1. Blogging At the Library Karen Teigen, Director, Allen Parish Libraries Sona Dombourian, Director, Lafayette Public Library

2. What’s a blog anyway? A blog is simply an online diary or log of something. It generally includes text, and may include pictures, hyperlinks, and files. From the Wikipedia: –“The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999. This was quickly adopted as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog").”Jorn Barger17 December 1997

3. Who blogs? 147 million American adults use the Internet 57 million read blogs 12 million have a blog More than half the bloggers are under 30 95% of bloggers get news from the Internet 87% of bloggers allow comments on their blog –http://www.pewinternet.org Bloggers: a portrait of the internet’s new storytellers, July 19, 2006 reporthttp://www.pewinternet.org

4. But we already have a website Template driven  easy to use! More informal but works well to get your message out Quick to update from anywhere Can be hosted anywhere A director doesn’t need to rely on a webmaster or need a knowledge of html, asp, php, javaA director doesn’t need to rely on a webmaster or need a knowledge of html, asp, php, java Blog search engines now mainstream – Google, Yahoo

5. Why do I want one? Report on Construction Progress Show Recent Library Activities Highlight New Services Quickly share updates http://northregionallibrary.blogspot.com http://bayouland.blogspot.com http://www.evangeline.lib.la.us/home.htm http://allenparishlibraries.blogspot.com

6. Some of the free sites www.blogger.com (aka blogspot – now owned by Google)www.blogger.com www.xanga.com www.blog.com www.myspace.com (social networking + blogging)www.myspace.com

7. www.blogger.com Setup a google account if you don’t have one –Existing email address –Pick a password and verify OR Sign in with your existing google account Select a blog name (like picking a URL) Pick a template Customize the template Post Manage your blogs from the Dashboard

8. Enhancements Let people add comments Photos, links Tag your posts Add a counter www.sitemeter.comwww.sitemeter.com

9. Let’s blog…