Blogging for the evolving academic library… & the world!

1. Blogging for the evolving academic library…& the world! Jonathan H. Harwell Collection Development & Assessment Librarian Georgia Southern University http://mesoj.edublogs.org jharwell@georgiasouthern.edu

2. Examples from academia • Mesoj: mesoj.edublogs.org • lower east side librarian: jenna.openflows.com • The Ubiquitous Librarian: theubiquitouslibrarian.typepad.com • Collections 2.0: collections2point0.wordpress.com • ACRLog: acrlog.org • And of course there are blogs by librarians about other things, like A Hobbit’s Guide to Eating in Middle Georgia: hobbitgrubguide.blogspot.com

4. Why be a blogger? • Communicate with your patrons or colleagues about library services, database changes, subject-area news & research, etc. • Find your niche. You might blog about academic librarianship or another special area of knowledge (maybe evaluating a trial to a product), or help your faculty set up blogs for their own needs. • Ranganathan’s laws apply across formats. “Links are for use,” etc.

7. How can I create a blog? • I recommend Edublogs.org, which offers free hosting & support, in WordPress format, to anyone involved in education. • TypePad is another popular service. • Don’t let anyone tell you that you need to know HTML to be a blogger. One of the advantages of blogging is pure simplicity. It’s quick & easy to create, and to update.

9. How can I keep up with blogs? • Go ahead & check out Google Reader, to see how easy it is to keep up with your fave websites on a single page. • You can use your gmail account if you already have one.

11. Building your blogroll • Use Google Reader to find feeds of other blogs which interest you. Be sure to check all of your favorite bookmarked websites to see whether they have feeds. • Some discussion groups, listservs, etc., can be added to your blog reader. You can get rid of some of your e-mail traffic this way!

12. Building your blog • Choose a catchy title. Add an intriguing description of yourself and the purpose of the blog. (You can be anonymous or pseudonymous if you like!) • Plant the seeds before you decorate the garden. WordPress has lots o’ customization features, but most of these don’t even appear in a blog reader interface.

13. Helpful Hint # 1 • Once you publish a new post on your blog, it can be captured in Google caches, every one of your subscribers sees it, and you can’t take it back. Even if you edit, update, or delete a post from the blog, the “first edition” of that post will still appear in everyone’s blog readers, along with any new edition.

14. Helpful Hint # 2 • Give credit where it’s due. Link to outside sources instead of copying them. Mark all quotes with quotation marks. Thank a person for writing it, or for letting you know about it. (Thanks, Self!)

15. How can I get folks to read/subscribe to it? • Submit the URL to Google, Yahoo, & other search engines as well as blog directories. • Make it interesting, and update it often. • Show your personality; blogs usually have a more informal tone than printed newsletters or journals. • Spread the word as you network with students, staff, and faculty. You can feed your blog into Facebook, Vista, etc.

16. Expect comments, & respond. About the post “Library entrance from parking lot temporarily closed” • “Looking great! can’t wait for the new building! Also, I just recently found out about this blog. I really like it!”—GA Southern student • “Thanks for the good word! Glad you’re enjoying it. (We can’t wait either!)”