UKOLN is supported by: Introduction To Blogs And Social Networks For Heritage Organisations: Why Have A Blog? Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath, UK This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat) Resources bookmarked using asva-2008-blog-workshop ' tag by-nc-sa Acknowledgements This presentation is based on slides produced by Mike Ellis, Eduserv for a join workshop given at the MW 2008 conference Acknowledgements This presentation is based on slides produced by Mike Ellis, Eduserv for a join workshop given at the MW 2008 conference

2 Contents Introduction Case Study Reasons For Having a Blog Why have a blog? What have a heritage blog? Examples Beyond Blogs What are the Issues? Addressing the Issues Sharing Best Practices What Next? Introduction

3 Why Have a Blog? Some questions to consider: How is blogging different to the web site? What motivates anyone to have a blog? Why a museum blog? What makes a good blog? How can we learn from examples of different uses?

4 The Blog vs the Web Site Typically the Web site is: Official Formal Marketing-driven and branded Impersonal Typically the blog is: Un-official Informal Away from brand pressures Personal

5 Sadly It is also the case that: the Web site is hard to change so I set up a blog I dont need to ask the IT department Our blog is under the radar We control it and can change what we want These arent good reasons for having a blog......but they are often the reality! which is why some people use blogging software as a CMS...

6 Why Have A Blog At All? Some reasons: Circumvent problems with: IT Services Our corporate CMS Our internal bureaucracy We want to communicate We have something to say We have things we want to discuss

7 Why Have a Heritage Blog? For museums and heritage organisations: Blogs are great at the niche or long tail Museums are great at the niche or long tail... There is a compelling mystique about museums: why do they collect that and not this? what made them choose that exhibition? why is this particular object special? how do they make their money? Museums want to connect with audiences....and blogs allow you to communicate with your most loyal and enthusiastic visitors

8 So What Makes A Good Blog? Some tips on how to create an effective blog: Blog with passion and because you want to! Have a personality, a defined tone of voice Find a niche (or at least well-defined) area of interest Build your community: two-way engagement Create well written, intelligent posts Dont just regurgitate, but find a new angle Link a lot, and read the links you lunk to

9 Example 1: Brooklyn Museum Brooklyn Museum ( Embracing the audience Crossing barriers between real and virtual Entwined with everything they do: community is a part of the whole Personal: the directors apartment! ( 8/04/03/now-screening-brooklyn-views- the-home-of-arnold-lehman/)

10 Example 2: Fresh and new(er) Fresh and new(er) – Seb Chan / Powerhouse: ( Technology focussed.. A way of showcasing and launching A sounding board for discussion Strikes a good balance between institutional and personal

11 Example 3: English Cut English Cut (not a museum, but a great blog!) ( ml) Its about a tailor! Its behind the scenes – all the things you wanted to know but never asked Personal, engaging, different... and has caused considerable stir, not to mention traffic (and hence business...!)

12 Example 4: Bowers Museum Bowers Museum ( A way of showcasing the object of the week Gives focus to posts... and a defined check back in X days... but not enough commenting or linking!

13 Conclusions To conclude: Varieties of different approaches illustrated Personal aspect is what makes these tick..finding out about the people behind the formality Perhaps that is what people want from museums?! For further information of the Issues mentioned in this talk are given in the UKOLN briefing documents: Use of Blogs in Museums, no. 4, Use of Blogs in Museums, no. 4, For further information of the Issues mentioned in this talk are given in the UKOLN briefing documents: Use of Blogs in Museums, no. 4, Use of Blogs in Museums, no. 4,