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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
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| Nov 2 2011, 1:32 AM EDT (current) | conniecrosby | 402 words added |
| Nov 2 2011, 1:25 AM EDT | conniecrosby | 4 words added |
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Hear Connie Crosby talk about Effective Blogging for Libraries in the Tech Set Author Podcast. Extra Content! (updated--check these pages out)Reviews & Article MentionsJournal of the Medical Library Association, October 2011: "Connie Crosby's book,Effective Blogging for Libraries,is written for those librarians who wish to use blogging successfully. She provides basic information for the library that is just starting out with blogs but, more importantly, gives advice on how to take the tools and basics and transform them into community building between the library and its audience." ... "The chapter on implementation is the heart of the book. She gives practical advice on how to launch an effective blog, including design, usability, navigation, accessibility, branding, and content development. She also provides ways to encourage participation from readers and to deal with negative feedback. This section deals with everything from designing a blog to linking to actually producing content and backing it up." ... "Crosby provides a concise yet comprehensive user's manual to effective blogging. Each chapter provides a thorough look at the subject at hand, yet the book does not get bogged down in the technical aspects, but rather provides a clear and thorough roadmap to using them. There are lots of ideas for content and style, of course, and for ways to get the library to buy into the idea of a blog and more importantly, to develop the means to keep the blog interacting with its audience. She offers practical advice at every turn, whether it is what the pros and cons of various blogging platforms are or what to do if the person who takes care of the blog is off for vacation. "Blogs are an extremely versatile means to interact with a community of library users and to attract new patrons to services. However, they only work if done right. Crosby provides a step-by-step manual for planning the process, getting online, and making it work. She demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the blogosphere, how it works, and how to tap into its potential. The book covers a great deal of information, but it is laid out well and is written succinctly so that no time is wasted and every suggestion is relevant to using blogs to effectively reach an audience. It is a useful guide for any library that wishes to use Web 2.0 technology to build a rapport online, and blogging may be especially useful to those whose access to social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter is blocked due to organizational policies, as is often found in hospitals." Blogging in Libraries, Part 2, Smithsonian Libraries, December 30, 2010: "Although the positive impact of having a blog seem extremely obvious initially, starting and maintaining a blog is not necessarily a simple task, and there are certainly risks that come along with it. In her book Effective Blogging for Libraries, Connie Crosby addresses the positive and negative impacts of library blogs, giving this advice early on: Just because everyone else is doing it does not mean you should. A blog is just one tool in your larger toolbox of communication tactics. Think about your target audience, which community or communities you want to reach, and whether a blog is the suitable vehicle to reach them. Look at your organizational mandate and strategy, and determine if a log correctly aligns with them. (3)A blog can really work well for some libraries and not for others, and the nature of the community and users needs to be taken into account when considering a blog. Crosby is confident enough in the power of blogs to write a book about how libraries can best adopt blogs, but also considers the risks of beginning a blog." Reference & User Services Quarterly, Winter 2010:
"The blogging phenomena is an outstanding part of social media landscape in general. Libraries are among the organizations that are using it quite effectively for their purposes. On the other hand, the blog sustainability requires considerable effort and learning how to achieve the best results with scarce resources is an important task. "I would suggest that librarians take a look at the book and find out what meaningful purposes can be accomplished through blogging without directing the resources to a fashionable activity just because everybody else is doing it." LibraryJournal.com, June 11, 2010: "Many librarians are already familiar with using blogs and have one if not several going. In fact, blogging is so easy that library blogs are often launched without much forethought. Law librarian Crosby (Crosby Group Consulting) suggests, however, that to truly leverage this powerful tool libraries should first consider the purpose of the initiative and then choose the blog type and/or vendor that best suits it. She advises on choosing which blog application to use, writing best practices (including online etiquette), building readership, moderating discussions, working with skins or templates, content suggestions, including '23 Things To Do with Your Blog Posts,' integrating social media, and applying analytics. Both novice and experienced bloggers will benefit from this valuable resource." |
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