1. All of the five blogs to which we subscribed contained similar information about their creators: information on availability, a discussion of their core values, the purpose of their blog and the issues with which said blogs were concerned, and in the case of Librarian by Day, a disclaimer that the opinions expressed on her blog were her own. This tied in with the our discussion last week of social media policies, in that a librarian in the public eye took scrupulous care to maintain her own public image as well as preserving that of the institution for which she works.
Librarian by Day tends to aggregate a number of links on the same subject in a single blog entry. Although this form of news collection is useful, it can be a bit daunting to wade through. I appreciate Librarian by Day's thoroughness, but feel some more effort could be made to make the site a bit more "bite-sized." Although The Librarian's Commute does touch on news from outside sources, the focus of her blog tends to be more on the practical application of LIS skills, providing an inside view into her take on tasks from weeding her collection to the subject of technological apprehensiveness. This approach appears to differ from the first in that she focuses on humanizing the library experience - often showing her own faults in the process - rather than simply informing or educating.
David Lee King's blog tends to focus more on examining current technology and trends, but he too tries to personalize the experience for the reader, at one point going so far as to show his library's new smart phone application on his own phone. The Distant Librarian, rather than simply reviewing technology, often reviews actual library materials as well; his blog also has an excellent and informative feature at the end of each post providing links to other posts on similar subjects that may be of interest. Although all the sites provide topic groupings via tags and other links, this provides an on-the-spot tie-in with the subject at hand.
All of these sites were written by individual authors; In the Library with the Lead Pipe, by contrast, has at least 7 regular contributors plus group and guest posts. This, however, is intended to further the site's overall aim of education and information about ways to improve libraries and their communities. It is also noteworthy that, as a site with multiple contributors, the blog is peer-reviewed. Although most entries contain multiple links to outside sources, entry formats are more essay-based than aggregated, with multiple sources examining issues such as libraries' use of Facebook.
2. Although I can appreciate the overall utility of posts bringing together multiple links on either one topic or interconnected ones, my preference for casual reading purposes lies either with concise posts linking to a few external sites, but essentially concerned with one topic. Moreover, my favorite posts on LIS subjects tie in the subject matter with the librarian's personal experience; the more personal they can make this topic, the easier it is to relate to how current issues and trends affect us on a practical level. A well-designed site is always pleasant to read; however, if given the choice, I would rather read an accessible and engaging blog written with prefab templates than an impeccably designed and personalized one that fails to involve me on a personal level.
3. Librarian.net ties in library news with current events, and sometimes even touches on the other blogs in the assignment, most notably that of David Lee King.She tends to do so, however, in a far more focused and concise manner than the other blogs, often commenting on a single link or story rather than aggregating several interlinked ones. This does not necessarily add complexity, but does give a clear, direct view of current issues of interest to LIS professionals.
One of the other three blogs I subscribed to was Librarian in Black, a blog in a similar vein to Librarian by Day (albeit with hipper graphics). Although the author of this blog focuses to a large extent on her own presentations, it is worth noting that the actual subject matter focuses on education, aggregation of current trends and events, and furthering the library cause by embracing new technology.
In an effort to get a sense of what libraries were having patrons discuss in terms of actual library materials, I subscribed to Brooklyn Book Talk, organized by the Brooklyn Public Library. Although it discusses individual books and the issues contained therein, it also attempts to build "discussion arcs" tying in the works with philosophical and political issues, as well as other media. It is also worth noting that the site explicitly encourages input from patrons outside the Brooklyn Public Library system, although there do not appear to be any overt efforts to draw in such commenters.
4. Library blogs have the potential to bring people together in an interactive fashion, touch on current events, examine contrasting opinions, and even tie in literary materials with greater metaphysical concepts. The most successful ones, however, take into account presentation and tone as much as they do content. While it is not necessary to "dumb down" blogs, it helps to draw the reader in if a librarian adopts a "human" tone, admitting their own struggles with current issues rather than positioning themselves as infallible experts. Finally, although expressing personal opinions is a plus for librarian blogs, it is also helpful for librarians to cross-check these opinions with their peers, and to back up assertions with solid and readily accessible evidence.
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