Showing posts with label blogger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogger. Show all posts
Can all library staff post to this blog?
In the words of Barack "Yes we can!"
It's simple and you don't need access to blogger.
Email your post to:
suthlib.staffnews@blogger.com
and it will publish to this blog.
It's simple and you don't need access to blogger.
Email your post to:
suthlib.staffnews@blogger.com
and it will publish to this blog.
How to Write for the Library Blog
I've been meaning to write this post for some time now but I've been unsure about how to approach it. Over the life of the Library blog I've had submissions from lots of staff for blog posts, some of which were great and some of which required a fair amount of editing. I've also seen things that we've done in the library pass by without a mention on the web site at all, when I think they would have been great fodder for the blog. And I've had feedback from staff about their hesitance to contribute because they weren't sure how to go about it. This post is my response to those concerns. Hopefully it will encourage you to feel comfortable about contributing.
Why a Blog?
First up I thought I would try and explain where the blog sits in the spectrum of the Library's web presence. It's primarily a way to let library users know about things that are going on in the library. It is only one avenue. We do this in other ways as well - flyers and posters in the libraries, ads in the Leader, etc. We also do this in other places on the web site, the Events Calendar for example. It is not, however, simply a marketing tool.
In the absense of a dedicated marketing officer and as the person responsible for the Library's web site much of the creation of content for the blog has fallen to me. Although I understand that I will continue to contribute a good deal to the blog I think that in principle my role should be more about establishing the tools and structures that make it easy for all staff to contribute, in the same way that you create your own flyers and organise your own marketing for your events.
It is important, therefore, to understand what is different about a blog (compared with other avenues for communicating with our users) and what this means for how you should approach writing for the blog.
How is a Blog Different?
A blog post is not the same as a press release. Nor is it the same as a report to Directors.
A blog post gives you a chance to tell our users about the Library's story. It's more than that though, it allows our users to comment on our story and tell us what they think. In turn it allows us to thank our users for their contribution, to address their concerns directly or to provide more information when they ask for it. The better we can understand what our users want the more we can shape our service to meet their needs. A blog is one way that we can engage in a two-way dialogue with our users. Think of it as a virtual version of the interactions we have with our users over the service desks.
In light of this point I would like you to consider this:
When writing for the blog, above all other concerns, it is vital that you remain authentic. Strive for authenticity over perfection. Marketing hype and spin does not work on this medium. In short, Keep it Real!
I want you to take some time to digest this idea. I'll come back to some more concrete things you should do when writing for the blog in another post but before I do I want to point you in the direction of some reading that explores this idea. Please take some time to read the following posts and articles from others writing about communicating with our users.
Directly addressing the idea of authenticity are two posts, both in response to a video of David Weinberger talking about the nature of fame and Web 2.0 - the first a post by John Blyberg called Imperfectly Famous and the second a post on ALA Techsource by Kate Sheehan titled Authentically Real.
Michael Stephens on Tame the Web points to a couple of articles about improving the conversation between libraries and their users and finally a post titled marketing vs doing by Kathy Gould on the PVLD Director's Blog about why marketing hype doesn't work.
When you've read these (they're not that long, honestly...) check back for some more tangible ways of improving your writing for the blog in the next post.
Why a Blog?
First up I thought I would try and explain where the blog sits in the spectrum of the Library's web presence. It's primarily a way to let library users know about things that are going on in the library. It is only one avenue. We do this in other ways as well - flyers and posters in the libraries, ads in the Leader, etc. We also do this in other places on the web site, the Events Calendar for example. It is not, however, simply a marketing tool.
In the absense of a dedicated marketing officer and as the person responsible for the Library's web site much of the creation of content for the blog has fallen to me. Although I understand that I will continue to contribute a good deal to the blog I think that in principle my role should be more about establishing the tools and structures that make it easy for all staff to contribute, in the same way that you create your own flyers and organise your own marketing for your events.
It is important, therefore, to understand what is different about a blog (compared with other avenues for communicating with our users) and what this means for how you should approach writing for the blog.
How is a Blog Different?
A blog post is not the same as a press release. Nor is it the same as a report to Directors.
A blog post gives you a chance to tell our users about the Library's story. It's more than that though, it allows our users to comment on our story and tell us what they think. In turn it allows us to thank our users for their contribution, to address their concerns directly or to provide more information when they ask for it. The better we can understand what our users want the more we can shape our service to meet their needs. A blog is one way that we can engage in a two-way dialogue with our users. Think of it as a virtual version of the interactions we have with our users over the service desks.
The blog should be a conversation.
In light of this point I would like you to consider this:
When writing for the blog, above all other concerns, it is vital that you remain authentic. Strive for authenticity over perfection. Marketing hype and spin does not work on this medium. In short, Keep it Real!
I want you to take some time to digest this idea. I'll come back to some more concrete things you should do when writing for the blog in another post but before I do I want to point you in the direction of some reading that explores this idea. Please take some time to read the following posts and articles from others writing about communicating with our users.
Directly addressing the idea of authenticity are two posts, both in response to a video of David Weinberger talking about the nature of fame and Web 2.0 - the first a post by John Blyberg called Imperfectly Famous and the second a post on ALA Techsource by Kate Sheehan titled Authentically Real.
Michael Stephens on Tame the Web points to a couple of articles about improving the conversation between libraries and their users and finally a post titled marketing vs doing by Kathy Gould on the PVLD Director's Blog about why marketing hype doesn't work.
When you've read these (they're not that long, honestly...) check back for some more tangible ways of improving your writing for the blog in the next post.
Turn on Comment Notification
One of the features of blogs is that they allow your readers to comment on your posts. This allows you to get feedback about your thoughts and starts conversations - making blogs part of what is known more generally as social networking. This is a key idea behind most web 2.0 tools. So make sure that your blog allows people to comment and make sure you are notified when someone adds a comment to your blog. (in fact, I have been leaving a few comments on some participants blogs recently).
Here's how you do that in Blogger (check that your settings match those below). Firstly, when you log in to Blogger you are presented with the Dashboard:
Click on the Settings link for your blog, and then on Comments:
Scroll to the bottom of the screen and look for the field labeled Comment Notification Address. Add your email address here (Gmail) and whenever someone leaves a comment on your blog you will get an email.
One other thing about comments. Comment Verification prevents comment spam. It is a measure that stops automated comments from being posted by requiring the person to enter a string of letters that computers can't recognise (it's called a captcha). You should make sure that Word Verification for Comments is set to yes.
Here's how you do that in Blogger (check that your settings match those below). Firstly, when you log in to Blogger you are presented with the Dashboard:
Click on the Settings link for your blog, and then on Comments:
Scroll to the bottom of the screen and look for the field labeled Comment Notification Address. Add your email address here (Gmail) and whenever someone leaves a comment on your blog you will get an email.
Is Blogger in Chinese?
Some people are finding that when they use the TAC network to edit their blogs that Blogger comes up in Chinese. If this is happening to you don't panic - you just need to change the language to English (or your language of choice!) and all will be right with the world again.
Here's how:
See that drop-down menu circled in red? That's the language menu. Just click on that menu and scroll down until you can find something that's remotely readable. It should look something like this:
Click on English (UK) and the page will reload in English - Voila!
Here's how:
See that drop-down menu circled in red? That's the language menu. Just click on that menu and scroll down until you can find something that's remotely readable. It should look something like this:
Click on English (UK) and the page will reload in English - Voila!
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
