Here is a preliminary list of questions to ask Systems...
Allowing comments:
We would like to allow user comments, but are a bit afraid of vulgar posts and negative experiences.
Is there a software package that could scan any comments to make sure they do not have inappropriate material in them before it was posted or would we need to review each post first?
Could/should we register only library card holders on our site?
Will we host on our own server?
Do we have the desire and the server space to host on our own?
What software will we need?
Do we use a free source or purchase a software package?
If purchase, where does that money come from?
Does it provide a means of tracking - # of posts, # of comments, # of readers?
Do we have space to archive all correspondence?
How do we get listed high on the search engines?
What about supporting vlogs, RSS feeds?
Will we link the blog from our main homepage? Individual department pages?
Do you have any input/opinions on design?
Training Staff:
Can the software or a designated person provide a training or tutorial to assist the staff who are blogging.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
We Meet Again!
The Cyber Explorers gathered on Tuesday for more discussion and sharing on the topic of social software as it applies to libraries. The good news - we had 100% participation, the bad news - our IT consultation was unexpectedly postponed.
Here's a quick overview of how we spent our time together:
Here's a quick overview of how we spent our time together:
- Wiki demonstration, courtesy of Sonya, who is experimenting with this tool in her Let's Talk classes.
- Discussion of problems, issues, and techniques relative to co-authoring this blog.
- Expressions of concern about security, control of comment-content, generation of adequate meaningful content, promoting blogs to targeted publics, designated staff-time and training, proof-reading of content for facts/grammar/spelling, consistency of style and format.
- Molly & Melissa volunteered to act as liaisons with Systems; a comprehensive list of queries is being compiled.
- Each committee member will solicit her own dept. peers for interest in contributing to a blog and for potential blog ideas within their service area. Cheryl will also approach Circ. and TS for input.
- Pam will continue to research existing social software policies to assist with the creation of our own policy, when necessary.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Blog, Blog, me do
Sorry for the overlap, same issues, some of the same answers.
Some of this may have been better as a comment but it is much too long and just easier to do it this way.
"What format and structure will the blog take on? Also, will there be one central library blog or multiple blogs for multiple departments? In which case, a central design theme could recur but each blog would have its own flair."
I believe that each department should have a blog and that they should each have their own look to appeal to their specific audience. In other words the children's page should have a style that will appeal to children and parents, the teen page should appeal to them and the adult page should appeal to them. However, they should all have one element that links them back to the library, such as the logo on the side. I don't think we want to limit colors or fonts. Maybe this could be left up to the departments, but for advertising programs I think we would want to be able to use fonts or colors to make the program information stand out from the normal day to day things. This is based on what I have seen on other library websites.
As far as length goes, I think Pam has a point and there is definitely a plus to brevity. I am not sure this would need to be a policy though, more of a guideline maybe. (you might think it does given the length of this post)
Multiple bloggers? What about Video/Pictures? Advertising and linking to the Blog?
Definitely! Of Course! and Why not?
Will we feature the blog prominently on the home page? Try to get linked from other library sites? How about allowing links within our blog?
Great questions. I would love when we launch the blogs to have them linked on the front page so people learn about them. Then after some time move them to their respective department pages. Advertising, I would say it depended on who we were advertising for. I would like to have the ability to link to lots of things like author sites, amazon, and the Indy star. It would be good to have a lot of local information on our blog.
Allowing comments?
I would really like to allow comments. I have a question for systems on this. Is there software that could scan any comments to make sure they did not have inappropriate material in them before it was posted or would we need to review each post first? Could we make them agree to some rules (basic ones such as language) before they post?
What about content?
I would also love to see variation in our content. Like Pam suggested maybe each person could have a specific topic to blog about, and definitely have book reviews with links to the authors official page.
What policies should we have?
Maybe the obvious should be stated in policy, what is obvious to me may not be obvious to others. Things like no inappropriate material and we would have to define what this means. I am really not worried with this but we should cover our back and we need to be clear. Are we going to limit what books could be reviewed and posted on the blog? I don't think we need to but it should be addressed. We should also make sure everyone keeps specific personal information out of their posts. Now I am not saying you can't talk about personal experiences but keep it vague. You would not want to say, "while I was driving past Walmart on 96th street on my way home". But you could say "while I was driving past Walmart (or a big box store)". We may also want to keep the content relevant to the library or library programs or at least relevant with a good laugh about shopping carts maybe thrown in here and there.
I think in the beginning we should have some basic guidelines. I really do feel like the fewer the rules the better. People would be less fearful to participate.
Some of this may have been better as a comment but it is much too long and just easier to do it this way.
"What format and structure will the blog take on? Also, will there be one central library blog or multiple blogs for multiple departments? In which case, a central design theme could recur but each blog would have its own flair."
I believe that each department should have a blog and that they should each have their own look to appeal to their specific audience. In other words the children's page should have a style that will appeal to children and parents, the teen page should appeal to them and the adult page should appeal to them. However, they should all have one element that links them back to the library, such as the logo on the side. I don't think we want to limit colors or fonts. Maybe this could be left up to the departments, but for advertising programs I think we would want to be able to use fonts or colors to make the program information stand out from the normal day to day things. This is based on what I have seen on other library websites.
As far as length goes, I think Pam has a point and there is definitely a plus to brevity. I am not sure this would need to be a policy though, more of a guideline maybe. (you might think it does given the length of this post)
Multiple bloggers? What about Video/Pictures? Advertising and linking to the Blog?
Definitely! Of Course! and Why not?
Will we feature the blog prominently on the home page? Try to get linked from other library sites? How about allowing links within our blog?
Great questions. I would love when we launch the blogs to have them linked on the front page so people learn about them. Then after some time move them to their respective department pages. Advertising, I would say it depended on who we were advertising for. I would like to have the ability to link to lots of things like author sites, amazon, and the Indy star. It would be good to have a lot of local information on our blog.
Allowing comments?
I would really like to allow comments. I have a question for systems on this. Is there software that could scan any comments to make sure they did not have inappropriate material in them before it was posted or would we need to review each post first? Could we make them agree to some rules (basic ones such as language) before they post?
What about content?
I would also love to see variation in our content. Like Pam suggested maybe each person could have a specific topic to blog about, and definitely have book reviews with links to the authors official page.
What policies should we have?
Maybe the obvious should be stated in policy, what is obvious to me may not be obvious to others. Things like no inappropriate material and we would have to define what this means. I am really not worried with this but we should cover our back and we need to be clear. Are we going to limit what books could be reviewed and posted on the blog? I don't think we need to but it should be addressed. We should also make sure everyone keeps specific personal information out of their posts. Now I am not saying you can't talk about personal experiences but keep it vague. You would not want to say, "while I was driving past Walmart on 96th street on my way home". But you could say "while I was driving past Walmart (or a big box store)". We may also want to keep the content relevant to the library or library programs or at least relevant with a good laugh about shopping carts maybe thrown in here and there.
I think in the beginning we should have some basic guidelines. I really do feel like the fewer the rules the better. People would be less fearful to participate.
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