blogs for librarians - karen du toit
TRANSCRIPT
Karen du Toit
Blogs for LibrariansLIASA Webinar 25 Nov 2015(part of the “Social Media for Librarians” -series of webinars)
Blogger- SABC Media Libraries
- Karen’s 23 Mobile Things
- MomAgain@40
- About.Me
What is a Blog?
Web-log (online)
Reverse chronology
Interactive
Personal
Informal
Hyperlinks
Why Blog? http://youtu.be/livzJTIWlmY
Seth Godin and Tom Peters on Blogging
Why blog for librarians? Increase productivity Reach out to your users Promote services Train users (young & old) Pass on social media skills Become part of global discussions
How to start a blog? Planning – WWWWH? Branding(The Library), niche, audience
Title
Theme
Why Blogger? Free User-friendly Comprehensive widgets Zero downtime Integration with Google products: Google+, Analytics, etc Google managed security Adding a custom domain very easy/cheap Blogger sites added to Google search within 24 hours Great starting platform to learn the ropes Only need a Gmail password to start
Let’s play BLOG!
Blogger.com- Blog address & user name fixed > NB!- Google password strong- Title & address same (SEO)- Create blog in 3 steps!
Template
Settings
Before we begin…Question marks in Blogger settings Click them if unsure
Settings: Basic (1)
Settings: Basic (2)
Settings: Posts and Comments Settings: Posts
Settings: Posts and Comments Comments
Settings: Mobile and Email
Settings: Language and formatting
Settings: Search preferences
Settings Other
Layout
Layout: Add a Gadget
Gadgets
Gadgets 2
Gadgets 3
Online etiquette Rule of thumb! Don’t post anything you don’t want your
mother to see. Stay neutral Use “They” and third person when reporting about anything
in the library Grammar and punctuation rules! Tone down your language Respect others and their opinions Brevity the best! (300-500 word per blog post!)
New post
Text hereTex
Your text here
Multi-mediaInsert via postOr via code
Reminder!!
Only use your own, free or Creative Commons multi-media!
Free stock photos/images http://iStockPhoto.com http://Seedresources.com Flickr Creative Commons:
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons http://www.sxc.hu http://rgbstock.com
CC LicenceThe creator of any content decides how they want to share
stipulating their own conditions http://www.commoncraft.com/video/copyright-and-creative-co
mmons (great video for understanding CC license easily!)
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/creative-commons-use/ https://creativecommons.org/
Add gadget on sidebar Add code into blog post
Embed code
Copy and paste Use for any embed code
Copy and paste after changed blog to HTML
Ability to switch between normal & code
Photo with caption
Insert links (hyperlinks)
Make your blog interactive
Interaction
Comments Share buttons Social media buttons (to follow you) RSS feeds Email updates Supply contact details on sidebar or “About”
Sharing Share each blog post on all social media sites, especially
Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn (avoid automatic updates)
Share more than once to allow for different time zones Write guests posts for topic aligned sites Accept guests posts with topic aligned content and links Comment on topic aligned blogs
Share buttons
More sharing
Enable readers of blog to share your content
Enable readers of blog to follow you
1. Add gadget from More gadgets in right navigation bar
2. Add Social Media buttons (Search for free Social Media buttons)
Add gadget > “Image”link to Twitter & Facebook &
Labels in Blogger
Tabs = Labels Work on own thesaurus of labels – stick to it!
Labels in Blog postAdd gadget: Labels
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Increase traffic with SEO (Blogger Help)
Examples of blogs The Daring Librarian (Gwyneth Jones) New York Public Library blogs Jan Holmquist / Worldwide thoughts of a Danish librarian International Librarians Network The Archival Platform
Resources How to start a blog on Blogger – Wikihow Blogging tips on Pinterest by Karen du Toit- Blogging Blogger Help Center How the New York Public Library is using blogs
Questions?