Your Library Finding, Reading & Creating Library Blogs Fox Valley Library Council December 10, 2004 Presented by Bonnie Shucha © University of WI Law Library

Overview Introduction to Blogs Finding and Reading Blogs Creating A Blog for Your Library

What Is A Blog? A web site containing: – Brief informational posts arranged in reverse chronological order – Timestamp for each post – Archives of previously posted content

Why Should You Care About Blogs? Helps you stay informed about subjects you care about Get current, unfiltered news & information Unlike listservs, won’t clog up your No spam!

Why Should You Care About Blogs? “We librarians, as information experts, do our patrons a disservice if we fail to make an effort at tapping into some of the information that may only be found in the blogosphere.” – From “Mining Information Gold in the Blogosphere,” AALL Spectrum, November 2004

Example: WisBlawg WisBlawg offers legal research and Internet news & information with an emphasis on Wisconsin – By University of Wisconsin Law Library –

Date Headline Content

WisBlawg Features Frequent posts with links to relevant sites Source link Place for readers to comment on posts

WisBlawg Features List of previous posts Monthly archive

WisBlawg Features Links to selected blogs that I read in Bloglines – Called a “blogroll”

WisBlawg Features subscription form XML button – To subscribe to RSS feed Subscribe with Bloglines button

Finding Blogs General – Feedster Search – Search blog content Feedfinder - Search titles of blogs – Daypop Compiles top blog topics Search blog content

Finding Blogs Library related – Blogwithoutalibrary List of blogs by library type – Library Weblogs List of blogs by country – LIS Blogsource Blog about library blogs

Finding Blogs Local Library Related Blogs – The Ides – Caestecker Public Library New Books at the Caestecker Public Library Kids Lit: Books and More for Kids and Teens Sites and Soundbytes: Libraries, Books, Technology and News – Ask Wisconsin Winnefox – From the Director's Desk

Finding Blogs Others?

Reading Blogs As a Web page – Requires reader to visit multiple sites daily to check for updates With a News Reader – Better! – All updates are automatically delivered to one central location when you subscribe to a RSS feed, listserv, etc.

News Readers What Is a News Reader? – A piece of software or Web application that pulls together RSS feeds from multiple sources into one place making it easy to browse newly posted information from blogs, alert services, and other Web sites

News Readers News Readers are also known as: – News aggregators – RSS aggregators – RSS readers – RSS stands for: Rich Site Summary -OR- Really Simple Syndication

News Readers RSS allows you to receive notification of current content without having to visit the web site of interest to determine if it has been updated. – Look for button to get URL for the blog’s RSS feed – Then subscribe to it from your news reader

News Readers “Anyone who needs to monitor current news on a regular basis will need to understand and use RSS in some form going forward” – From: RSS Tutorial: What IS RSS, LawLibTech

News Reader: Bloglines Bloglines is a FREE online service that helps you subscribe to and manage lots of web information, such as news feeds, weblogs and audio. Bloglines tracks the information you're interested in, retrieves new stuff as it happens, and organizes everything for you on your own personal web news page. – From: Bloglines FAQ

About Bloglines Bloglines is free Bloglines is Web-based – Nothing to download – Access from any computer with an Internet connection Can subscribe to RSS feeds and have listservs/subscriptions delivered to Bloglines

Subscribing to Bloglines Go to Only requires an address & password

Creating A Library Blog Why Create a Blog for Your Library? – To communicate with your users – To communicate with library staff

Public Blogs for User Communication Library & Topical News Announce New Services Recent Acquisitions List Book/Movie/Web Site Recommendations Book Discussions Local Events Calendar Recommended Research Sources

Internal Blogs for Staff Communication Announcements for Staff Knowledge Management – Frequently asked reference questions – Password archive Project Management – Forum for collaboration – Progress reports

Benefits of Library Blogs Easy – no HTML knowledge required Inexpensive May be seen as innovative Attracts younger users Allow user feedback through comments Can be career booster for bloggers

Drawbacks of Library Blogs Requires staff time commitment – Training – Set-up – Posting May need to educate people about blogs – Users – Staff

Steps For Creating A Library Blog Consider purpose & audience Choose blog software Develop blogging policies Create a template for the blog Consider staffing issues Post content Market the blog

Consider Purpose & Audience Determine type of content you wish to share – Library & Topical News – Announce New Services – Recent Acquisitions List – Book/Movie/Web Site Recommendations – Book Discussions – Local Events Calendar – Recommended Research Sources – Other??

Consider Purpose & Audience Decide upon a target audience – General community users – Young adults – Parents of small children – Book club members – Genealogists – Students / faculty – Employees – Other specialized user groups

Choose Blog Software & Hosting May be separate, but often combined Software Used by Library Blogs – Blogger – 43.9% – Movable Type – 17.5% (available to Winnefox Library System) – Radio UserLand – 8.7% – Other Identified – Less than 2% each – Unidentified – 22.8% Survey from Laurel A. Clyde’s Weblogs and Libraries, Chandos Publishing: Oxford, 2004, pg. 98.

Choose Blog Software & Hosting Google Directory of Weblog Publishers ogs/Tools/Publishers/ ogs/Tools/Publishers/ Google Directory of Weblog Hosts ogs/Tools/Hosts/ ogs/Tools/Hosts/ Blog Software Breakdown

Develop Blogging Policies Think about blogging policies for your library – To ensure that blog reflects well on your library – To offer guidance to bloggers on what is and is not appropriate – See: The Library Blogger’s Personal Protocols Sample Corporate Blogging Policy & Blogger Code of Ethics

Create a Template for the Blog Consider features to include – Archives – Blogroll – RSS & Subscription Options Choose color scheme and style Test in multiple browsers

Consider Staffing Issues Decide who will post to the blog – May be one person or team Train staff on blog software

Post Content Develop a consistent style for postings Use “your own voice” whenever possible Check for spelling and grammatical errors Post often

Market Your Blog Announce in library newsletter users directly Share by word of mouth Create bookmarks, business cards, etc. Include URL on library publications Seek links from other Web sites & blogs List with search engines and blog directories Issue a press release to local news

Questions? Contact – Bonnie Shucha Reference & Electronic Services Library University of Wisconsin Law Library PowerPoint presentation available at