Exploration 2 - Blogging

I like blogs. A lot. I could read blogs all day and never get bored. Blogs are truly wonderful for learning about new things; for example, when I was new to knitting I read tons of knitting blogs and really learned a lot about yarn, technique, resources, the community, websites, etc. On my lunch break, I read a lot of children's lit blogs to help keep me current with new releases, events, trends, and so on.

Our library's Programming Blog is great; it's been fun to see what other branches are up to, to look at the program pictures and learn about which programs were really successful and worth repeating. Apparently the Collection Blog was less successful, but instead of giving up, the library went a different route and started a Google Group. We might have been able to use RSS instead of Google Groups, but that's another exploration. ;-)

Other libraries have maintained blogs to keep their patrons updated about new releases, programs, and other library happenings, and ultimately that might be nice for AACPL to try, but the issue of staff time and resources always rears its ugly head. I think Twitter and RSS might be better options for that (but those are other explorations!)

I just started a new blog at Wordpress to chronicle the construction of our new home. I have read a few blogs on that topic and they were terrific for both the readers and the blogger: the reader gets to vicariously experience the intense process of building a home, and the blogger creates a record (with lots of dates and pictures) of the process for future reference.

In conclusion: blogs = good!