I had a meeting with my advisor a few weeks back and
something we discussed at length was the importance of professional blogging.
The purpose of blogging is to share one’s ideas and thoughts with others. In a
professional blog, the ideas and thoughts expressed focus on professional
content and research. Following these blogs allows a person to stay up to date
on current issues or topics, as well as, the ability to network with other
professional that are interested in similar topics. Two professional blogs that I follow are Librarian in Black and
Tame the Web. Although they are very
different, both blogs provide information relating to the digital services and
technology.
The “Librarian in Black” is a blog started in 2003 by Sarah
Houghton, the Director of the San Rafael Public Library in California (Houghton, About, 2003-2014) . In general, the
blog consists of information relating to library web and digital services, but
over the last few months, Houghton’s posts have focused more actively on
current issues and her reactions to them, such as “Something’s
Wrong When Sarah’s Quiet” and “Musing on
the new California State Librarian appointee”. The former touched on topics like the ALA
Conference Code of Conduct and Slate.com’s blog This
is What a Librarian Looks Like. The latter went more in-depth on the
qualifications (or the lack thereof) of Greg Lucas to the position mentioned. While
it is an interesting blog, the contents are strictly the opinions, informed or
otherwise, of Sarah Houghton.
The blog, “Tame the Web”, was started in 2003 by Dr. Michael
Stephens, an Assistant Professor at the School of Library and Information
Science at San Jose State (Stephens M. , 2003-2014) . This blog focuses
on the library, technology, and people. It is quite an interesting sort of blog
because it allows posts from other professional contributors besides Dr.
Stephens from the field. Most recent posts include “Office
Hours: A Genius Idea” exploring the concepts of adding a Genius Bar (as
borrowed from Apple) to libraries, “Fair
Use in the Eyes of the Beholder…Or Not” by contributor Troy Swanson
identifying issues with YouTube copyright enforcement that affects their
library’s account and video sharing, “Using
and Apple TV on the Second Floor of the Chattanooga Public Library” by
contributor Justin Hoenke, and “Really?
No Place for Collaboration at the Library”. After researching the blog,
past entries focus more on technology. Still, this blog was very fascinating to
read and provided hyperlinks to other blogs, articles, website, etc. to help
enhance the site, itself. All the contributors had their contact and social
media sites listed and linked, as well. While some posts are opinion based,
some are anecdotal and other are informative with a research basis.
By following both blogs, I have learned quite a great deal
not only about the field of LIS and a technological or digital focus, but also
the process of professional blogging. I have become aware of issues that I
would not have known of previously, as well as, the general reactions of others
to these issues. Moreover, I am learning how to construct my blog going forward
as I, too, become a professional. By knowing what I find interesting in other’s
writings, I am about to better write my own blog. I look forward to putting
this into practice as time continues and I hope that it benefits you, my
readers, as well.
References
Houghton, S. (2003-2014). About. Retrieved
from Librarian in Black: http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/about
Houghton, S. (2003-2014). Main Page. Retrieved
from Librarian in Black: http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/
Stephens, M. (2003-2014). About Michael Stephens.
Retrieved from Tame the Web: http://tametheweb.com/about-michael-stephens/
Stephens, M. (2003-2014). Main Page. Retrieved
from Tame the Web: http://tametheweb.com/
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