Blogs

A brief description
The term blog is a derivative from Weblog. A blog entry is a web page entry that is brief, frequently updated, and in reverse chronological order, meaning that the most recent blog is posted first (Group 6's website, 2007; Unit 5 Part 3, 2007).

Blogs can cover just about any topic. There are blogs written to share personal experiences or interests, to talk about cooking or traveling, to cover the news, to debate politics, and even to do homework as in my case!

More often than not, blogs are injected with the writer's personality, thus, they can be very subjective. They provide a forum for self-expression and can be directed to different audiences including the self, small groups, and large groups (Unit 5 Part 3, 2007).

The attractiveness of blogs is that they are essentially easy to create and easy to use websites/pages. In other words, bloggers do not need to know HTML to design their entry because there is blogging software that does it for them (Unit 5 Part 3, 2007). Additionally, they do not need to know how to transfer files from their HTML editor to the server (Unit 5 Part 3, 2007). Furthermore, they do not have to know anything about web design because the blogging software provides pretty decent templates (Unit 5 Part 3, 2007).

For free blogging software Web sites, please visit:

http://www.blogger.com/

http://www.livejournal.com/

http://www.ebloggy.com/

Another nice capability of blogs is that they can function as news feeds through a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed (Courtney, 2005; Group 6's website, 2007; Unit 5 Part 3, 2007). In a nutshell, RSS is a "tool for distributing regularly updated content within a website" (Group 3's website, 2007). Therefore, websites can take advantage of this new technology, "using an RSS Feed to syndicate their new content to users that subscribe to it" (Group 3's website, 2007).

How Blogs are used in a library
Some libraries are beginning to use blogs for various purposes (that often overlap) including the dissemination of news such as library hours, services and upcoming events to patrons. An example of this is the Waterboro Public Library's (Maine) h20boro lib blog of literary and library-related news and resources (Courtney, 2005).

The fact that blogs can be undated frequently is advantageous not only for delivering the latest news but also for the marketing of new services to patrons, for instance.

Blogs are also use to share knowledge and information. There are blogs specifically set up for patrons, while others, particularly intranet blogs, are designed to facilitate communication among library professionals. The Data Library Services at the University of Saskatchewan, for example, utilizes an intranet blog for "sharing reference questions and answers, tips, instructions for downloading files," and other issues centered on patron services (Courtney, 2005, p. 63).

A few libraries are using blogs to provide community service or outreach. While some libraries are creating blogs for book clubs, others like the University of Minnesota Libraries blog project, U-Think, are providing blog software to students and faculty in efforts to support teaching, learning, and communication (Courtney, 2005), for example.

The following provide additional examples of blogs and their use in libraries (Courtney, 2005):

http://www.libdex.com/

http://dmoz.org/Reference/Libaries/Library_and_Information_Science/Weblogs/

http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blogging_Libraries_Wiki

Social impact of the technology
There is no question that blogs provide libraries with a new and easy way of "publishing and distributing information" (Courtney, 2005, p. 69). Moreover, they provide patrons with a new and alternative way of accessing information. In other words, patrons now have the option of checking what is going on at their local library from the comfort of their homes via their computers so it is impacting their information seeking behavior in a positive way.

In some cases, blogs are also influencing the way work is being done in libraries. Intranet blogs, for example, are often used to distribute news to employees, coordinate work processes, and facilitate other organizational knowledge-sharing activities (Courtney, 2005). Thus, it is an excellent example of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) in action.

References

Courtney, N. (Ed.). (2005). Technology for the rest of us. Westport: Libraries unlimited.

Group 3's website. (2007). RSS. Retrieved from http://www.u.arizona.edu/~tdsavage/aboutrss/

Group 6's website. (2007). Blogs. Retrieved from http://www.u.arizona.edu/~nyssad/blogs/

Unit 4 Part 5. (2007). Class lecture.

Unit 5 Part 3. (2007). Class lecture.