Returning from Cornwall

I have just returned from Cornwall after a holiday. Unfortunately, I got shingles. Did make me think about catching up on blogging. So, lets try.

Wohoo......200 posts in one year

Ok, this is a rather 'none' post. But this is number 200 for the year. Who said bloggings dead

Eric Schnell article

I read with some interest Eric Schnell article enitled Are Blogs Given Any Weight in Library Tenure and Promotion Cases?.

He states:-

I feel that blogging is a valid form of scholarly communication in the discipline of academic librarianship. Still the question continues to arise as to whether blogging should count as scholarship or a creative activity in academic promotion and tenure.

For those interested in academic library blogging, its well orth a read.

Meeting other bloggers......and not work related

A little know fact about me is I am an Avid Arsenal FC fan. I have been a fan for nearly thirty years, when I watched my first game (and defeat) on television. I am an avid reader of Arsenal soccer blogs, and often read an American blogger on the subject. He is presently here (in London) for a couple of ghames and therefore i'm meeting him for a pre-match drink. But do we talk blogging or football.......choices,choices

Ning Library 2.0 saved

Ning Library 2.0 saved, so I have been informed. Gary, thanks for the heads up, i'll hopefully use it a bit more often now.

500 not out and the good, the bad and the ugly

On the 2nd of may, 2006 I started this blog. Today is my 500th entry. Not bad going huh?

Anyway, I'm going to look at the good, bad and ugly of my 500 entries. So this is me being self congratulatory.

THE GOOD.

Well, I suppose my favourite or best entry has to be my article comparing shelfari,librarything and gurulib. This piece was a favourite as a lot of people quoted it, Tim Spalding from librarything. That article stil gets me more hits and it was actually enjoyable.

THE BAD

I suppose it really has to be when my brother passed away. There's not a moment goes by I don't miss him.

THE UGLY

I think for all those that have read (sorry, tried to read) this blog, it must be my grammar. Its enough to send all my readers to despair.

Anyhow, thanks readers. Here's to the next 500.

Library Survey

(Found via here). If any one has time their is a library survey here. The Survey, we are told is:-

I am conducting research for my book Effective Blogging for Libraries (working title), from Neal-Schuman as part of its forthcoming Tech Set series created by Ellyssa Kroski. The book is almost complete, but I need your help! I am looking to find out what has and has not worked with library blog(s).

Anyone got time, it only takes a couple of minutes to complete.

Meredith's view and friend feed,part.2

Following on from Merdith's Farkas insightful article called 'W(h)ither blogging and the library blogosphere?'. Whilst checking my feeds I noted that Michael Goldrick had commented upon it in his blog, and not only pointed to this, but also the feedback on friend feed. The feed back was so good I event went and joined the conversation. Some really insightful comments to.

Should I quit blogging post

(Found via here) Stephen Abram pointed me in the direction of this post 'Should I Quit Blogging?' by Darren Rowse. I have mentioned previously, and although Walt Crawford responded by saying:-

Blogging has had a low persistence rate for years. I'd like to think that the best bloggers are sticking around...but I've always been a Candide at heart.

Rowse's response to the decline of blogging wrote following:-

Blogging is not dead - it’s evolving.

You should be evolving too (read Blogs are Out of Beta, But Bloggers Should always be in Beta)
Keep being useful, keep solving problems and keep meeting needs - whatever the medium this is key.

Keep producing content - people continue to search the web for content in huge numbers. It’s not all about networking and bookmarking - whether it be text, video or audio - keep producing content.

Experiment with different mediums - to the best of your ability keep abreast of the ‘new’ mediums that are emerging.

Build a ‘Home Base’ - many people flit from one medium to another and end up with nothing of their own (read more on the Home Bases and Outposts that I use).

Build a Brand - the mediums are tools. They’ll come and go in time - the key is to build something that lasts beyond them.

Don’t be Precious about your ‘Blog’ and be open to change - there’s no one ‘right’ way to blog. Blogs can have comments or not have comments, have full RSS feeds or partial ones, look like a traditional blog or act and look more like a lifestream or portal. The key is to know what you want to achieve and let that shape what you do with your blog.

Don’t abandon your blog too quickly - your primary efforts may move into a different medium but blogs can be an important part of the mix of what you do online. Don’t abandon your blog - build upon it, let it evolve, leverage what you’ve already built and use it where appropriate in the mix of what you do.

I think its a pretty good article about how blogging is a great tool. I'm hoping to soon add to Darren's list in the near future on why I blog.

Is blogging really dying.....

The Guardian has an interesting article Blogging : The long and Short of it, which looks at how over the last 6 months that blogging is becoming less popular. The arguments are pretty much on the money. Saying :-

Where is everybody? Anecdotally and experimentally, they've all gone to Facebook, and especially Twitter. At least with Twitter, one can search for comments via backtweets.com – though it's still quite rare for people to make a comment on a piece in a tweet; more usually it's a "retweet", echoing the headline. The New York Times also noticed this trend, with a piece on 9 June about "Blogs Falling In An Empty Forest", which pointed to Technorati's 2008 survey of the state of the blogosphere, which found that only 7.4m out of the 133m blogs it tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. As the New York Times put it, "that translates to 95% of blogs being essentially abandoned".

