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Categorization and Ethics in Blogging
I never realized how strategically important the format of a blog is, until doing the readings for this week. After viewing the case studies, I now recognize the need for categorization with blogs that have a lot of content to manage. Particularly, the Garfield County Public library and the Virginia Commonwealth Univeristy were successful at providing informative categories for a diverse range of blogs, as well as archives for quick access. I was not as impressed with the MabryOnline library, because I thought it took too long to cipher through the copious amounts of information available. As we learned in the readings, I would suggest that this library blog use only identifiable and informative headlines for each staff members' individual blogs, so that the users can easily identify the information they are seeking. I believe that every library should follow this 'best practice' for easy use. I also believe that ethics plays a major role within library blogs. Karen Schneider mentioned that librarians should be cautious as to what they write in blogs, and to not treat them too casually. This reminded me of my workplace, because right now we are in the process of collecting and assessing new candidates for a position within our library. I noticed that it is common practice for my colleagues to 'google' or 'facebook' the candidates to find out more about them. If proper ethics and caution are not used in our virtual lives, then something inappropriate someone said or did may come back to haunt them when they are trying to secure a professional job. So, my point here is, make it a best practice to be cautious with what you post online.
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Hi Jennifer,
The format of blogs was something I also didn't think about until this week's readings. I suppose it was something I may have noticed in passing while reading certain blogs, but had never made concrete in my thoughts.
I can think of a few examples, and this is true of lots of web pages, where format has been ignored in the interest of 'pushing' content at users no matter the cost (the cost in this case being users like me who look at such a blog, feel visually assaulted by the number of sections, links, headlines, etc., feel like their brain would have to work too hard to find anything useful, and move on).
I would have to agree it would be good practice for library blogs to use only identifiable and informative headlines for content. I know blogging is new and exciting and opens up worlds of possibility for content presentation and delivery in a library setting, but I think it's important for libraries that blog to remember the basics of 'findability' and employ them when naming and/or tagging blog content.
I agree. Informative headlines are key. Especially (as can be seen in some of the case studies) when there are large amounts of information that can be found on one page.
Thanks!
Possibly off-topic, but even though i know the Internet is public, I'm still not sure I agree with employers doing this kind of searching before an interview, or even as part of the screening process - isn't someone entitled to a life outside of work that shouldn't necessarily reflect on their job (I'm thinking of the vast numbers of embarrasing photos and comments on facebook). Of course, as people get smarter with security settings, this may not be as much of an issue. And, in this case, having a common name (or sharing a name with a semi-pro tennis player) has its perks...
Hello Jaclyn,
I agree that searching candidates 'virtual' lives is wrong, but unfortunately it is a reality. That is why we should be cautious when uploading pictures onto facebook, etc.
Thanks for your comment!
Hmmm, let me throw in a perspective from "the other side of the table". As someone who has been on a number of search committees in the past, I've googled (and facebooked, etc.) potential candidates, and I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Here's the thing: I *like* it when I find information about a candidate online! I love seeing their blogs, facebook profiles, etc., mostly because it tells me more about them as a human being, not just as a candidate for a job. I can tell you that I don't do it to "screen" candidates, and I would never use what I find on the open web *against* a candidate (unless they linked to it on their resume, then it's fair game). It's due diligence, in a lot of ways, and anyone who maintains an online presence should *expect* to be googled!