Case Studies: Week 3- More Blogs

What a difference between these blogs and the ones we looked at last week! I was pretty impressed by most of them.

Darien Library seems to understand the importance of a blog having a specific focus & voice. I think that they have successfully managed this by having multiple blogs about different topics. Their menu of various blogs is well-laid out and not an intimidating list. They also clearly indicate that you are moving to a blog which we have seen is important (Catalyst). This seems to be a good way to get around the problem of many different audiences that will not be appreciative of the same information and tones. In other library blogs that attempt to serve all patrons with one blog tend to lose their 'personality' as they water everything down to appeal to all.

I really liked the Library Lounge! It was chatty, laidback, interesting and linked to some cool sites. It still managed to provide library news without feeling like a mere newsboard. The Categories down the side are good for navigating to topics. I do wonder who the intended audience was though ...it doesn't seem to be fully focused on patron topics, but still did provide some information on library services, etc.

Gameblog!?! Success.
It did take me a moment to figure out what it was, but once my non-gaming brain clued in, I was very impressed! There seems to be a lot of interaction and commenting. The moderators seemed to do well to speak the teen lingo and facilitate without standing out as 'authority'.

Mabry: Wow - much like Gameblog, I think they've done a great job. What a smart use of a blog! The teacher index makes it very easy to navigate the various blogs. Some are much better then others, but I do like that each blog is clearly associated with one person (or by function, like the Cafe).

Both the Neilsen and Scout article underline the importance of a blogging personality. This is perhaps why the Mabry site and Gameblog work because they have Neilsen's suggested photo and profile.

The VCU suggestion blog succeeds in providing a forum for communicating with students - it's a clear topic. I like that the suggestions and responses are posted together so there is no risk of an unanswered suggestion sitting on the blog for a long period of time. Here, you don't have the blog personalities, but I think that it is not as important for this blog as it is focussed on responding to questions supplied by its intended audience.

So, despite some minor flaws, why do I feel that these blogs are better than last week's blogs? I think the key is that they have a clear focus. There is a purpose for each blog and, in each case, a blog seems to be a good vehicle for communicating the desired information. They have moved beyond the mere 'newsboard' blog.