Outreach through Blogging…Bloutreach??

It was interesting to check out the list of blogging libraries. I’m most impressed by the reader advisory blogs (like WRL’s Blogging for a Good Book http://bfgb.wordpress.com/) that regularly share solid, detailed content with a touch of eye-candy. Apppealing entries seem to bubble effortlessly from a reservoir of dedicated competence and attention to the value of reader advisory. Not to mention an apparent stockpile of good annotations!

I’m less enthused by blogs that appear to be groping their way through. Constant naked beta is not a pretty sight!

I’m also impressed by some of the library director/administrator blogs, like this one http://gathernodust.blogspot.com/ by an intrepid Arizona library manager. It’s a powerful investment in community dialogue when a key library administrator engages his staff and public in an ongoing conversation about principle, direction and development.

In many locations, I can imagine an enlightening, administrator-initiated exchange on the purpose and value of self-checkout; customers routinely question whether it is a service improvement or draconian precursor to staff cuts. At the very least, a good administrator blog might generate valuable feedback to supplement service surveys.

Hello World!

Day dawns on a new blog, and a new vista of learning. Over the coming weeks, I’ll be trekking alone and with colleagues, surveying the contours of Learning 2.0, through the prism of library service in a brave new world of virtual community and digitized humanity.