Category: blogging

Happy Birthday, Blog

3 years ago, I wrote this blog birthday post (abridged) . . .

2 years ago today, I got brave enough to make my blog public. This is the 193rd post since then. My Blogger profile says I’ve been on Blogger since November 2003, which is when I came back from Internet Librarian, inspired to blog. There were lots of posts back then, but one day I (foolishly) deleted them, thinking I didn’t have anything worthwhile to say.

Lots of studies have been done on why people blog. Just today, the venerable Michael Stevens of Tame the Web wrote about the ideology of blogging. I identify with the comment in his post: “It amazed me how ingrained in my life the act of blogging had become.” I am often aware of how what a great blog post a certain experience would make. Now, if only I had time to act on all those inspirations.

I recently said to a colleague that blogging was so “yesterday.” I guess what I really meant was that blogging has become so mainstream that it’s hardly a phenomenon any more. We just accept and expect that the voices of our culture are heard through the blogosphere.

more

I ended the post with “Wonder what this blog will have to say in another 2 years.”  Well, it’s now 3 years later. I’ve definitely become less prolific; at times the blog has been downright dormant. It could have something to do with a career move. Or maybe I just ran out of things to say. Posts have been less frequent at times. But I see that I did expound on lots of things happening in my life. There were other things happening that as a Director, I didn’t want to talk on in a public venue. Whatever . . .

I also note my statement “blogging is so yesterday.”  Nothing has particularly replaced it. We all moved to Facebook, where we post much shorter thoughts. Then we got worried about privacy and limited our thoughts to only our Friends. But then we moved to Twitter – so much for privacy. I tweeted a couple of tweets, then became a Twitter-quitter. I see in my twitter-quitter post that I preserved my name, but I’ve forgotten it. Oh well.

Looking back at my blog (and a few others) from 5 years ago, I do see some changes. For a while, I wrote for a collaborative library blog where we devoted a fair amount of posts proclaiming — look who just started a blog. Many blogs were kind of amateurish. We went through the spelling-doesn’t-count phase. Who’re you kidding? Of course it does! Do I want a prospective employer reading whatever I dashed off with no proof-reading? The blogs that hung around have gotten more polished (oops, gotta work on that one). Lots of blogs, I suspect, are written by someone other than the name at the top. That wouldn’t apply to librarians, of course ;^)

So here I am, blogging into my 6th year. I like the idea of writing for the world, as much as I want. Facebook is for a limited number of Friends (a whole lot of cousins). Twitter — well, I quit that, remember? Wikis? Never got into that, except for a few mission-specific.

So, this ends post #245. Happy birthday, Blog! Where’s the cake?


Drought

Looking at the last post I made — can it be November 11, 2009? It’s not that I haven’t thought about writing . . . probably hundreds of blog posts started, written in my head. Many of them rants that are better left unwritten. Some on sensitive topics that should not be shared. A few rather political or personal — not good to broadcast that stuff either. So, I guess the world, or at least the blogosphere, will never know what I’ve been thinking for the last  seven months.

So yesterday, I wanted to get the skeleton of a blog post down before I lost the thought — and, would you believe I couldn’t get into my blog? Well, first of all, when I logged into my server account, I got the message that there was such a critical security update necessary that I couldn’t get in until I updated WordPress. Well, OK, I’ve been ignoring those e-mails for a while – so why not press the “update” button. Did that, and went on to something else.

When I came back to my now updated WordPress installation, I proceeded to log in. Oops – I stared blankly at the screen. Then I found the “forgot your password” link. Filled in my e-mail address. Eeek, that address not on file. Geez, which one did I use? Hazardous to own server space that gives unlimited e-mail accounts. Not gonna guess the e-mail I guess. Try the user login option. Now what kind of idiot can’t even remember the user login. Nothing related to the domain or me. Ugh.

Well, I guess you can tell that through a trial and error process I guessed the user name and got my password. I managed to log in.

I haven’t a clue what the blog post was that I couldn’t wait to write. But I broke the drought. Is it over? Only time will tell.