I think it maybe true. I've noted how I've increased my RSS feeds and get less Blogs.

Should we stop blogging and go to twitter........

(Found Via David Lee King), I was pointed to Kathryn Greenhill blog post entitled When should you stop blogging ? in which she says:-

While I don’t think I have any intention of stopping Librarians Matter, I’ve noticed my posts are slowing down as I enter my third year. I’ve been spending more time twittering, on new work projects, blogging elsewhere , getting slowly interested in videoblogging - and even trying to go walking at 6am to spend some one-on-one time with Mr10.

I've gone through periods where i have struggled to blog, but the idea of just twitter or not blogging seems a sad loss. I like blogging as I feel it keeps me up to date, I have to read something current and I interact with people I respect. I even wish it made me a better writter, but thats not so i'm afraid. If your thinking of quitting blogging check Walt Crawford's Thinking about Blogging in Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large.

Annoyed Librarian creating havoc in the librosphere?

Annoyed Librarian has joined the ranks of the library journal, and created some dismay to David Lee King. David has said:-

Yep - that’s right. The same organization that publishes the Transparent Library column is now giving voice to … an anonymous blogger.

Other Bloggers haves commented on this (1), well one. Oh this has been added too.

King goes on to say:-

'And now that same juvenile, irresponsible behavior has been paid, and has been given a voice … by “the oldest and most respected publication covering the library field.” Hmm… another irony noted.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m all for tearing down bad ideas, pointing out inconsistencies, sharing what I think.'

Why the upset? I always find the annoyed librarian quite funny. I can't take his/her rants seriously or the talk about 'twopointians'. Anyhow, on most blogs do we not allow anymous responses? I think it just gives the annoyed librarian more ammo.

Congratulations to Michael Stephens

Michael Stephens of Taming the Web fame has his Dissertation Bound. The dissertation is entitled modelling the role of blogging in librarianship. Looks a really good read. I wish mine was still online, I have to sort this out.

Why no comments article via ttw

Taming the web has linked to an interesting article entitled 'why no comments' (via here). In it, TTW says (sorry this is poor practice but still):-

One of the stumbling blocks for libraries when we talk about blogging is the fact that so many library blogs never get comments. This article - focused on associations - might be very useful for strategic planning for the library blog.

I especially like this one:

2. Open and easy. If you really want to build comments, you have to be open and make commenting easy. Limiting your blog content or commenting features to members also limits what you can achieve with your blog. A members-only strategy may be appropriate in some cases, but not if your goal is to engage a vocal audience. In fact, to truly be open, try setting up a blog with

No login;
Easy to find comment links;
No captchas—those annoying things that make people spell out letters to prove they are human;
No moderation. (You can always be notified of new posts and moderate after the comments are posted.) The instant gratification a new commenter feels when they see their name and content post to your site is not to be underestimated.


I totally agree. So many times i've spoken to libraries and ease of access is such a stumbling block. It could be I don't sell it well enough, but I think any blogger feels content when they recieve comments.

Please feel free to comment ;)

Oh dear, I joined twitter

Well, after over a year of berating Twitter i finally joined it. As any regular readers may have noted i've not really been regular in this field (the blogging field), as of new job, house, girlfriend, starting a chartership etc. But twitter allows for a quick entry, and feels like i'm in the blogosphere (even if i only have 4 friends).

British Blogs continued

Jennie Law has started a wiki for British library blogs, so says Phil Bradley.

British library blogs

I noted that Jennie Law has an interesting blog entry entitled UK librarian blogs - the list so far. Like it says, it notes all British library based blogs.

Reading on the way to work

Having started my new job has given me time to catch up on plenty of reading (1,2,3) I have just started The Devil's Cup, which looks at the history of coffee. As a blogger, I was interested in the London Coffeehouse's, especially Richard Steele, who created Tatler in one. The book quotes the coffeehouses of the time, who could be writing of bloggers when they says:-
Coffeehouses had made civilised conversation into a popular sport.

Nancy Dowd article

Nancy Dowd from The "M" Word - Marketing Libraries blog has an interesting piece entitled Blogging for a purpose?. Although I have previously tried to get a blog started at a library, it provides some useful insights in whats needed.

Job hunting and blowing your own horn

I read an interesting blog found called blowing your own horn. Ahmed Bilal writes:-

Self-Promotion is something most of us are uncomfortable with - and it's not just the prospect of 'selling' that turns us off, in reality its insecurity (cleverly dressed as modesty) that holds us back.

Whether by nature or by society, we are programmed to sell ourselves short.

I was interested in this, as i have just finished my course, and working through my last few weeks at my present job. Therefore, application forms are presently my main source of reading material. Not the most interesting thing to do.

Therefore, when re-reading through a job application, how one needs to do it not only within application forms but also when working within a library.

In this point I mean the idea of advocacy. In the last few weeks I noted Meredith Farkas discussing the Mudflap girl,
who is now being used as an icon for Wyoming's libraries to indicate they 'are as expansive as the state, and as close as down the street.' I always find it interesting how libraries blowing there own horn.