Blogging with the Right Tools

If my library was interested in starting a blog, how would we evaluate the right tools?  Well I’d start by checking out some of the articles we looked at, like the wikipedia article on Weblog Software  and I would take a look at what other libraries have done, and pre-existing comparision charts like the Blog software comparison chart from the Online Journalism Review. Since we are considering a Blog we would have clearly identified our needs and know the purpose the blog is going to serve.  Determining whether or not we’d go with a Developer-hosted or a User-hosted software service would hightly depend on the size of the library and the staffing situation.

Week 2 Case Study Reflections

I’ve finally had a chance to surf around the 4 Library blog sites posted for consideration. I love the idea of library blogs and I certainly think they will continue to grow and become a very large part of the library and help libraries to further develop their virtual image and place.  From a public library users perspective, I think this is a great way to stay involved in the community and community forums.  Being so busy with school and work at the moment I don’t get to visit the library as often as I’d like, and while the library website is a great way to keep up with what’s happening, the blogs are a great extenstion to contribute and stay involved.  I am a big fan of the readers advisory uses and the forums for book discussions.  As for the academic library blog(Georgia State University) I really enjoyed the organization of subject specific blogs along with the information on new resources, services etc.  Also, the Western Springs History blog was a great way for the library show case its involvement in the community and to provide a forum for the public to interact virtually with the both the hospital community and library community interested in the joint project.