You Should Be Blogging.
You and your library should be blogging. Why?
- To market your SELF or your library
- To interact with patrons or peers (Library 2.0!)
- Librarians are blogging like crazy. Join in on the fun!
Or, take it from Andrew Burkhardt: “The web has become social, so we need to be social on the web.”
Whether you are a recent graduate looking to have a casual voice in the library world while marketing your SELF or a library with some cool new programs that you want to advertise, blogs can be valuable for the individual and community.
However, not all blogs are created equal. To help you get started, or to help you improve your current blog, I’ve collected a few handy resources.
Starting a Blog
- Problogger offers articles on everything you want to know, and everything you didn’t know you wanted to know
- On Library 2.0, from Library Journal–a must-read when considering making the virtual branch social
- Jump-starting your library with blogging and Twitter, from a social media consulting firm
Where to Blog: My Top Picks
- WordPress.com, or WordPress.org if you can host your own blog
- Blogger
- TypePad
- For a detailed comparison, visit:
Promoting Your Blog
- Branding 101: How to Promote Your Blog Like the Big Guys Do is a name-says-it-all blog post from an experienced writer
- How to Promote Your Posts on Facebook (if it isn’t built into your blog manager like it is with WordPress)
That is really all the how-to reading you need to do to be well on your way to having a hot blog (not to be confused with a hot dog).
Although, the most important step in creating/fine-tuning your or your library’s blog is to follow other blogs. See what people are doing. See what works. More importantly, see what doesn’t work! Start subscribing to RSS feeds and pay attention to which blogs and posts tend to get a lot of comments.
Here are some of my favorite library-related blogs:
- David Lee King, a public librarian who blogs a lot about web/library 2.0 and digital technology
- The Lipstick Librarian, for when you want a little spice in your library-world reading
- Tame the Web, libraries, technology, and people from Michael Stephens
- The ‘M’ Word – Marketing Libraries, a must-read for those interested in outreach
- The Inspired Librarian, come on, you knew I had to
What are your favorite blogs?
I’m adding you to my feedreader!
that’s great! thanks!!!