Tame The Web

As TTW readers may know, I write a lot about the power and potential of blogging in our profession. My dissertation “Modeling the Role of Blogging in Librarianship” examined the motivations of early adopting bibliobloggers while my work with ALA Library Technology reports offered the hows and whys for blogging libraries. I recently got a review copy of Library Blogging by Karen Coombs and Jason Griffey. I must say it fits the bill as a perfect “How to” guide for librarians  from two practitioners and bloggers that’s up to date and pretty darn inclusive.

The opening chapters give the lay of the blogging land and highlight what libraries have done with blogs. It’s a good overview and is rather timely with the examples shared. Because technology, including blog software and CMSs, moves so fast, it’s hard to capture anything in book form that seems current. The companion Web site helps this by including fresh new examples. Wordpress.com is explored at length (great for my purposes). I did find the coverage of Movable Type to be surprising, but maybe libraries are still using the platform?

After a detailed section exploring blog software and RSS at a most granular level, the final chapters of the book are the most important to me: what are the implications and uses for blogging?The authors offer some wonderful “thinking out loud” pieces to ponder. What does it mean to participate in “blog culture.” How do we follow the Blogger’s Code of Conduct? What policies and procedures enable successful blogs?

The last chapter is called “Future Possibilities.” The authors explore what we might do with free software such as Wordpress? In my mind, there’s no limit where our imaginations might take us with some of these tools. Coombs and Griffey key in on this with brief explorations and thoughts of newer blogging tools beyond just library examples to the realm of archives, collections and community.

If you are starting a blogging project in your library or teaching blogging, I’d recommend this one for sure as an up to date choice. I’ll be using it as a classroom resource in my teaching.

For more, visit http://libraryblogging.com/ and add the feed to keep up with additions to the examples used in the book.

Disclaimer: The authors used a snazzy screenshot of TTW visiting Australia in the book!

An expose of the long history of Walt Disney World in Florida. It was both fascinating and hilarious at times. AND there were many nuggets about planning, organizations and a guest-centered focus. Here are the passages I highlighted in relation to libraries:

“Not long before opening, Operation also considered not allowing the hotels to have their own parking lots….[the managers of the project got together] to compile a list of reasons why off-site parking would fail–guest services reasons, arguments that Operations could understand.”

Sometimes, looking at the negative impact on guests (users) of a new policy might sway admin decision making.

I’ve long advocated for managers and library administration to dive in to the trenches as needed. I think directors and managers should be able to staff desks anywhere in their buildings. I was happy to read this:

“In busy periods the salaried folks would fill shifts stocking store shelves or flipping hamburgers next to hourlies. In addition to providing much-needed manpower such cross-utilization reminded everyone that they were all part of the same team. And that every role was equally valuable in creating magic for guests. Cast members would also be regularly transferred to different departments or attractions to keep things fresh.”

And finally this gem:

“Disney didn’t like messages or signs that made guests uncomfortable, such as “don’t touch” or “You break it, you buy it.” 

I read some good books this summer and will share them here as I have time. I am also using many of these for a context book assignment in LIS768 this fall.