Lesson 6: Blogs in Libraries

When we think of library blogs, we often think of librarian blogs, i.e., clever observations made by librarians about the library world. But there are blogs that are distinctly about the goings-on in specific libraries, blogs that “supplement traditional means of communicating with patrons” (Steele and Greenlee, 2011, p. 114).

One such example of a library blog is the University of Pennsylvania Law Library’s Biddleblog. Not only an academic library but also a special library, this law library faced significant challenges, especially in juxtaposing the casual tone associated with blogs with the academic nature of the blog’s subject matter. Eventually, the Biddleblog staff decided that all law library staff would blog, posting book reviews, research guides, and library announcements, all while highlighting library resources such as databases and exhibits (Steele and Greenlee, 2011, p. 117).

In one critical way, Biddleblog is more successful than most such blogs: at the time the Steele and Greenlee (2011) article was published, Biddleblog had been frequently updated for the past three years, and the updates continue, with the most recent dating April 18, 2013. But Biddleblog is not without its difficulties. While the library can use a tool like Google Analytics to determine how many people are reading the blog each day, the library has yet to quantify how many of those readers are actually  library patrons, not law librarians looking for a few new ideas (Steele and Greenlee, 2011, p. 118).

While Biddleblog aims to connect with a small, specific community, some library blogs aim to connect with an entire city or metropolitan area, a challenge just as difficult as that of connecting with a smaller readership. Blogs targeting a small community struggle to attract and maintain the interest of a limited number of readers, but blogs targeting larger communities must create content diverse enough to appeal to a wider range of readers.

In a 2007 article published in First Monday, a must-see online journal covering all topics Internet, Lyons expresses that “community-focused blogs (sometimes called geo-blogs or place-blogs) are becoming increasingly viable and reliable sources for local information,” and libraries aren't missing out on their chance to get in on the action. According to Lyons (2007), there are several community-based library blogs that focus on transmitting library news as well as community news. There are even blogs that match readers to blogs focusing on their geographic areas, with some of the more popular being Placeblogger and BlogDigger Local. With the increased interest in libraries as places and promoting libraries as community hubs, locally-focused, library-supported blogs are important players in changing the face of libraries.

Though library blogs focus on different types of libraries and communities, they all share one common purpose: providing information for library users. Let’s face it—we librarians are shameless information peddlers, and blogs make it possible for the whole world to learn what we have to teach. But if the whole world isn't interested, we can at least hope that our small communities are.

References

Lyons, C. (2007, March 5). The library: A distinct local voice? First Monday, 12(3).

Steele, J., & Greenlee, E. (2011). Thinking, writing, sharing, blogging: Lessons learned from implementing a law library blog. Law Library Journal, 103(1), 113-123.