Week 3: Blogs & Blogging

Learning Objectives

By the end of this week, students will:

• understand and be able to apply the principles of writing good blog content
• understand the principles of good blog design and usability
• have formed ideas about "best practices" in the use of blogs and blogging in libraries and other information organizations.
• have explored library blog “success stories” and be able to explain their own ideas about what constitutes a “successful” blog.

Readings

• Blogging Strategy 101: A Primer, Scout
• Weblog Usability: Top Ten Design Mistakes in Blogs, Jakob Nielsen
  
• The Ethical Blogger, Karen Schneider
• Weblog Ethics, Rebecca Blood
• A Blogger’s Code of Ethics, cyberjournalist.net
• Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library’s Services, Darlene Fichter

Case Studies

This week's case studies provide examples of ways in which the blog format can be extended beyond the "traditional" news & events page. Spend some time exploring these case studies, think about what makes them work (or not), and post your thoughts & reactions to your blog.

Things to do this week

• Read the articles and explore the case studies for this week and post your thoughts & comments to your blog. Don't forget our weekly deadline for blogging is 9 am, Friday. Remember to check out your classmates' posts too and respond (where appropriate) in the comments.
• Think about the use of multi-author blogs in institutions: what are some of the advantages and pitfalls of having multiple contributors posting to the same blog? Think about some “blogging guidelines” you might put in place in a library to avoid some of those pitfalls & post your ideas to your blog.
• This is the second week we're spending on blogs & blogging and you've probably had a look at a number of library blogs. What do you think makes a library blog "successful"? Have you seen any "best practices" in the use of blogs in libraries emerging from the readings and your exposure to library blogs this week and last? Think about these questions and post your responses to your blog.
• Continue tagging pertinent content in del.icio.us using the "lis9763" tag.