Using Web 2.0 Principles to Become Librarian and

Educator 2.0

BLOGS

Kent State University SLIS, February 12-13, 2010

Instructor:Brian C. Gray

Head of Reference

Librarian: Engineering, Mathematics, & Statistics

Kelvin Smith Library, Case Western Reserve University

Work email: bcg8@case.edu

Work phone: 216-368-8685

IM: AIM - kslbcg8

ICQ - 499284601

Google Chat - kslbcg8@gmail.com

MSN - bcg8@case.edu

Yahoo - kslbcg8

Getting to Know Blogs

• What is a blog?• Types of blogs• Blog software• Creating blogs• Personal vs organizational• Locating blogs• Lets play

What is a blog? (Common Traits)

• Website• Dated entries• Archives• RSS feed offered• Entries with links to other items• Often may require little or no web programming

experience• Application driven• Categories, tagging, or keywords

BLOGS

• Today’s “publishing platform”

• Allows patron ownership in their web experience with the organization

• Continue conversations after events

• Allows more staff to participate in the external voice of the library

• Share more, build participation

Blog Considerations

• Purpose – Announcements and/or discussion?• Open or no commenting?• Moderation?• Tracking/pinging• Spam prevention• Single or multiple authors• How often are entries added?• Legal considerations (non-profit status,

advertising, organizational policies, etc.)

Workplace E-Mail, Instant Messaging, & Blogs

• 8% of organizations have business blogs• 55% of business blogs are public• Less than 2% of organizations assign a

lawyer or other responsible party to review employees’ entries

• Nearly 2% have fired workers for offensive blog content - including posts on employees’ personal blogs

American Management Association – 2006 Survey

http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html

http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html

Spam Blogs (Splogs)

• Technorati has been tracking between 3,000 - 7,000 new splogs created each day

• Significant spike in splog creation during early December, when 11,000 splogs created each day

http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html

http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html

http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html

http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html

http://technorati.com/weblog/2007/04/328.html

ALA Library 2.0 Bootcamp

Helene Blowers

Linda S. Bostrom

Brian C. Gray

Lorraine H. Olley

(June 2006)

My Blog Authoring Tips

• Offer a RSS feed• Write on a regular pattern so people do not feel the

blog has died• Use spell checker• Tagging/Keywords/Categories• Cite information• If you allow comments, participate in the

discussions• Linking and discussing on other’s blog can drive

traffic to your own

More Blog Tips & Comments

• Be original and write it your own style• Length of posts can vary• Provide some information for your readers,

such as an “about me” page or other context• Simple layouts can be powerful• Look at other’s blogs for examples• Extras occasionally break up the text – pictures,

lists, etc.• Give your readers a challenge or question to

consider

Library Blogs in Action

See examples at:

http://www.squidoo.com/library2point0/

EXTRA SLIDES

Following slides exist in case the internet connection is not

working during class.

http://blogs.ala.org

ALA LAMA’sNew Blog

Blog Based OPAC

• Casey Bisson

• WPopac: An OPAC 2.0 Testbed

• WordPress based, so already have access to more programmers than the ILS vendors combined

Patrons Blogging About Libraries

Blogger is FREE