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Sooooo many blogs… I’ve got a blog-ache.
The case studies this week provide some great do’s and don’t’s for blogging in the library realm:
- Not a huge fan of Darien Library’s blogs – this library has a blog about everything taking place in their system. However, I do like that they have a community blog, which is a nice way to keep users informed of other events in the community.
- Also not big on
- I really like what St. Joseph County has going with their GameBlog; what a great way to connect with youth and inform them of any gaming related events they are holding (and it seems like they do a LOT of gaming in South Bend). They could even maybe open this blog up to their users to post tips and tricks for games, or for gamers to keep in touch with other gamers about gaming-related news.
As far as multi-author blogs in an institution such as a library, I think they can work to some degree, but the bloggers should probably be of a similar ilk when it comes to their writing style, or it could prove troublesome for readers. I am more of a proponent of having a few blogs on topics that would be important to library users and have different people write each one, with each writer being dedicated to producing the best blog on a certain topic (for instance, if you have someone on staff with a background in music, they should be the one to blog about new music additions to the collection; other staff may have input, but one person should be responsible for writing the blog). Blogging can be a great tool for reaching users, but too many on one site, I think, dilutes their usefulness and can lead to blog overload.
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I agree with you about the usefulness of blogs, Chris. It's great to have a blog, and a multiuser blog can be very useful for getting a variety of experiences, but the authors should at least share a similar "voice"/style so that consistency is maintained. There's also a case to me made for "blog overload", I agree. Though it's nice to keep the user up-to-date, there comes a point where too much information might intimidate some users.
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Hi Chris,
I agree that the Garfield County blog should be aimed at users not staff. Patrons would have no interest in the staff-related blogs. If I was a patron, I would stop reading these blogs.
I also like what you say about the gaming blog at the St Joseph County library. What a great way to get teens involved!
You've made many useful suggestions about multi-author blogs. I do think too many bloggers on one site does indeed dilute their usefulness. Pauline
I see where you're coming from with respect to blog overload, Chris. I tend to have less of a problem with it if the blogs all have different target audiences. I've seen it work at some academic libraries (like Georgia State) that have subject-based blogs that appeal to different segments of the user population. It probably comes down to presentation in a lot of ways -- having to wade through a bunch of blogs to find the one(s) that appeal to you can certainly be frustrating. But there's where RSS can help too (which segues nicely into week 4!).