1. Use of Weblogs by Libraries and Librarians
Oliver Obst, PhD
Central Medical Library
Westfalic Wilhelms University Münster, Germany

2. What is a Blog? A “blog” (or “weblog”) is a web site that:
is organized chronologically by date (newest entries are usually at the top)
self-archives by date and topic (category)
is updated somewhat regularly with relatively short entries
includes links, more links, and still more links
uses a unique URL (called a “permalink”) for each individual post
filters the information universe for you
provide an “RSS feed” that “syndicates” the content and can be integrated on any other web site

3. Date Title Text Permalink Comment Author
This is the blog of Michelle Kraft, an hospital librarian from Ohio. She is „The Krafty Librarian“. Each blog entry is builded by title, text, author and date. Typically there is a permalink to this posting and the possibility to comment on the post.
Below that entry there is the next one in chronological order, may be from the 7th of september.
Permalink
Comment
Author

4. Blogging is easy Very simple & straight forward to start a blog:
Blogger.com: 3 steps to your own blog
Wordpress: 5 minute installation
To blog or not to blog?
To start a blog is as easy as to write a text on your word processor and far easier as to look for something in the OPAC or buy something on ebay.
There are two different kinds of blogging software. One is offered on the web, the other has to be installed on your server. A good example of the first kind is blogger.com

5. With Blogger. com is it very easy to create a blog web site
With Blogger.com is it very easy to create a blog web site. The process is simple and takes only 3 steps:
Create an account: Choose an username and password, tell your address
Blogger:

6. Choose your blog title and the blog’s web address
Choose your blog title and the blog’s web address. You can see that I entered eahil2006 as the internet address of this new blog.

7. Pick one of the many layout styles (called templates) -> and you’re finished!

8. Then you will be directed automatically to an empty posting form
Then you will be directed automatically to an empty posting form. There you type in the title of your posting and the text, the content itself. This text can be formatted bold, italic, big, small, color etc - just as in your word processing software. Klick on „publish“ to send your entry to your blog – that‘s all!

9. And there is your web page at the address eahil2006. blogspot
And there is your web page at the address eahil2006.blogspot.com with your first entry.
You may recognize that not only your text was published on the web, but that also something „behind the scences“ was arranged for you automatically – on the fly:
an monthly archive was created
Date and time were attached
A Comment button was added – from now on, everybody could comment on your writings, the comments will be linked from your „article“ and counted
Before I uploaded a picture of me and some information.

10. Just in the same way I created a second post with a link to all the postings in another weblog called „medinfo“ regarding the EAHIL conference.

11. Structure and archiving
POST 14.9.
Blah, blah, blah
POST 13.9.
Yadda, yadda, yadda
POST 12.9.
Here you can see the structure of any blog: Blog posts are build upon each other chronologically, if the page is full of posts, the oldest ones will be archived, that means you will not find them any more on the first page, but on a seperate page called „archive“. Typically there are monthly archives.
Blah, blah, blah
ARCHIVE
Date
Category
POST 11.9.
Yadda, yadda, yadda

12. With a click or two you can change the template of your blog, that means the layout of your web site into nearly anything.

13. Only the third layout looks nice and clear to me
Only the third layout looks nice and clear to me. One day later I add a third post. It took me not more than one or two minutes to log into blogger.com, write that entry and link to the Pageflakes web site I‘ve created in between (more about that feature later).
Let me point your attention to the new „Link“ section on the left navigation bar. Here you can add any number of links you like. It could be a link to your library‘s homepage, to other parts of your web site or to an old post of the blog itself, which may be used as an introduction or explanation of your motiviation running a blog.

14. Wordpress Easy to start a blog Blogger.com: 3 steps to your own blog
Wordpress: 5 minute installation
mySQL database
PHP scripts
The second kind of blog software you have to install on your own server. A typical and wide spread example is Wordpress. There are at least two pre-requisites for an own Wordpress installation:
Writing access to a web server
Access to a mySQL database (typically offered by most web hosting companies)
Installed PHP scripts (typically this is the case at nearly every web server)
Basic knowledge of HTML or PHP will help a lot

15. You will find the wordpress software at wordpress. org
You will find the wordpress software at wordpress.org. The download is free.

16. Here I downloaded the wordpress software in version 2
Here I downloaded the wordpress software in version 2.03 as a zip archive. It consisted mainly of PHP files. You have to manually edit a configuration file that wordpress knows wehre your mySQL database is located and by which account and password it could be used.

17. I extracted the zip archive into the directory zbm/temp on our web server and executed the script install.php.

18. Quite similiar to blogger
Quite similiar to blogger.com you will be asked for your address anf the title of your weblog to be.

19. That‘s it! It only took some minutes.

20. Now you can log into the blogging software and write your first blog post.

21. And again – very similiar to blogger
And again – very similiar to blogger.com – here you find a web form with entries for the title and the content. In addition to blogger you can add categories the each post, structure them in a subject based approach and making them better searchable. Here I choose the category „EAHIL“.

