Blogs

From LIS 415 - Candy's Section

Scope

Lots of libraries now blog about their services. This list includes libraries that use blogs in creative and unusual ways.

Library blog search engine

• Blogging Libraries Wiki, http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php

This is a wiki that is a list of blogs from libraries. --Eddy2 11:44, 10 December 2007 (EST)

• LISZEN, http://liszen.com/

A convenient search engine that indexes 750 library blogs. Any library can submit a form to have its blog added to the list. --Horwood 03:56, 10 December 2007 (EDT)

Libraries

• University of Oklahoma, http://libraries.ou.edu/rss

This library has a slick RSS feed page with multiple feeds ranging from school news to new books by LC classification. --Brownw 19:40, 28 October 2006 (EDT)

• Alaska State Library's Historical Collections Blog, http://alaskastatelibrary.blogspot.com/

Every month the Alaska State Library posts some of the many historical photos in its collection on this blog and asks web users to help identify the people and places pictured. The fascinating photos from Alaska's frontier past are great for browsing, even if you have no leads. Even very old images frequently draw posts and answers. This is a great way to connect people to their state archives and for researchers and archivists to solicit information. --Harari 13:56, 29 November 2007 (EST)

• Beinecke Library--African American Studies Blog, http://beineckejwj.wordpress.com/

This blog is regularly updated and offers richly illustrated, in-depth description of the extensive collections of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library on African American heritage. It also announces new exhibitions and provides links to research resources and relevant departments and centers on the Yale University campus. --Oller 11:15, 21 March 2008 (EDT)

• Berkeley Heights Library, http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/

This blog that is almost updated daily contains library news as well as book reviews. This blog appeals to the library patrons as well as people in the library world, sharing many things that most patrons might have thought about and never asked or that just may seem interesting. --Eddy2 11:38, 10 December 2007 (EST)

• British Library, http://feeds.feedburner.com/britishlibrarypressreleases/

News from the British Library can now be received through RSS feed to your web-based news reader, directly to your e-mail, or embeded with SpringWidgets to your website. Great news for frequent travelers to London, eager to check out the spectacular exhibits at the BL. --Oller 11:30, 5 February 2008 (EDT)

• Buffalo and Erie County Public Library Blog for Teens, http://becplteenspace.blogspot.com/,

This is a blog dedicated specifically to teens. Wanting to be a school library media specialist, I thought it was great that the library gave the teens a way to use technology to voice their thoughts and opinions, as well as letting them know what events were taking place. --Frederc3 21:40, 25 June 2007 (EDT)

• Cook Memorial Library, Tamworth, NH, http://tamworthlibrary.org/

As with the Lamson Library at Plymouth State University (described below), this small public library in New Hampshire uses WordPress to blog. The librarians regularly add blog entries about news and events at the library or in the town, and users can (and do!) comment on these posts. --Dunn5 21:00, 18 April 2007 (EDT)

• Denver Public Library, http://denverlibrary.org/news/dplnews/about_rss.html

The Denver Public Library offers several of their own RSS feeds from current job openings to staff music recommendations. They also offer RSS feeds about topics from health to computers. --Chan6 15:55, 10 February 2008 (EST)

• Framingham Public Library--Teen Blogmatic, http://fplya.blogspot.com/.

A blog for teens run by the library's Young Adult Librarian, it includes updates of new books, YA related library news and other information. The blog also includes the YA twitter account, a feed of new books from the YA LibraryThing and an area where teens can chat with the librarian. --Keleher2 16:11, 8 May 2008 (EDT)

• Guilderland Public Library-Good Reads, Guilderland, NY, http://www.booksite.com/texis/scripts/bookletter/addrss.html?sid=6686

This town library provides a "Good Reads" section, where users can find e-newsletters highlighting different books in many different categories. Users can have their favorite e-newsletter sent directly to their inbox through the RSS feed. A really nice feature to take advantage of! --Frederc3 09:20, 30 July 2007 (EDT)

• Harvard Law School Library Blog, http://etseq.law.harvard.edu/index.php

A blog run by the librarians at Harvard Law School to provide library and legal resources information. Designed for use by law students, law faculty, and library staff. Provides up-to-date information on the newest library resources and tools for legal research. Click on the "new documents" link for access to the pleadings, opinions, reports, etc. that are making headlines in legal news. --Davis22 14:09, 20 April 2008 (EDT)

• Henderson District Public Libraries, Nevada, Travels with MEL, http://hdplbookmobile.blogspot.com/

