Blogs

Blogs allow libraries to enter into group conversations with their community and learn from them. They enable them to actively participate in a dialogue with the community. A blog, or weblog, is an online journal or website on which articles are posted and displayed in chronological order, with the most recent post displayed first. Their content most often centers around a particular subject or theme.

• There are over 133 million blogs online today
• There are over 900,000 blog posts every day

Examples

Corporate

Editorial

Personal

Popular

Anonymous

Great Tools for:

• Breaking news
• Staff communication
• Subject resources
• Course materials
• Media reviews
• Publishing

How Are Libraries Using Them?

• To serve as library news vehicles
• As a way to engage teens
• To facilitate a book club
• As a way to reach out to teen and Youth communities
• To offer support for student assignments
• To communicate with fellow staff members internally
• To provide research guides
• As a space for a DVD discussion group
• As a way to make the library more accessible to patrons

How Are Librarians Using Them?

• InfoTangle
• iLibrarian
• Tame the Web
• Library Stuff
• Librarian in Black
• Library Garden
• Librarian.net

Anatomy of a Blog

• Posts
• Author
• Date/Time Stamp
• Permalink
• Comments
• Trackback
• Categories/Keywords/Tags
• Archives
• Search
• Feeds
• Blogroll/Links

Types of Blogging Software

• Blogger
• Typepad
• WordPress
• Moveable Type
• Blogsome

Additional Resources

The Blogging Libraries Wiki

Hands-on

Exercises:

• Go to Blogger.com and follow the steps to create your own blog.
• Add a blog post