Blogging at Memorial University Libraries The what, the why, the how, the who

WHAT is a blog? Definition "[A blog is] A publication of content and Web links, sorted in chronological order, with the most recent at the top. The content reflects personal or corporate interests, and is almost always written by an individual.” Blogs as communication tools  Announcements  Commenting  Conversation threads

Examples of Library Blogs University of Alberta News MUN Libraries Cataloguer’s Weblog MUN Libraries E-Resources Forum

WHY would you want a blog? You want to communicate electronically with your colleagues/patrons Your communication is ongoing, and “two way” Your patrons/colleagues are large in number or geographically disparate You have someone willing to administer your blog

Advantages of Blogging Blogs have several advantages over as a communication tool:  Allows everyone to see all posts  Stores posts in one central location  Real time posting Important to note that blogs require a larger investment of time than and also have a learning curve

External vs. Internal Blogs External Blogs:  Designed to communicate with our patrons Examples: news & events, new acquisitions, comment board Internal Blogs  Designed to communicate with colleagues Examples: division blogs, working group blogs

Blogging at Memorial University Libraries: The Policy Highlights:  Blog software is available for work-related blogs, both external and internal  Requests for blogs must go through the systems department  Each blog must have a local administrator  “Out-of-the-box” functionality  External blogs must conform to the templates developed  No software support will be provided!

Blogging at Memorial University Libraries: the Software Expression Engine by pMachine Features:  Posting  Commenting  RSS feeds  Searching posts/comments  Multiple authors  Easy data entry (very basic HTML necessary)  Photo gallery Web based administration interface

HOW do I obtain a blog? Requests for blogs must be sent to Systems. In your request, you must provide: 1. The name of the blog administrator (the person who will be maintaining the blog) 2. Whether the blog is meant for public or non-public usage 3. A name for your blog 4. For internal blogs, a template set – the templates from which you can choose are available at: NOTE: these templates cannot be changed or altered once chosen – choose carefully!

Blog Administers Person responsible for configuring and maintaining your blog Administrator responsibilities:  Choose template for blog  Set preferences for blog  Add members who will create posts for the blog  Troubleshoot problems  Train others!

Blog Editors People responsible for posting material to the blog. Can be one person, can be all people in a division, etc.

WHO do I contact? Systems for creating a blog and hardware problems  i.e., blog not appearing, posts missing, membership activation problems pMachine support forums, the documentation and your fellow bloggers for all other problems!

Creating a Post

Editing Postings

My Account Options

Admin User Options