THE BLOGOSPHERE

In Libraries

In brief…

Blogs, originally called “weblogs”, are a series of postings on a website on any number of topics.

The articles appear in reverse chronological order.Can be done by just one or a group of librarians

and can be updated as quickly as needed.Comments from the community can be allowed if

the library would like.

“A library blog requires three ingredients:

inspiration, motivation, and dedication.”

Darlene FitchterInformation Today

Vol. 17 no. 6 – Nov/Dec 2003

Why should my library blog?• Instant communication. Blogs can be created

and posted in as little as 5 minutes.• No hassle with CMS. If you want to post

information about an event but fear the lag time with, blogs can get the word out quickly.

• Repeat customers.• Measure number of hits/comments.• Brief, readable, casual tone.• Endless variety of topics.

Endless variety? Like what?• New items in your collection• Book reviews by librarians • Current events – tied to items in your

collection• Teens• Foreign language• Genre-specific• Pictures from events• Info from librarians, for librarians

Keep in mind…• Audience– The public Library of Congress blog– Librarians - "The M-word - Marketing Libraries"

• Purpose• Writer(s) – one person? Collaborative?• Feedback from the community?• Keep postings short• Incorporate tools to share posts with Facebook,

emails, etc.• Have as many links as possible to items in the

collection

What to use

• Blogger.com (blogspot.com) • Wordpress.com• Typepad.com

You Can

In brief…YouTube is an online video-sharing website

founded in 2005 by two early employees of PayPal.

Purchased in 2006 by Google Inc.Anyone can watch and upload videos to

YouTube.In October 2009, it was announced that YouTube

had reached over 1 billion hits per day. www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/09/youtubes-new-logo-shouts-from-the-rooftops-1-billion-views-per-day

Why would I use YouTube?

•Free to post; free or super-cheap to produce. Enlist the community or students.•“Cool” factor•Gives staff or community a chance to be a star!•PSAs•Footage from events•Tutorials•Advocacy/ testimonials

G. Hamilton Bigsby creates a buzz!

G. Hamilton Bigsby

Friend him on

Facebook!

Watch him on

YouTube!

Learn more at the

Greensboro Public Library

!

Informative and fun:Brown Library's Tutorials

Informative and straightforward:

Cochrane Library Tutorial

There are even YouTube videos with instructions for uploading YouTube

videos!

How to Upload videos to YouTube

Keep in mind…• How will you present your video – imbedded

on your library’s website? A link? Facebook? • Who do you want your audience to be?• What is your message?• Keep videos short• Before uploading, select a category and tag

the video with keywords

Market your library in a quickie

with a wiki!

In brief…

“A wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor.

Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used to create collaborative wiki websites, to power community websites, for personal note taking, in corporate intranets, and in knowledge management systems.”

www.wikipedia.org

You don’t have to jump in head first into the world of library wikis. You can begin by simply adding an entry about your library to Wikipedia!

What should I use to create my wiki?

• Mediawiki – Booklover’s wiki• PBWorks – community information through

the library’s wiki• PmWiki – library’s homepage • Wikispaces – “This wiki has been created as a service learning assignment for students at

the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, Indianapolis, supervised by Dr. Mary Alice Ball.”

Keep in mind…

• Who will create/keep up with the wiki? One person? A team?

• Content • Will you allow public comments or input?