Week 2: Semester 1
Getting Started
This week, you get to dig in and create your own blog! You’ll learn:
- what a blog is
- why libraries (and individuals!) write blogs
- how to create your own blog
Listen to our second podcast and read the content below. If you have questions about anything along the way, be sure to contact us. We’re happy to help!
Listen to the podcast by clicking on the play button below or read the Week 2 Podcast Transcript (pdf).
What is a blog?
Grab yourself a fresh cup of coffee/tea or a Coke, and enjoy this 3-minute video about blogs:
Grab yourself a fresh cup of coffee/tea or a Coke, and enjoy these brief introductory articles about blogs:
Wordpress Introduction to Blogging: What is a blog? (stop when you get to the header “The Blog Content.”)Academic Blogging: Anatomy of a Blog (read sections 2.1 through 2.5.)(updated 30 Nov 2007)
Explore some library blogs
So, why would a library blog?
Darlene Fichter explains at Information Today: Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library’s Services. Here’s what she says a blog can do for your library:
- promote library events
- list new arrivals of books, movies, music, etc.
- review books
- provide important community news (about elections, community events, services, etc.)
- reach a new audience of web-savvy patrons
WebJunction’s article Blogs for Libraries is a fantastic case for libraries using blogs.
Take a moment to explore some of these library blogs (some may be familiar to you!):
- Feel-good Librarian - “the true stories of one small middle-aged Reference librarian, sheltered safely somewhere in a Midwestern public library”
- Library Garden - a group blog from several NJ librarians
- MADreads - Madison Public Library’s book review blog
- The Shifted Librarian - Jenny Levine and cool technologies for libraries
- Tame the Web - Michael Stephens’ blog about libraries and technology
If you like, go to the Blogging Libraries Wiki for dozens more.
Assignment
You’re going to use a blog as an online journal for your PP2.0 experience. Each week, we’ll ask you to post your homework on your blog. (That’s how we’ll track your progress, too.)
You can sign up with your real name, or use a pseudonym. You may decide to retire your PP2.0 blog after the project is over, or you might like blogging so much you’ll keep it up - which would be awesome!
Tasks
- Register for a blog at Blogger and write your first post.
- Go to this online form and register your blog so the PP2.0 coordinators can track your progress.
Help with Blogger
These are instructions for setting up a blog at Blogger. If you are comfortable using another blogging service, or your library is providing you with a blog, please feel free to use it instead (though the PP2.0 coordinators may not be able to answer all your questions about blog services other than Blogger). One thing we do ask is that the blog you use has an RSS feed - most do by default.
- Go to Blogger and follow the “Create a blog in 3 easy steps” instructions.
- Step 1: Create a free Google account if you don’t have one already (because Google owns Blogger).
- Step 2: Name your blog and give it a URL.
- Step 3: Choose a template.
- Write a blog post. Type a title and some text in the body, and click “Publish.”
- Look at your blog - click “View Blog.”
- Bookmark your blog and the Blogger start page.
- Log out and log back in again just for practice.
Fun Extra: Lifehacker
Every week on PP2.0 we want to give you a little extra something fun. Let’s talk about Lifehacker!
Lifehacker is a blog of tips and tricks “for streamlining your life with computers (and sometimes without).” “Hack” comes from “hacker,” and in this sense means a faster, better way to get something done. From the Lifehacker FAQ:
A hacker believes that information-sharing is a powerful positive good, and that it is a hacker’s duty to share her expertise - so we will.
Recent fun posts from Lifehacker include Top 100 Productivity Enhancing Foods and Tips for Killer Presentations.
Tags: blog, Blogger, blogging, LifeHackerYou can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:14 am
I set up my blog. Anyone get a picture on it? I tried and am having trouble.
September 27th, 2007 at 11:20 am
okay. added picture by going to the customize area of the blog.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:51 am
[...] 24th, 2007 Week Two content has moved to http://projectplay.owlsweb.info/?p=4. Sorry about the switching around this week, but we should have everything in its final location [...]
September 28th, 2007 at 8:58 am
I have my blog posted, now if I could just think of something interesting to say!
September 28th, 2007 at 8:59 am
That’s always a challenge, isn’t it?!
After reading the info above, did you get any ideas about how you may or may not use blogs at your library? That would be a great first post!
September 28th, 2007 at 9:00 am
A grown-up version of what I did on my summer vacation, I hope!
