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When an organization is contemplating starting a blog...
Previous to this course I had honestly little knowledge of blogs and blogging, but now that I have had this second week to learn even more about blogs, I am ready to comment on one of the ideas for this week. Specifically, blogging guidelines.
Blogging guidelines are a good idea to have in a library setting, especially if creating a blog is new to the organization. (or as a way to regulate postings if more than one author will be contributing to the blog). The library will most likely want to keep their on-line standards as close to their in-person practices. Darlene Fitcher’s article Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services highlights some of the key details to think about. What is key from the article is that a few things must be clear before an organization undertakes a blog. The purpose, audience and key messages of the blog are the framework for creating an informative, engaging and useful blog. If these three things are ambiguous, then a successful blog will probably not be the end product.
Because we know that time and resources are stretched thin in most libraries, the decision to create a blog must be made carefully and all the possible consequences of this undertaking must be examined.
One of the strongest deciding factors in creating a library blog is the amount of positive and effective marketing that will result. Because there are usually limited resources dedicated to marketing outlets, this potential avenue of on-line marketing for promotion, engagement and outreach is enormous. Libraries should seriously consider setting up blogs as long as the decision is laid out well with guidelines to support this new tool.
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Hello Katrina,
I agree with your point that the cost of having a librarian who will create and maintain a blog is a serious concern. In my current workplace, we have a wiki set up to use amongst colleagues. There were two ladies that were originally in charge of developing the wiki, but now that it is in place, everyone in the library is responsible for maintaining and updating it when applicable. So, maybe as a solution to the cost of having someone be 'in charge' of the blog, this responsibility could be spread amongst all of the librarians, which would have decreased impact on productivity.
Just a thought!
Jen
Jen
Yes it would be great if the librarians could share the blogging duties but unfortunately many libraries are short-staffed and without somone who is enthusiastic about using technology to reach new patrons a blog runs the risk of falling to the bottom of their list of priorities and being abandoned.
- That being said the blogs I've seen for this course show it *is* possible to maintain a library blog.
I think there does need to be a leader for a blog, just like for every major project or program, but if a library is serious about establishing a blog, and has done the research to make sure it's the appropriate tool, I don't seen why it couldn't, in theory, be successful. Any new endeavor in a workplace relies on a few "cheerleaders" or advocates to take the project to heart and support it in its fledgling stages (though I know how thin time is stretched in many libraries, and how difficult this may seem).
"The library will most likely want to keep their on-line standards as close to their in-person practices" -- Awesome suggestion, Katrina. Since a blog really is just another library "service", I like the idea of thinking of blogging guidelines and standards as an extension of in-person policies/practices. A great, common sense approach!
Further, if your library is going to undertake a project such as creating a blog, it is essential that the management team is behind the idea 100%. If your management team is not on board and aware of how the technology can be used to their advantage, then the idea may get bogged down in semantics and never have a chance to develope into the valuable marketing tool that it can be. It helps if you work somewhere that is already very tech-savvy - having 'dinosaurs' poo-pooing anything modern will not help when it comes to trying to apply modern ideas with today's libraries. It helps if there is someone already on staff who knows a thing or two about blogging and is passionate about making a library blog work.