This blog is all about the travels of the bookmobile from the Henderson District Public Libraries in Nevada. The blog shows photos of the libray staff traveling with the bookmobile, and runs a "Where's MEL?" contest to promote visits to the bookmobile. The blog also provides a link to a calander listing bookmobile stops. Next stop -- Monday, November 27, in Anthem. You can also watch a power point presentation that highlights the services provided by the bookmobile, which include: children's books, storytimes, popular fiction, and audio-books, (MP3 players available), plus. --Adams5 05:45, 25 November 2006 (EST)

• Kansas State Libraries, Kansas State University http://www.lib.ksu.edu/services/newbooks/index.shtml

The Kansas State libraries lets you to sign up for an RSS feed of new books by subject. --Brownw 19:40, 28 October 2006 (EDT)

• Lamson Library, Plymouth State University, http://library.plymouth.edu/

An experimental OPAC developed by Casey Bisson, an information architect for Plymouth State University's libraries. It uses WordPress to turn the OPAC into a "blog". Essentially every item in the OPAC has a blog entry. The item pages have all the neat features normally provided by blogs but lacking in OPACs, such as RSS feeds, and comments. --Florin 12:29, 10 April 2007 (EDT)

• Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. http://www.loc.gov/rss/

The Library of Congress offers a variety of RSS feeds, from news, upcoming events, and new content on the web to their newest offering - the LCSH and Classification Weekly Lists via RSS. --Wilson4 15:37, 14 February 2007 (EST)

• Old Bridge Library, Old Bridge, NJ, http://obpl.blogspot.com/

This blog focuses on the different events regarding the different functions that Old Bridge presents. Besides talking about what different types of events the Library also has Shelfari a digital list of online releases that have been made on a weekly to monthly basis. --Pacilli 20:17, 9 December 2007(EDT)

• O'Neill Library, Boston College, http://www.bc.edu/libraries/materials/rssfeeds.html

On the library homepage there is a section where students can sign up for feeds by subject (e.g., Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and their respective disciplines) or by location (the Law Library, the Social Work Library). Most of the sources listed are books, but there are other forms of information. --Giedd 21:30, 29 March 2008 (EDT)

• Princeton Public Library, http://www.princetonlibrary.org/techtalks/, http://www.princetonlibrary.org/librarylounge/

Princeton Public Library currently hosts two blogs, one titled Tuesday Technology Talks, and the other the Library Lounge. The tech blog focuses on upcoming tech talks, courses on technology, and links to past presentations or writings. The Library Lounge provides a forum for upcoming book talks, book discussions, and general events. --Chen6 16:10, 4 November 2007 (EST)

• Randolph County Public Library, http://www.randolphlibrary.org/blogs.html

This library system, located in Randolph County, North Carolina, hosts several blogs and corresponding RSS feeds, as well as a library Flickr page. Blogs for reference services, teens, kids, and one branch library (Archdale) are available. RCPL, which has been blogging since mid-2005, uses blogspot as its blogging software and formats each of its blogs uniquely. --Mickelsen

• RIT/NTID - Wallace Library, http://library.rit.edu/blogs/ntid_lib/

The Library Liason for National Technical Institute for the Deaf in conjunction with the Rochester Institute of Technology's Wallace Library has developed a blog for students who are deaf or hard of hearing and are in need of resources for their studies (such as books, or journals on subjects within deaf studies) as well as other things that are going on within the deaf community (such as video social networking sites and the Gallaudet University Archive finding aids). --Ward6 10:49, 8 March 2008 (EST)

• Simmons College Library, http://my.simmons.edu/library/rss.shtml

Our own library here has RSS feeds set up to notify patrons about new books every month. You can find out about all new books, or only books in a particular field (library science, management, nursing, etc.). Simmons will also Twitter you with new books. --Krier 14:47, 3 February 2008 (EST)

• State Library of Massachusetts, http://www.mastatelibrary.blogspot.com/

This blog provides information on events and collections of the State Library of Massachusetts. It is neat that they have digitized images of their collections. It also includes blogs for particular tags. Although fairly recent (started in March 2008), this blog is a valuable resource to state government. --Chan6 14:54, 1 May 2008 (EDT)

• University of Michigan [BLT] Blog for Library Technology, http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/blt/

Keeps the user community informed about library tech. --Schwartz 12:03, 8 June 2008 (EDT)

• [Waterboro] h20 library blog Waterboro Library, Maine, http://www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm

A basic blog with entries about new books, library events and resources. A new interesting post was a library use value calculator. "See the estimated retail value of each service you use." --Brownw 08:56, 5 October 2006 (EDT)