22. That‘s the default layout sheme or template for Wordpress – there a hundreds out there which you can download and use such as easy.

23. These are the mySQL databases Wordpress needed for weblog maintainance it which were created during the installation process. For each weblog – I‘m running two on this server – ten tables are needed.

24. The categories are one of the main advantages of wordpress as compared to blogger. Here you can see a part of the 50 or more categories I use for the weblog medinfo and the number of posts regarding each. Alltogether there were 41 posts about EAHIL in the last 2 years and 34 about the National Library of Medicine. Blogger don‘t have categories.

25. The second advantage of wordpress is more for the experienced blog owner: Here you can see the plugin page of your wordpress blog. Wordpress allows you to enrich the blog with open source software, called plugins. For instance, I installed Akismet the fight against comment spam (yes, there is!) or a plugin called „get recent comments“ for highlighting the most recent comments in my blog. „WP-Polls“ led you add polls or enquiries to your blog, and „One year ago“ would today display all posts from the 14th of September There are thousands and thousands of plugins for wordpress and so it is fully customizable for your individual purposes – I will show you some examples afterwards.

26. blogger.com Advantages Disadvantages Free! Multi-author Multiple blogs
WYSIWYG editor
Comments
Disadvantages
Categories difficult to implement
Can be slow
No native search engine (can use Google, though)

27. wordpress.org Advantages Disadvantages Same as blogger Categories
Full customization with plugins
Data safety / backup
Many Wordpress experts in your neighborhood
If it’s running, it’s really cool
Disadvantages
Some knowledge required
You have to upgrade (for security and spam)
Comment spam can be a real problem
If it’s not running, it’s really cumbersome

28. What blogs do for you Blogs help “tell your story” to your audience
What’s new
Staff communication & knowledge
Information literacy
Repackaging information you’re already
disseminating
Community
“Voice” – humanizes your institution

29. Library blogs – What’s new
Clemson University Libraries News
Georgia State Subject Blogs
May 16, 2018
August 23, 2006
Blogs & RSS: Levine

30. Clemson University Libraries News

32. Library blogs – Voice (Humanize)
University of Baltimore Law Library Weblog
The Mohawk Brain_blog

33. University of Baltimore Law Library

36. Library blogs – Information literacy for user / staff
University of Winnipeg Library
Highland Park Public Library
Memphis Public Library
University of Minnesota Library

37. University of Winnipeg Library

39. Memphis Public Library

40. University of Minnesota Library

41. What blogs do for you Blogs help “tell your story” to your audience
What’s new
Repackaging information you’re already disseminating
“Voice” – humanizes your institution
Blogs to manage internal knowledge
K-logs – knowledge sharing
Project management
Collective backup brain

42. Library blogs: Staff knowledge exchange
Reference at Newman Library
Münster Reference Blog (only internal)
Takoma Park Library Staff

43. Newman Library

45. But sometimes staff can also exchange knowledge not in any kind related to their profession. Here, for example, the staff of the Takoma Park Library, were discussing blood donation, upcoming elections, and mosquito repellents.

46. Library blogs: The next level
UThink: University of Minnesota Libraries
WPopac

48. In summary, the Libraries have numerous goals with this project:
to promote intellectual freedom,
to help build communities of interest on campus,
to investigate the connections between blogging and the traditional academic enterprise, and
to retain the cultural memory of the institution.

50. Blogging Pros & Cons Don’t need to know HTML or an editing program
Can update your site from anywhere
Lets you concentrate on content, not the process
Makes your site more dynamic
Helps you stay current
Blog software can be used for any personal/institutional web site as well
You need to have content, which is updated regularly otherwise you will loose audience
Danger of information overload -> More people have to commit to adding content
Some libraries made use of blogging software for simply creating and maintaing a homepage of the library.

51. Blogs in medical librarianship

52. Blogroll

53. Medical Librarians Blogs / USA
Who
Start
Posts
Links
UBC Academic Search - Google Scholar Blog
Dean Giustini, British Columbia
April 2005
300 83
The Krafty Librarian
Michelle Kraft, Ohio State Hospital
Oct 2004 57
T. Scott
T.S.Plutchak, MLA Board
June 2004 47
davidrothman.net
MLIS student in Syracuse
July 2006
250 33
medlibrarian.net
Mary Carmen Chimato & Darren Chase, Health Sciences Library of Stony Brook University
May 2006
100 9
Musings of a Medical Librarian Maven
Alexia Estabrook, Detroit
August 2006 23 2
Women Health News
Rachel Nashville, Tennessee
May 2005
320
131
The Shifted Librarian
Jenny Levine
Jan 2002
443
boingboing
A dirctory of wonderful things
Jan 2000
~40.000
18.376

