1. Blogging Basics Darlene Fichter darlene.fichter@usask.ca University of Saskatchewan Computers In Libraries Washington, DC March 14, 2004

2. Overview What are blogs? Blog features Hosted blogs Blog software

3. What is it? Blog/ Weblog is a web page containing brief entries arranged chronologically Can be a a journal or diary, ‘What’s New’ page or links to other web sites “To me, the blog concept is about three things: Frequency, Brevity, and Personality.” Evan Williams (creator of Blogger)

4. Terminology Blogger – person who maintains a blog Blogging – the act of creating a blog Blogrolling – moving form blog to blog Blogrolodex – a listing of other blogs Blawgs, Klogs, Trackback, Ping, Permalink, … See discussion of terminology on MetaFilter

5. Why blogs? 2000-2003 Tools that made it easy to publish No need to know HTML No need to know FTP Anywhere, anytime Blogs are currently the province of the young, with 92.4% of blogs created by people under the age of 30.

6. Blogging demo 1. Login in to an account on www.blogger.com 2. Create a new entry. 3. “Post and publish”

7. 1. Login

8. 2. Add a new entry

9. 3. Post and publish

10. View your web site

11. Standard features Let’s take a look beSpacific.com Accurate, focused law and technology news www.bespacific.com

12. Blog post or entry

13. Features Headline Time stamp Permanent link Categories Search RSS feeds

14. Other features Long entries (newsletter) Comments Draft mode Off line editing Spellchecking Timed release Multiple blogs Track back

15. Choosing a blogging solution Lots of options Dive in and try a few for free: Blogger, Onclave,Web Crimson

16. Hosted locally or remotely Hosted Antville Blogger LiveJournal TypePad Local Server PMachine Movable Type Bloxsom Community/Portal Geekblog Onclave

17. Market Share Blog CensusBlog Census, May 2003

18. Client solutions Clients FogCreek’s CityDesk, Windows http://www.fogcreek.com/CityDesk/ Eastgate’s Tinderbox, Macintosh http://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/

19. Just a few of the factors Types of blog Features and functions Server platform Unix or Windows or MAC IT help Scripting languages Security and privacy Blogging Software for Intranet Applications. ONLINE, January 2003

20. Finding out more Weblogs Compendium www.lights.ca/weblogs/ Library Weblogs www.libdex.com/weblogs/ Articles: Blogging Your Life Away. ONLINE, May, 2001 Blogging Software for Intranet Applications. ONLINE, January 2003 Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services, Marketing Library Services, Nov/Dec 2003 Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services

21. Thank you! Darlene Fichter darlene.fichter@usask.ca University of Saskatchewan Library