Blogging for Webmasters

2005 AALL Annual Meeting

Steven C. Perkins, J.D., M.L.L.

Coordinator of Reference Services

University of Houston Libraries

What is a Blog? A Blog is a Web Log, an interactive web page

that allows readers to post comments on the items posted to the blog.

See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog for a detailed explanation.

Blogs can be used with RSS feeds to keep your readers notified of important information.

Many organizations use blogs to ensure that everyone receives information in a timely manner.

The Evolution of Web Pages Before there was a World Wide Web there was

Dr Ted Nelson and XANADU®, http://xanadu.com/

The first browser, WorldWideWeb, created editable web pages, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldWideWeb

Later web browsers did not allow you to interactively edit the web pages on the server.

Static web pages ruled the WWW until . . .

The Introduction of the Wiki In 1995, Ward Cunningham established the first

Wiki, at the Portland Pattern Repository, and interactive web page editing was back in the WWW, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiHistory

29 Dec 1997 saw the first use of WebLog on the RobotWisdom website, http://www.robotwisdom.com/log1997m12.html

Originally hand-coded, blogs were quickly automated, and are now mostly maintained through a browser-based application

Blog Software Three of the main software tools used for

blogging are: Blogger, TypePad, and Movable Type

Blogger is owned by Google, http://www.blogger.com/

Six Apart, owns TypePad, MovableType, and LiveJournal, http://www.sixapart.com/

Radio UserLand is another widely used blogging tool, http://radio.userland.com/

Types of Blogs Audio blogs, includes PodCasting,

http://www.Audioblog.com/, http://www.Podshow.com/ Videoblogs, http://www.videoblog.com/ Moblogs for mobile phones,

http://go.blogger.com/mobile-start.g PhotoBlogs like Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/ Klogs, Dashlogs, and Linklogs can be used to

point users to information sources

Blog Directories Bloglines is a blog aggregator where you can

search for blogs on the subject of your choice, http://www.bloglines.com/

Law Professor Blogs links to legal blogs, “blawgs” by law professors, http://www.lawprofessorblogs.com/

Library weblogs can be found at http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html

Questions to ask before starting a Blog What are you using it for?

Alerts Updates Discussion Who will manage How many editors Public or Private

Problems with Blogs Most blogs are abandoned after being started.

LiveJournal has nearly 8 million blogs but only 3 million are actively maintained.

Open blogs can be subjected to comment spam. Hosting a blog on your own server may be very

troublesome. Using an off-site host can also cause problems. You could get sued. See, the EFF: Legal Guide

for Bloggers, http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/

Problems (cont.): Legal problems include Intellectual Property,

Defamation, Privacy, Employment, http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/

Legal protection is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode47/usc_sec_47_00000230----000-.html

Bloggers reporting the news and those reporting on public records have some protections beyond Sec. 230, http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/

Some Law Blogs:

LLRX, http://www.llrx.com/ Legal Periodicals from W&L,

http://bloggery.wlu.edu/lawrevs/ Law Library Technology,

http://www.lawlibtech.com/ BeSpacific, http://www.bespacific.com/ Lawrence Lessig, http://www.lessig.org/blog/

Who is Using Blogs in AALL?

The AALL Annual Meeting, http://weblog.law.ttu.edu/aallamo/

The CS-SIS, http://cssisblawgs.blogspot.com/ Law Libraries,

http://cssisblawgs.bloki.com/index.jsp?name=blogs&folderId=93662

BLOG Resources: Blogging and RSSing the Librarian Wayhttp://

www.sla.org/Presentations/05Toronto/DITBloggingRSSingtheLibrarianWayTrends.ppt

All About Blawgs, by Robert Ambrogi, http://www.abll.org/pdf/ambrogi.ppt

Blog Software Breakdown, http://www.asymptomatic.net/blogbreakdown.htm

Blogger Tour, http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g Blogging: Reading and Creating Blogs,

http://www.law.emory.edu/cms/site/uploads/media/blogging_notes.pdf

RSS the Blog helper:

RSS has several meanings There are different versions of RSS Most Blogs have the capability of automatically

generating RSS feeds Some web browsers can read RSS feeds:

FireFox, Safari, Opera Many people use separate rss readers to manage

their RSS feeds: FeedReader, and BlogLines http://www.feedreader.com/ http://www.bloglines.com/

Who is Using RSS for Law?

GPO:http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/index.html

Washington & Lee Law Journals Feeds for tocs: http://law.wlu.edu/library/feeds/

AALL TS-SIS, http://www.aallnet.org/sis/tssis/index.htm

Utah State Courts, Appellatte Court Opinions, http://www.utcourts.gov/

Louisiana Supreme Court Opinions, http://www.lasc.org/

RSS Resources:

RSS for Content Publishers and Webmasters, http://www.mnot.net/rss/tutorial/

RSS Resources from MALL, http://www.aallnet.org/chapter/mall/inet_rss.htm

Blogging and RSSing the Librarian Wayhttp://www.sla.org/Presentations/05Toronto/DITBloggingRSSingtheLibrarianWayTrends.ppt