A Grab Bag of Blogs

The class exercise of subscribing to specific blogs allowed me to understand that blogs covering librarianship can be very different!  Each one had its own personality, approach, writing style and area of focus.  I especially liked reading the "About" section for each blog before actually reading the posts.  This allowed me to anticipate the angle the blogger would take.  For instance, after reading that the author of the Distant Librarian blog is a webmaster for the University of Calgary library, I expected to read about ways of improving one's library website.  To some degree I was right but this blogger does branch out to other topics related to librarianship.  His typical post is a short paragraph along with about three links to more information.

On the other hand, reading that the author of the Librarian's Commute clearly states that the objective of her blog is not to post news on the latest tech tools made me expect something else.  I soon realized that she orients her blog toward reflecting on libraries and this blog seems a bit personal because I learned about her observations from her own library.  The average length of her posts tend to be 3-4 paragraphs accompanied by photo of her local surroundings.

In the Library with the Lead Pipe is entirely different from the other blogs because it is orchestrated by a team of librarians from different types of libraries.  This blog has various guest posters contribute to their blog, which keeps the opinions fresh and also makes it much less predictable than the postings of all the other blogs.  A reader may never know what to expect when riffling through this blog's archive.  The length of the posts in this blog are substantially longer than those in the other blogs.  In the Library with the Lead Pipe strives to go into depth on each topic of choice and thoroughly explores them.  There are some links embedded in the posts as well.

Librarian by Day is different from the others because the author focuses on technology but not necessarily on how to use the most complicated tools.  Instead she explores where libraries belong in the digital age and is primarily fixated on fun, hip tools that keep the Next Generation in the know.  Librarian by Day chooses to concentrate on the fun capabilities of new technology for libraries rather than the fundamentals of how to make your library website the most technologically advanced.

After surveying these five blogs, I immediately knew which one was my favorite.  I found the Librarian's Commute to be the most appealing because it includes lots of stories.  Through these stories I believe I was able to envision that library, her daily duties, the type of patrons she serves and her thoughts behind most of these things.  I was delighted to read some of her insights on information seeking behavior because I definitely could relate.  This blog was also the most appealing because it urged me to invest some extra thought into the direction I believe libraries need to go in order to remain relevant.

As for the rest of the blogs, I realized other attributes that I find appealing are when a blog is not too tech-y.  I do want/need to learn more about technological tools that can be used to better my library.  However, I am not a fanatic about technology so some of the blogs lost me with their relentless enthusiasm and extra detail on this topic.  Another attribute is that it is important that I can detect a strong level of passion in the blogger's writing.  Now this can be tricky because too much exuberance is off putting (and annoying!) but just enough to convince me that the writer genuinely cares about what they are discussing keeps me engaged and interested.  Lastly, a blog should have a clear proclamation of its goal.  I appreciate knowing that the blogger has a steadfast objective in mind and has invested some planning into their creation.  If I find the objective to be worthwhile, I am more likely to return to the blog repeatedly.

When afforded the freedom to choose an additional three blogs to add to my RSS feeder, I was pleased to select the Librarian in Black.  This blog is written with great gusto and knowledge on why libraries still matter and how to keep them relevant.  There are wonderful graphics and many of the posts contain excellent PowerPoint presentations that the blogger has given for various conferences and organizations.  Her posts are always current and fun!

The next blog I added to my subscriptions was Gargoyles Loose in the Library.  This is a school library blog that offers posts about news related to reading, book reviews and local happenings within the library.  There are also many pictures and videos to enhance the posts.

Lastly, I added Tame the Web to my blog subscriptions.  This one is about the practical application of technology in libraries worldwide.  The blogger includes news alerts about what libraries are doing to use technology to their advantage.

From what I can gather about all three of these blogs, in order to be successful they must constantly be maintained.  It is obvious that there is a lot of hard work invested in each one and that it pays off.  From website design, personalized graphics, thorough research and creative thought, these blogs continue to flourish and gain more followers.  I also believe they are successful because each blogger is accessible through other Web 2.0 social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter.