Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Cases Studies - Library Blogs

I think that the first 3 libraries have been successful at making their blogs fit seamlessly into their website. The purpose of the blogs in all three cases appears to be an easy way to keep users up to date on the latest library news and events. Although all three allowed for commenting if registered, I noticed more comments on Ann Arbor library's and Georgia State's blogs (although only a few posts on Georgia States allowed comments - where comments were allowed, the participation seems fairly high). I wonder if this is simply because the topics were more "newsie" and "debatable" than standard library and community announcements. Some of the Ann Arbor posts were very successful at creating a dialogue (i.e. Season 4 Ideas: Player Ratings.)

The Western Springs history blog was quite unique from the others. It seems to act more like a website than a blog, although as a blog, it does provide a forum for discussion and I did notice several comments and discussion. I loved that neighbours would log on and provide extra little tidbits of information about various homes. It seems to be an effective way to gather additional information. This seems like such a *nice* idea - and very engaging to the community. I would totally log on to something like this for my hood and for the dish about past residents and new additions, etc.

2 comments:

Gerry said...

Hi Joanne

I agree with your statements regarding the easy way blogs can be used to keep users up to date on the latest library news and events. I especially liked how the Ann Arbor Library asked patrons for feedback about moving and/or renovating their downtown branch. After reading the comments, it's readily apparent that people still love their libraries. That's good to hear.

Alexandra said...

Hey Joanne,

I also noticed the lack of patron comments on the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library Blog. You suggested that perhaps the other blogs were receiving more comments because their topics were more debatable than standard library and community announcements. Maybe this is true or maybe the other libraries are just larger and therefore have more patrons. Although on the Madison-Jefferson library blog it seems that attempts by library staff to get patrons to participate by blogging comments were being ignored. The Madison-Jefferson County Public Library Blog has a "My Space" page for teens on which the library staff post and direct questions towards their young patrons. On this page I only noticed one comment. I wonder why this is....perhaps teens are not interested in the library. Maybe the library is not a "cool" place at that age. But really, the blog is lacking in the comment area all together. I think library staff need to promote the library blog and get patrons blogging. How could they do this?