The metablog?

It occurs to me that writing a blog about blogging must be a metablog, but I digress.

First off, on a matter of curisoity: do any of you folks know anything of filmmaking, digital camcorders or the software that would allow one to edit digitally shot movies on a computer?  I'm considering picking up a low-end HD camcorder (my little "co-op gift"), but don't really know much of the technology.  Though I'd like to say it's for my media sharing project, it's primarily for having fun and amateur filmmaking.  Does anyone have any thoughts on that matter?

On to business...

I, like maureen felt very much like the early net enthuiasts described in one of our readings.  I was one of those people that enjoyed chat lines quite a bit, got addicted to e-mail when it was new and exciting and also learned HTML for no reason greater than to introduce myself and my worldview to the rest of the world.  I also had a guest book, which I quite frequnetly had "conversations" through, which was perhaps my first foray into almost-blog territory.

I found the readings about choosing your own type of blog very interesting.  Personally, I am intrigued with the notion of Movable Type (initially due to the title, but also because I really enjoy being able to personalize a blog and make it your own).  Once I get a chance, I may try and get into that bandwagon since I think it would be fun to do something a little more DIY with my virtual life!

For a library, I think that an internally developed blog (or even an open standard of blog) would be most desirable.  Since many librarians are technologically literate, developing a blog would likely be not only conceivable, but also very practical from the perspective of the budget crunches of today.  Although complex blogs would require complex coding, I think many librarians would be up to the task of developing such products for a library's web presence.

A blog is definitely a vital part of academic, school and public libraries at the least and can be a very useful tool for special libraries too.  Imagine the Virtual Library, reimagined with the interactivity of Web 2.0, where users could upload their own files and make comments about materials or even rank them.  Or a customizable library "start page" where journals appropriate to a user's research interest are all listed in a moduar box, alongside relevant new acquisitions and the option for an RSS feed of library news.  Having now used a program called ccmMercury at the Transport Canada library (they use it to store and access reference questions so that they can answer common, or even obscure, reference questions more quickly and efficiently), I think it would be interesting to offer a reference "blog", where students might pose questions and reference librarians (or even other students) could comment and offer advice.  These, to me, are just a few of the intriguing ways that blogs and blogging could be implemented into a library.

Truly, librarians often toot their own horns at their adherence to the ideals of democracy, education and intellectual freedom.  If we truly are, we should welcome and attempt to utilize the blog--and all of it's democratic potential--to achieve our organizational goals.

Speaking of that, I personally have no problem with any library developing a brand.  Although many of us may be anxious about corporatism of libraries, developing a brand is not, in and of itself, a gateway into corporatism.  A brand is simply a way that the library can relate to--and demonstrate its values to--its core audience.  Given the popularity of blogs and blogging today, it seems to make perfect sense to me that a part of any library's brand would be a blog (at least in some sense of the term).

I guess I'm all talked out for now!  Thanks for reading!