Blogs and Twitter for Individuals and

Institutions

Presented by

Graham LavenderLiaison Librarian, McGill Library

February 5, 2010

http://www.flickr.com/photos/verityatthedisco/4193432039/

Everything I know about blogging I learned from John Dupuis

• Join the conversation

• Promote yourself

WHY BLOG (OR USE TWITTER)?

“A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by an

individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries

are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used

as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”

- Wikipedia

WHAT IS A BLOG?

TOP 10 BLOGS

• “Biblioblogosphere”

• LISWiki

• Walt Crawford’s Liblog Landscape

LIS BLOGS

• Currency

• Wide range of viewpoints

• Learn about the community

WHY YOU SHOULD READ BLOGS

• Ask your friends for recommendations1. The Annoyed Librarian

2. Librarian in Black3. Information Wants to be Free

4. LISNews• Blogrolls: read your favourite bloggers’ favourite

blogs

• Set up an RSS feed reader

• Leave comments

HOW TO READ BLOGS

1. Individual (student or professional) blogs

2. Multi-contributor blogs

3. Institutional blogs

TYPES OF BLOGS

• You are an exhibitionist• You were inspired by a really

excellent talk• You enjoy writing

• You want to impress potential employers

• You want to become a participant in the online conversation

REASONS TO START YOUR OWN BLOG

REASONS TO NOT START YOUR OWN BLOG

http://www.flickr.com/photos/remibridot/2218573670/

CREATING A BLOG

• My advice: sign up for a free account at WordPress

MY BLOG

http://inspiredlibraryschoolstudent.wordpress.com/

• Have a focus

• Write at least two interesting posts before you start advertising

• Don’t obsess over the layout at first

• Advertise, advertise, advertise

STARTING YOUR OWN BLOG

• Start with your friends, classmates, colleagues

• Add yourself to the LISWiki• Leave comments on other blogs,

especially ones on a similar topic• Write posts linking to posts from

other blogs• Add your URL to your email

signature and business card

ADVERTISING YOUR BLOG

• Visit your favourite blogs, and try to discover some new ones

• Don't worry that you always have to be 100% original and groundbreaking

• Solicit guest posts

• Don't take yourself too seriously

STAYING MOTIVATED

• Professionals want to help you

• Your blog can set you apart

• Start thinking and writing about the trends and issues they don't teach in

school

• You have more to say than you think

FOR STUDENTS

Types:• Association blogs• Institutional blogs• Conference blogs

Re:Generations Blog

Advantages:• Interaction among contributors

• Broad audience• Less pressure to post frequently

MULTI-CONTRIBUTOR BLOGS

McGill Library has two blogs:

• The McGill Library Blog (for students, faculty, and other clients)• The McGill Library Staff Blog (for

McGill Library staff)

MCGILL LIBRARY BLOGS

MCGILL LIBRARY BLOG (FOR CLIENTS)

http://blogs.mcgill.ca/library/

MCGILL LIBRARY STAFF BLOG

• Prepare a business case• Advertise, advertise, advertise

• Start with a small group of people who are ready and willing to post

• Create guidelines• Get support from the top

• Don’t worry that it will be as hard to maintain as a website

LESSONS LEARNED: THE MCGILL LIBRARY

EXPERIENCE

MICROBLOGGING (TWITTER)

Micro = very smallBlogging = blogging

• I wrote about Web 2.You on my blog• I blogged about Web 2.You

But

• I wrote about Web 2.You on Twitter• I tweeted about Web 2.You

WORD USAGE

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1417

• Like blogging, but each post is limited to 140 characters

• Popular with celebrities and “celebrities”

• Post to Twitter through text message, browser, or desktop

application

Lifehacker’s Five Best Twitter Clients

TWITTER

LET’S TRY IT OUT

Twitter is:

• More immediate• More ubiquitous

• Less flexible in terms of length• Less flexible in terms of content

Why not do both?

TWITTER VS. BLOGGING

• What I’m doing right now

•What I’m going to be doing in the near future

•What my friends are doing now/in the near future

•What you should be doing now/in the near future

TWITTER FOR INDIVIDUALS

•McGill Library’s Twitter account•Promote new services and events•Interact directly with students

(examples: #1, #2)At McGill:

•Tweet while working on chat reference

•Cheat sheet of possible tweets•Training (more than you might

expect)

TWITTER FOR INSTITUTIONS

• Accept that it will be scary

• Use it to join the conversation

• Use it to promote yourself

• There’s nothing stopping you – DO IT!

CONCLUSION

Thank you!

Look me up online:

The Inspired Library School Student

Twitter: @guybrariang

My shared items on Google Reader

Facebook

LinkedIn

Flickr

THANK YOU