Blog readability

Formulating a message to fit the audience is a constant challenge — in both written and spoken communication. The online Blog Readability Test purports to assess a reading level for blogs, or any URL you put in the search box. I am proud to say that this blog rates a “College” rating (smirk). Well, alright, it’s only “undergrad” but it’s a credible rating, albeit from a suspect algorithm. Imagine my astonishment to find that my library system’s newly launched East Central Libraries collaborative blog rates “Genius.” Wow!

Thanks to Stephen’s Lighthouse for this tip

Happy Birthday, Blog!

2 years ago today, I got brave enough to make my blog public. This is the 193rd post since then. My Blogger profile says I’ve been on Blogger since November 2003, which is when I came back from Internet Librarian, inspired to blog. There were lots of posts back then, but one day I (foolishly) deleted them, thinking I didn’t have anything worthwhile to say.

Lots of studies have been done on why people blog. Just today, the venerable Michael Stevens of Tame the Web wrote about the ideology of blogging. I identify with the comment in his post: “It amazed me how ingrained in my life the act of blogging had become.” I am often aware of how what a great blog post a certain experience would make. Now, if only I had time to act on all those inspirations.

I recently said to a colleague that blogging was so “yesterday.” I guess what I really meant was that blogging has become so mainstream that it’s hardly a phenomenon any more. We just accept and expect that the voices of our culture are heard through the blogosphere.

I think librarians as a group blog more than any other profession — maybe it’s a perception thing, since I know more librarians than anything else. Or maybe, it’s because we’re information professionals, and blogs are about information. Some of us blog because we believe we have something philosophical (or pithy) to say. Others use blogs as a super-easy to create marketing tool or billboard for what’s happening at the library.

Blogging was a natural progression for me, since I started writing for my adolescent self in a little pink diary with a teeny tiny ineffective key. I don’t write anything very controversial (witness the lack of comments), but I’ve sure made a lot of friends through this blog. While my blog is largely related to my professional life, it also reflects my whole person.

Wonder what this blog will have to say in another 2 years.

Happy Blog Day

Today is Blog Day – the third annual. Today, each Blogger is tasked with recommending 5 new blogs – to expand the reading of others. Here are some of my local favorites (in no particular order). All have been born in the last year.

1. Library Tree — from Red Wing Public Library. News about upcoming events at the library.

2. Albert Lea Public Library — from Albert Lea Public Library. News about the library and new items.

3. Kids’ Info at NPL — from Northfield Public Library. News and lots of pictures.

4. MLA Update — news from the Minnesota Library Association.

5. Metronet Director’s Chat — observations about libraries and the profession written by Tom Shaunessy.

What makes a successful blog

What makes a blog successful? Does spelling really matter? How about quality of writing? I ponder these questions as I teach, preach, cajole, and lead enthusiastic as well as reluctant library folks to blog. There are those (even respected bloggers) who say it doesn’t matter how you write – it’s only important that you write. I personally believe that anything that goes as public as the World Wide Web is a far-reaching statement about me, my personal professionalism, and the organization for whom I write (at the SELCO Librarian)

Blogging has gone mainstream in a very short time, and is a marketing expectation. It’s not a question of “do you blog?” but rather “who writes your blog?” The Blogging Success Study was conducted in the spring of 2006 at Boston’s Northeastern University by the students in Dr. Walter Carl’s Advanced Organizational Communications class and John Cass and his colleagues at Backbone Media, Inc. The study results are published online as – you guessed it – a blog, complete with comments. The research team identified 5 factors to consider that are important for a successful blog. Italicized text is my thoughts relating the study to libraries.

  • Culture: Libraries can build rapport with their communities, showcasing their knowledgeable staff, demonstrating to their communities the face of the library and librarians.
  • Transparency: Insightful pieces of contrasting points of view establish credibility, demonstrate expertise, and encourage dialogue.
  • Time: Libraries should carve out time for good writing (and reading other blogs.)
  • Dialogue: The library’s ability and willingness to engage in dialogue demonstrates concern and expertise in matters important to their community.
  • Entertaining writing style and personalization: Librarians can build personal connections with the community that will encourage residents to consider the library as a caring, integral part of the community.