- The patrons' ability and interest. Who would you be blogging for? Is your patron base tech-savvy? Do they use the library's website regularly? If a library's patrons would not use a blog, then it may not be the best choice.
- Availability of time and staff. In order to be successful (as evidenced by our successful blogs list), a blog must be constantly updated. A blog wouldn't be a good option if the library doesn't have the available staff or time to maintain the blog and respond to comments.
- Knowledge/Training of staff. The current knowledge and training of staff should also be considered. When starting a new program, training will always be needed. The amount of time and energy (and cost) needed for training is one more factor to think about.
- Blogging policies. Before starting a blog, a library must also form some sort of guidelines for its bloggers and any patrons who use the service. Will comments be allowed? What sort of content will be permitted? What sort of tone does the library want to set? What will be done when someone breaks the rules?
- Something to blog about. In addition to tech-savvy patrons, knowledgeable and available staff, and funds for any extra payroll involved, the library must have a topic in mind to blog about. Whether the topic be current events, reading advisory, or additions to the collection (or all of the above), the library should have something in mind for their blog.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Week 3: Blogging
After reading the texts and blogs assigned this week, I have the impression that many libraries--public, academic, school, and others--have been experimenting with and using blogs as tools for communication with both patrons and staff. In some libraries, this seems to work out great. However, I can see some situations in which a blog would not be the best solution. So, in my (admittedly limited) experience, these are some of the things libraries should think about before establishing a blog:
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