
• Do you have technical support and expertise with
  programming software?
• Is it easy for staff to use?
• Can you afford it?

15
Blogging Software Hosted Services

• Blogger http//www.blogger.com
• Library Blogs.net http//library-blogs.net
• TypePad http//www.typepad.com
• Live Journal http//www.livejournal.com
• WordPress http//wordpress.com
• Easy Journal http//easyjournal.com/

16
Things to Look for in Hosted Services

• How many authors/contributors are allowed on each
  blog?
• How many blogs are allowed for the price?
• Are they strictly for personal use or may they be
  used by organizations?
• Is there good documentation and support?
• Do they include all of the features you
  need/desire? (RSS, comments, graphics etc.)

17
Blogging SoftwareResides on Library Server

• Movable Type 3.1http//moveabletype.org
• pMachine Pro http//www.pmachine.com/pmachinepro
• Greymatter 1.3 http//greymatterforums.com
• Textpattern http//www.textpattern.com/
• BLOGCMS http//blogcms.com/
• Blosxom http//blosxom.com/

18
Things to look for in Client-based blogging
software

• Make sure you check with your IT
  person/department to make sure your server will
  support it.
• Also make sure your IT person/department is
  familiar with the necessary programming languages
  to be installed with software.
• Is it simple enough for you and your staff to
  use?
• Is there sufficient documentation available for
  changing the configuration?

19
A Word About Yahoo 360 and MySpace

• Yahoo 360 Blogs http//360.yahoo.com/ 
• MySpace.com http//login.myspace.com/
• Hot places for kids to journal and share personal
  thoughts with others. Teachers and librarians
  need to alert students to potential dangers.

20
Individual Library Blogs

• Li-blog-ary
• Gargoyles loose in the Library
• Mrs. Dudiaks Class Web Site
• Mabry Middle School Media Center
• Coventry Christian Schools
• NMH Reading Room
• Tech News and Book Views

21
Finding Blogs on the Internet

• Blogwithoutalibrary - This site lists library
  blogs by type of library.
• Peter Scotts List of Library Weblogs
  International in scope, this list is broken down
  by country -

• Google Blogsearch now in Beta version
• Technorati Blog Finder
• IceRocket Blog Search
• Feedster Blog Search

22
Creating a Blog Using Blogger
Go to http//blogger.com Set up an account with
username and password Select a name for your
blog Select a template (Can be changed later)
23
Current Blogger Staff Blog
24
Editing Window on Blogger
25
Default Template - Movable Type
26
Blog Configured Using CSS
27
Books on Blogs Blogging

• Gosney, John W. Blogging for Teens. 2004
• Holzschlag, Molly E. Sams teach yourself Movable
  Type in 24 hours. 2004
• Doctorow, Cory. Essential Blogging. 2002
• Bausch, Paul. We Blog Publishing online with
  weblogs. 2002
• Blood, Rebecca. The Weblog Handbook. 2002
• Warlick, David. Classroom Blogging A Teacher's
  Guide to the Blogosphere. C2005
• Castro, Elizabeth. Publishing a Blog with
  Blogger. 2005

28
Ethics of Blogging (5 Rules to Blog by)

• Transparency For most blogs, we want to know
  what the writers starting point is.
• Cite your Source Link to and name your source.
• Get it Right- There is nothing more pathetic
  than a librarian who gets facts wrong.
• Be Fair Dont present opinion as fact.
• Admit Mistakes whether they are errors of
  judgment or fact.

29
Wrapping It Up.

• Make sure you/your media center really want(s) a
  blog.
• Settle on the purpose or focus of the blog.
• Use short and informal posts to keep it
  interesting and timely.
• Staff needs to buy into ownership of blog .

• Involve key staff members decide who will be in
  charge of maintaining the blog.
• Start simple and then consider upgrading if
  necessary.
• If it is a blog for patrons, publicize it .
• Keep it current or else remove it!