September 28th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Hello, Thanks to Beth and Leslie for help with Project Play, the class content is really helpful. Just did my first blog post, which includes the url to a PBS program segment on the book Cult of the Amateur. The book’s critical of Web 2.0 and user generated content on the Web. I hope you have a chance to read about the book and share your opinions.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:03 am
P.S. http://lisalibrarylog.blogspot/
This blog has an url to read about the Cult of the Amateur. The author has strong opinions about the Internet and Web 2.0.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:03 am
So, are you going to actually go to our blogs and answer questions or leave a comment? Where exactly would you like us to put questions?
September 28th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Jan - Please post your questions about each week here on the Project Play blog. Use your own blog to share your reflections and thoughts about what you’re learning each week. We will be subscribing to each of your blogs to track your progress, and we’ll answer questions there if you post anything we can respond to. Does that help? If not, give me a call!
September 28th, 2007 at 9:11 am
Lisa - I’m aware of “The Cult of the Amateur” but haven’t read it yet. As with anything, there are always two sides to any argument, and I’ll be curious to see what the author has to say. I read an article that interviewed him and a pro-Web 2.0 person that did a good job of comparing the differing views. If I can find it again, I’ll post a link here.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Found it! The interview between Keen (author of “The Cult of the Amateur”) and Weinberger (author of “Everything Is Miscellaneous”) appeared in the Wall Street Journal and is available at http://tinyurl.com/2kvurc. There’s also a video available of a different meeting of the minds at http://tinyurl.com/yoxrlh.
NOTE: original tiny urls didn’t work, but they do now.
September 28th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Whoops, extra punctuation. Here are the links:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118460229729267677.html
http://conversationhub.com/2007/07/09/video-david-weinberger-and-andrew-keen/
September 30th, 2007 at 5:38 pm
I’m really excited to start blogging - but as someone else said, the trouble is thinking of something worth saying (that someone else hasn’t said first…) Can’t wait to explore customizing it further.
October 1st, 2007 at 9:54 am
I got my blog set up. I excited about learning how to customize it.
October 1st, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Yes — It is Monday of the Third Week and I am just now making my comments on Week Two. I got off to a late start, but I think I have caught up. I was able to post a photo on my blog — not of me — but of my daughter and puppy (much sweeter to look at).
I think this could be a great tool for the library, with one exception — most of our patrons in this small town don’t seem to be on the Internet. Many truly depend on the library computers for that.
October 5th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Hi,
I have my blog posted and left a message about school visits starting at our library.
October 5th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Hey everyone I got my blog up FINALLY! I even figured out how to put a video on it.
This is so much fun, what a great idea!
October 8th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Hi There!
Better late than never: I’ve got my blog set up and I’m ready to start lesson 3!
October 9th, 2007 at 10:00 am
Right on, everybody! So cool to see you all starting up your Project Play blogs.
Daniel - I am intrigued. Tell me more.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Just an FYI, when I clicked on Daniels name it took me to a link and I then clicked on the first article “The Effects of Blogging on Education” and got an adult website pop-up.
October 9th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Thanks for letting us know, Miss Melanie! Daniel’s comment will be removed.
October 10th, 2007 at 8:33 am
Oh dear. I was pwn3d by a spam comment! *shame*
October 10th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Sigh. Me too, Nichole. I marked another of “Daniel”’s comments as spam.
October 11th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Just read this on The Shifted Librarian’s blog and really liked it:
Feedback: 2 b : the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source
Freedback: b : the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source when done openly and transparently using public input and output mechanisms, e.g. blogs with open comments instead of one-way, non-interactive, email-based forms
October 26th, 2007 at 8:11 am
I’m finally set up. I didn’t go further than posting a few words but I did take a look at the photo options, etc. This is going to be a blast.
December 13th, 2007 at 11:14 am
I appreciate the updating of these posts and I liked the addition of the YouTube “Blogs in Plain English” video. I enjoy the opportunity to put YouTube videos into posts so easily. I think I’ll copy that one into the Cybrary, because some of my Board members read it. Thanks!
December 13th, 2007 at 11:21 am
I’m glad you like the new “Blogs in Plain English” video, Terry! As soon as it came out I knew it be a worthwhile update for Week 2. I’m ever so grateful to the Common Craft folks for their wonderful videos that explain tech in a nutshell.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:00 am
[...] Welcome to Semester 2 [...]
January 22nd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I have to do this on my own time at home and my other colleagues at my worksite are not librarians and aren’t doing this. I feel isolated and don’t know when I am “done” with lesson.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I don’t mind blogging. That website, lifehacker, is quite informative. I am glad I found out about that one.