Final Project: Information Services Blog

For my final project, I designed an information services blog for a public library (unfortunately the domain is "forestrylibrarian" because it was originally going to be the blog of a forestry librarian). The public can access the blog and browse questions that have already been answered by using the tag cloud or the list of categories, or they can ask a question by using the Meebo widget in the right sidebar. In order to limit the questions to only the library’s community, the patron must include their full name and library card number with their query. I have also adjusted the privacy settings so the blog cannot be seen by search engines so that it can only be found by linking from the library’s website. I put these two restrictions on the blog so that it is not inundated with questions outside of the library’s user base. On the other extreme, if it is not being used then the first restriction can easily be removed altogether or queries can be prioritized according to whether or not the patron's proper information is provided.

The reference librarians at the library would be responsible for monitoring the Meebo instant messaging widget then posting the question along with an answer to the blog within 24 hours. The blog is a useful tool for information services because librarians can collaborate on answering queries and patrons can check to see if their question has already been answered before asking it again. I’ve allowed for comments from the public so that patrons can also publish answers to questions or comments to the answers posted, but these comments are moderated so that they are approved by one of the librarians before they are allowed. This way the librarians can fact check the answers and discard inappropriate comments.

I chose WordPress as my blog software because of its functionality, its open source, and its available for download. The prototype of the blog is hosted on the WordPress servers, but if the blog was successful the library has the option of downloading the software to its in house servers so that they have more control over the design and functionality. I’m impressed with WordPress because it is so simple for beginners to use and allows for more versatility for more savvy users. All of the questions and answers that I used as content for the prototype were taken from Radical Reference, which was an inspiration for the site that I created.

Personally, I find the blog that I’ve created to be very useful for someone new coming into the information services profession because it’s a way of learning how other librarians construct their search strategies and can provide a good starting point to answer questions if a similar question has already been answered. I anticipate that if this blog was actually implemented there might be some resistance from staff members because it means learning a new technology and risking looking foolish if they make mistakes, and also it can be perceived as an addition to an already taxing workload. I think the major benefits of the blog are that it has the potential to capitalize on the particular expertise of each librarian when collaboration occurs and it avoids the scenario of frequently asked questions. It might even be useful to have a frequently asked questions category of blog posts if there are enough of them. The community that can be built around a blog if patrons are contributing constructive comments is also a bonus.