Library 204: Blog as Library Tool?

Greetings students!

I've been enjoying reading all the blogs this week. Some of you are new to blogging and some of you seem to be experienced ones -- a good mix -- and while some of you may be scratching your head wondering why I would possibly want you to blog, I assure you that at the end of the class you will see some value in it. (If you don't feel free to express that to me in an upcoming blog response!).

The basic idea of a blog is a personal publishing system with a very important component - the ability for the general public (or restricted users in some cases) to post comments. Feedback! Contribution!

Contribution is a major backbone of the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 experience. The ability to communicate about and provide content.

Let's take a look at Amazon.com (one of my favorite internet addictions although my bank account doesn't agree with me). When I am searching for a new book to purchase on a favorite topic, I generally browse a specific subject that I find in a keyword search. I narrow down my choices by type of materials (this case a book), and at the bottom of every product page is a list of CATEGORIES that the product belongs to. This is all very similar to a library catalog (OPAC). I can click through the different subjects. I can see other titles that are similar to the one I'm searching for. And, for someone like me who loves reading feedback, I can read REVIEWS! I want to know what other people who have read the book I am considering spending $30 on thinks about it. Was it valuable to them? Wouldn't it also be nice to have a feature in the library OPAC that connected REVIEWS to the item you are searching for?

I do the same thing with hotels. Let's look at my choices. 10 years ago I could go to the Internet and search for hotels on expedia.com, find out information about the property, etc. It is a good possibility that I could even find a webpage for the specific hotel with photos, maybe reservation information, and description of amenities. Today however I can go to TripAdvisor.com and find out other people's opinions on hotels, restaurants, museums, places to visit, etc. In the past two years, feedback in the form of reviews are popping up everywhere! Even on websites like Walmart.com! One of my favorite places to visit is Seattle, Washington. Take a look at the TripAdvisor page for Seattle. Some of these hotels have hundreds of reviews. I can do my own research from opinions and advice from real people, instead of from a book which may or may not be outdated, accurate or biased. Another good example that I use often to find local restaurants, parks, and other places is Yelp.com.

Okay, some might argue that it's gone too far. We have sites like Facebook and Twitter. Some die-hards update their status on these websites every 15 mins, providing information that many of us don't care to know. Yes, it can get overwhelming but it is also pretty amazing how much life has changed just in a few years.

For instance, recently there were Tornado warnings in the Long Beach area. I heard something that a tornado had touched down and was curious where that might have been. So... I went to twitter and searched for tornado and there were already 1000 tweets talking about the weather in Southern California. Some places say that Twitter has become the new "emergency notification system." If you aren't familiar with Twitter, don't worry - we will be talking about it this semester.

Basically the Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 sums up to: People SHARE information with other people, with us.

Blogs are just another way to do that, to provide a platform for someone to share about a specific topic and for others to put in their $.02. In a library environment, it gives the library a human aspect, opens up ideas about new services and really tries to connect the library and the community. Kinda like what I'm trying to do in this class. Hmm...

Something to think about!

Some of my favorite library related blogs are:
LibrarianInBlack.net
TameTheWeb.com
TheShiftedLibrarian.com
TheUbiquitousLibrarian

Here are some examples of how Universities use blogs in their libraries:
Ohio Universities Libraries News
Yale University Library News
Hunter Library News

Example of Teen Services Blogs in Public Libraries
WorthingTeens

Know of any you would like to share?

If you aren't familiar with blogs, try out this blog search tool on Google -- http://blogsearch.google.com/. Enter a favorite topic and click Search. Locate an interesting blog with recent posts (i.e. from 2011) and include in your blog response. Topics can range from Mommy/Daddy blogs, Political Blogs, Blogs on a favorite actor/actress, products, education, career. Anything.