Friday, December 09, 2005
Blogging Book Club!
To follow the idea of an organizational blog or a group blog, BookBlog is a great example of a group running a blog together. BookBlog is a book club that exists only online.
The book club members all take turns 'hosting', by running the discussion on a particular book at a particular time, and the only people who are allowed to comment on the blog are the members of the book club. Anyone else, of course, can read the blog and follow the discussion, but can't participate unless they apply to become a participating member.
What a great example of an online community with a shared interest. Computers can leave us sitting alone in our rooms staring at a tiny screen, but they also have the capability to allow a real meeting of the minds in a virtual space.
And all that chat about books on the BookBlog warms my little librarian heart. Especially if they talk about books like "The Time Traveller's Wife" - there's a librarian in that one!
The book club members all take turns 'hosting', by running the discussion on a particular book at a particular time, and the only people who are allowed to comment on the blog are the members of the book club. Anyone else, of course, can read the blog and follow the discussion, but can't participate unless they apply to become a participating member.
What a great example of an online community with a shared interest. Computers can leave us sitting alone in our rooms staring at a tiny screen, but they also have the capability to allow a real meeting of the minds in a virtual space.
And all that chat about books on the BookBlog warms my little librarian heart. Especially if they talk about books like "The Time Traveller's Wife" - there's a librarian in that one!
Organizations Can Have Blogs Too
There are lots and lots of personal blogs on the Internet, but groups and organizations can have blogs too. Saskatchewan Learning, for example, has a website with a 'news blog' built right into it. It looks and smells like a blog, but it's not called a blog - it's simply a tool to use to promote their services.
What looks like a blog:
What looks like a blog:
- all news items have publishing dates attached to them
- the newest items appear at the top of the news list, and get older as you move down the list
- all news items have a title
What is different from a regular blog:
- news items do not have a 'signature' that says who put them there
- publicly-viewable comments on each news item are not allowed - to reduce mischief - your organization would want to control the look of its website, and that includes comments. In this case, you would want comments to come in through an e-mail address instead to protect the privacy of the writer and to protect the image of your organization
- posts tend to be more formal
Time to Dust Off the Teaching Blog: Creating Content!
Ooooh, when the pressure to blog and be clever is on, how tough it is.
I just read, recently, that the University here has made Moveable Type blogging software available to people on campus so that they can create blogs. What a great way to invite people to learn new technological skills, and at the same time, a great way to create online content and to create community.
One of my mentors here at the Library once said something very wise about having a website online: 'you must create original content, as well as linking to other online resources. If all your online content sends people elsewhere, then what reason would they have to come back to your website?' She's right, and this works for blogging too. The best blogs to read (I suppose this is a subjective opinion) are the ones that say something original. If all your posts direct people somewhere else, people might get bored with your site and start 'cutting out the middle man'.
I just read, recently, that the University here has made Moveable Type blogging software available to people on campus so that they can create blogs. What a great way to invite people to learn new technological skills, and at the same time, a great way to create online content and to create community.
One of my mentors here at the Library once said something very wise about having a website online: 'you must create original content, as well as linking to other online resources. If all your online content sends people elsewhere, then what reason would they have to come back to your website?' She's right, and this works for blogging too. The best blogs to read (I suppose this is a subjective opinion) are the ones that say something original. If all your posts direct people somewhere else, people might get bored with your site and start 'cutting out the middle man'.
