Is It Time To Get Blogging?

"A blog allows you to edit a web page without worrying about programming and design issues. People inexperienced in web development can use blogging software to create, update, and maintain web pages. Also, multiple users can post stories to a blog, at any time, from anywhere.

At their most elemental, blogs represent a new way to add content to a web site. The blogging tools are flexible enough to allow large parts of any web site to be maintained via the blog interface. Most blogging software is now as easy to use as a word processor, with the programming and HTML formatting done for you. Updating a web page can be as easy as writing a quick letter, allowing a standard web page to become a personal web publishing wizard. The standard web form widgets enable the blogger to control text size and fonts and even facilitate hyperlinks by simply highlighting words and clicking a button....

Adding a blog to your library's web site can add currency and freshness. It can also encourage patrons to return. At its best, a blog can transform your site into a dynamic learning community where everyone shares knowledge." [Library Journal, via Resourceshelf]

A great introduction to the topic by Blake Carver, the man behind the curtain over at LISNews. I make some of these same points in my own presentations about blogging. There's the big debate in the blogging community - is it the format,  the author's voice, or the software running the site that makes it a blog?

I'm realizing that it's d) all of the above, with a built-in innovation engine that never seems to stop. If a library adds a blog to its site today, it gets all of the benefits of blogging that Blake mentions, plus (potentially):

• An RSS feed that is generated automatically;
• Easy posting tools from within news aggregators (either through a built-in aggregator like Radio's, NewIsFree's premium service, or NewzCrawler);
• The ability to track, post, and follow blog conversations about books the library may own;
• Trackback, Comeback, and other coming-soon-backs I can't even imagine.

There's all this stuff out there that comes built-in (or plugged-in) to blogging software these days. Then throw in ancillary services like Friend of a Friend, GeoURL, and the like, and it starts to get interesting how a library could interact with its patrons. A blog would immediately give most public libraries a more dynamic web site without a major investment in software or programming knowledge while distributing the workload of maintaining the site's currency. How often have we been able to say that?!

Laura Bush Announces $20 Million to Help Offset National Shortage of Librarians

"Laura Bush announced today that the President's Bush's 2004 budget will include a proposal for increased funding for the nation's libraries and museums. The President's 2004 proposed budget will be sent to Congress on February 3, 2003.

'Along with our homes and schools, libraries and museums provide the strongest foundation for learning in our communities,' Mrs. Bush said. 'Museum directors and librarians educate and inform the public, and and by doing so, by doing so, strengthen our great democracy.'

Over the next 16 years, America's libraries are projected to lose 58 percent of their professional librarians. The President's budget proposal addresses this loss with a special focus on recruiting and training the next generation of librarians. Last year, the President's budget included $10 million for this initiative. This year, the budget requests $20 million for this initiative." [via Library Link of the Day]

I was wondering who yoyology was over at Memepool after seeing a couple of library-related posts there from this author. It turns out it's Karl Siewert, and he's doing so well at spreading the word that Memepool is adding a category just for libraries! Watch for it here.