54. Medical Librarians Blogs / Europe
Who
Start
Posts
Rank
Country
Tom Roper
Veterinary Librarian
Dec 2003
800 15 UK
Medinfo
German MLA
March 2004
1.500 20 DE
Librarians' Rx
„Items of possible interest to Canadian Health Sciences Librarians“
Feb 2005
300 CN
Digicmb
Guus van den Brekel, Central Medical Library Groningen
Dec 2004
200 16 NL
Biomedbiblog
Dutch Medical Library Asscociation
April 2006
MWB News
Mannheim Medical Library
Feb 2006 4
BiUM Blog
Bibliothèque Universitaire de Médecine de Lausanne 5 CH
Browsing
Keith Nockels, Information Librarian, Clinical Sciences Library, University of Leicester
Nov 2004
Medical Librarians Blogs / Europe

69. Besonderheit des Blogs medinfo: Kollaborative Pflege durch Mitglieder der Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Medizinisches Bibliothekswesen (AGMB). 13 aktive Autoren. Ersatz für informellen/Kolumnenteil der Zeitschrift medizin-bibliothek-information (die zu eGMS ging). Neben der Mailingliste medibib-l wichtigstes Kommunikationsorgan der AGMB.
Zum Thema Informationsplattform zu „Open Access“, in gewissem Sinne wird eine Informationsfilterung und -sammlung zum Thema Open Access bereits seit Jahren von deutschen Blogs durchgeführt. Medinfo enthält z.B. 230 Beiträge zu Open Access, netbib sogar 346.

70. Further resources: Blogging
Blog Software Breakdown --
Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library’s Services --
Overview of the Weblog Tools Market --
Weblogs: Do They Belong in Libraries? --
Time to Check: Are You Using the Right Blogging Tool? --
Blogs for Libraries --
Dr. L. Anne Clyde’s Internet Courses: Weblogs --
Blog Glossary --
BlogBib --

71. Decisions to make
Do you want to install software on your server, use a hosted service, or use a free service?
Will your blog be public or private (and require password protection)? If private, you’ll need a server somewhere.
What are you hoping to accomplish with your blog?
What will be the focus of your blog? (keep in mind the weight you give items by publishing them)
Do you want to allow comments? (conversation)
Do you want to use categories to organize your posts?
Will you need a WYSIWYG editing window?
Who will be authorized to post to the blog?

72. Advice for blogging libraries
Develop a mission statement for your blog(s).
Find the people that pass around all of the links or are always saying, “Did you see that article about….”
Post at least once a week; keep your posts short and sweet.
Treat the commitment the same way you do your newsletter.
Send your PR (blog URL, VR services, etc.) to local outlets.
Get buy-in from administration.
Don’t forget to train your staff!
Make sure your whole staff knows about the blog and encourage them to read it.
“Tell your story” – don’t be afraid to highlight your services and write in “the key of we.”
Informality is the key to “voice” – HUMANIZE your library online!
The “what’s new” section of your site is the perfect place to start!

73. With RSS you can integrate various resources into one site

74. RSS
RSS
Titel
Autor
Text
Permalink
Datum

75. Source
<item>
<title>Wer kennt Bücher von Christoph Mötzing?</title>
<comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 05 Sep :52: </pubDate>
<dc:creator>kg</dc:creator>
<category>Altes Buch</category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>“Eine Benutzerin unserer Bibliothek plant eine Magisterarbeit über die Bibliothek des Christoph Mötzing (ca ), in Fulda geboren, Mainzer Bürger. Im Bestand der Mainzer Stadtbibliothek konnte sie bislang schon eine erhebliche Anzahl von Bänden aus Mötzings Bibliothek identifizieren. Die Bände sind auf dem Vorderdeckel mit den Initialen C M F gekennzeichnet, z.T. zusätzlich mit einem Wappen und enthalten in den meisten Fällen auf dem Spiegel Namen und Kaufvermerke von der Hand Mötzings. Auffällig viele Bände wurden mit handschriftlicher Makulatur eingebunden.<br />Sind Sie im Rahmen Ihrer Arbeit am Altbestand Ihrer Bibliothek vielleicht auch auf Drucke mit dieser Provenienz gestoßen?” Fragte die Stadtbibliothek Mainz (A. Ottermann) in INETBIB und diskus.</p></content:encoded> </item>
<title>“TrackMeNot” gegen Werbeschnüffler</title>
<comments>

76. Integration of RSS feeds and weblogs into the reference site of Munster University Library. Please note that by RSS feed this site becomes a single site of information gathering for staff. They do not need to go to several sites to get the knowledge they need but will find it on one single site for their convenience.

77. An even more sophisticated integration of various information resources is possible by services like pageflakes or netvibes. They allow the integration of not only RSS feed but photo streams from flickr, weather conditions, news feeds, blog posts, bookmarks and so on. To build a lively, dynamic protal for all inforamtion about Cluj-Napoca and the EAHIL conference, it‘s only a step away.

78. Six degrees of syndication
RSS: Push Service / universal integrative
Interactiviy, Immediateness
Networking, Information Load
Visibility, Well-known
Platform, Voice
Community, Customer Relationship
The 6 central features of Blogs/RSS

79. Thanks to Jenny Levine, The Shifted Librarian, which inspired me and permitted the use of some of her slides