Blogging - a few thoughts

As someone who is very new to blogging, I still have a lot to learn. There are so many blogs out there, and the approaches taken by the authors vary greatly.

As regards institutional library blogs, I agree with what Liz has to say about the difference between blogs and websites, and the potential of the former to engage readers. Writing interesting posts takes time, of course. The more people an institution has to contribute to its blog, the better it is likely to be.

I've found writing my first blog posts quite daunting. All of the blogs that contribute to the 23 Things programme have a common goal: to document our progress and share our thoughts as we learn more about Web 2.0 tools. Although I have found it helpful to read what others have written, the thought of others reading my posts (as unlikely as it is because I've fallen quite behind) means I have been saving my posts for ages before publishing them, and have not yet been able to fight the temptation to edit published posts. These are things that I suspect an experienced blogger would not do!

Photo credits: Blog Marketing up Close Word Blog Graphi[c] by websuccessdiva on Flickr. Some rights reserved under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

iGoogle ... in the library

Yesterday I stumbled across Penny Schenk's comment on Rach's iGoogle post. Penny mentioned that it was possible to add Google Bookmarks to an iGoogle page in order to link directly to websites of your choice without using specific gadgets. I've decided to give this a try, and have created an iGoogle page for work. In addition to some of the news feeds mentioned below, useful gadgets include the XE Currency Conversion Tracker and the Sticky Note. My most heavily-used gadget is, of course, Google Bookmarks, since it links to all the sites that are essential for my work.

I’ve been using this start page for about a week now, and it does seem to help me be slightly more efficient. The pretty iGoogle theme and Firefox persona also lift my mood, which is never a bad thing!

iGoogle, do you?

Things 1 and 2 involved setting up a Google account and customising an iGoogle page. This was quite straightforward, although, like Rach, I spent far too long searching for useful gadgets; the search function could really be improved for this.

I'd read what Phil Bradley has to say about the advantages of using a start page (Bradley, 2007), and have to admit I've become quite attached to mine. It really does seem to be a great time-saver, since by using it I avoid trawling through my list of bookmarks, which, though well-organized, is rather long. Unlike a browser's bookmarks, a start page can, of course, be accessed from any computer with an internet connection.

My iGoogle page has now become my personal homepage. I've found it useful to have news feeds sent directly to this site, and have added a number of other gadgets to encourage me to do all the things I should do but never get round to ... like learning German proverbs and checking out the weather forecast. I also love the Edinburgh-themed image that is displayed across the top.

I can see start pages could have a place in the library. Both staff and students can benefit from a single, customisable homepage that links to frequently used sites. COPAC offers a gadget that can be added to an iGoogle page, as do some university libraries for their WebOPACs. The Open University's gadget allows you to search their Voyager catalogue by keyword, while clicking on the gadget's title opens up the WebOPAC's welcome screen in a new tab. Useful gadgets for library and information professionals include several news feeds from LIS-related sites and feeds that focus on technology and education.

I am yet to set up a start page for work, however. For it to be really useful, it would need to link to several different college sites (including our intranet), various catalogues and suppliers' websites. At present I manage fine with my bookmarks. As I only have one workstation, the lack of a start page has not (yet!) proved to be a shortcoming.

Cited work:
Bradley P (2007) How to use Web 2.0 in your library. London: Facet, pp. 67-78

One giant leap ...

Well, here goes, this is my first ever blog post. I have just joined the 23 Things programme at Oxford and am excited, albeit slightly nervous, about participating in this project. Creating this blog is just the start; I shall be exploring many other Web 2.0 technologies over the coming two weeks. There are several Web 2.0 tools that I use regularly on a personal level, but I'm looking forward to trying out more and considering how they could be used to engage library users.

It seems that few people really understand what librarians do. To an extent, this is probably unsurprising; a large proportion of our work tends to be accomplished behind the scenes. As communication and marketing tools, I believe Web 2.0 technologies have the potential to not only improve library services but also the image of the profession.

Photo credits: One Lady Leaping by laurenatclemson on Flickr. Some rights reserved under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.