Are Blogs a Benefit to Libraries?

We don’t blog at our library! That’s not to say that we won’t someday…blogs can be an excellent tool that a library can use to help fulfill its role as an information provider.

First of all, we need to gather the facts. To find out exactly what a blog is and how it can support us in our daily work. Blogs, for the most part, are websites to which an individual can add content expressing his/her opinion on a given situation or to comment on some event. The site is open to receive responses from readers who also have an opinion or comment on the posted content. Individuals post to his/her blog usually on a scheduled basis; otherwise, they may lose interested readers. Blogs can link images, text, media data and objects, and can link to other blogs that are posted in chronological order.

Blog services are cost effective, provide a user friendly interface, are easy to update, and can increase communication between creators and readers. There are many other advantages to developing a blog. They offer:

1. A form of Archiving

Blogs offer a way to keep track of all postings in a site and the ability to organize and present articles by author or alphabetically; at the personal preference of the blogger.

2. Instant Notification using “Feeds”

“Feeds” is special software that allows readers to access sites of interest automatically. Whenever new content is posted or if content is updated, readers are instantly notified. This provides a way for readers to keep up with the latest information that is posted on their sites of interest. Some “Feeds” include RSS, Atom or RDF files. RSS and Atom is more or less the same thing: a “feed” of regularly updated content.

3. Easy Access to Sites of Interest: Blogrolls

Blogrolls are a list of links to weblogs or web pages the author of a blog finds interesting. The links in a “blogroll” are usually to other blogs with similar interests and is located on the "sidebar" of a page.

4. Instant Feedback using Comments

“Comments” is a feature used in blogs that allows users to comment upon articles posted in a weblog. The author of a blog has the ability to monitor and control the comments of comment posts such as deleting unwanted comments and approving wanted comments.

5. Orientation Opportunities using Video

Blogging using a video can provide information visually, increase the audience to include those individuals who prefer watching over reading, and provide a different format of presentation such as making it easier to demonstrate tutorials.

Blogs can provide up-to-date information on events, activities, news, and services. It can be used as a promotion tool the library can use to notify its readers. It is easy to publish content online and offers an instant feedback resource. Upon knowing all the advantages and benefits of having a blog, the next step is getting the approval from our superiors. Why wouldn’t a library have a blog if the site is inviting and assists in increasing traffic to its doors?