Onward We Go – Meeting Three!

The Cyber Explorer’s Committee welcomed Systems Dept. Head Rob to the third bi-weekly meeting on Tuesday, February 05, 2008. Committee members in attendance were Molly, Melissa, Cheryl, and Pam. Sonya had a scheduling conflict but promises to keep current via e-mail and our blog; she is willing to assist with specific tasks as needed.

Rob was kind enough to entertain our litany of technology questions related to blogging, RSS feeds, etc. and encouraged us to conceptualize a blogging program that will fit the needs of the various HEPL departments. He assured us that once our plan is in place, the technology to execute it would be available.

Before the end of the year, Rob expects to have a new Content Management System (CMS) selected and in place. This would increase the ease of updating the library’s Web site and could be tailored to include blogging software as well, either as a component of the system or as a plug-in. His long-term preference would be to host the blog(s) on our own server, thereby allowing increased control, continuity, archive access, and branding. It was suggested that we begin by using Blogspot, or another free Web source initially and then transition to the CMS blog component when it is selected and installed. Any archives developed during that time could be shifted to our in-house plaform.

The response to our initial call for input from other staff members was disappointing. We surmise that many people are unfamiliar with blogs, making them reluctant to volunteer ideas or their participation. We will all continue to discuss the potential benefits of blogging within our departments and to foster its incorporation to the library’s tool-set.

Gloria, from Circulation, expressed an interest in joining our committee, through her supervisor, Rex. She was encouraged to attend the meeting but the invitation was extended through Rex and we are not certain that she received it; she did not attend. Molly will speak with Gloria directly to clarify her level of interest.

Our committee’s consensus is that a set of informal blogging guidelines, rather than a formal blog policy should in place before we go public with a library blog. We will collaborate to develop such a set of guidlines, drawing from the work of those libraries that have preceded us on the blogging adventure.

Action plan:
Melissa will begin work on designing a second “sample” blog with a focus on teens.
Each committee member will attempt to answer the question, “Why blog?” from their department’s perspective, incorporating topic ideas – the more the better – and posting frequency.
Each member will brainstorm to develop a mission statement for her department’s blog entries.

No future meeting was scheduled; we will continue to communicate via e-mail and utilize the blog. Future meetings will be scheduled as needed.