I've been using an RSS reader for a while now and have found quite a few blogs that I think you might find useful, or at least realize what a geek I am for knowing about/monitoring all these blogs.
General blogs for Libraries:
Blatant Berry written by John Berry editor at large for Library Journal. Blatant Berry begun in November 2006 discusses issues relevant to all varieties of libraries. Berry writes on all things library commenting on different library blogs he monitors, library political issues and even Nancy Pelosi’s library past. Unlike many other blogs Berry’s posts are infrequent usually only a couple a month however his posts are sustentative and worth the read.
The Distant Librarian by Paul R. Pival Distance Librarian at the University of Calgary discusses all things distant. Begun in June 2006 Pival posts a few times a month discussing everything from ILL to adding a Meebo sidebar in FireFox. I find his posts relevant and often practical for application for all librarians not just distance librarians.
Free Range Librarian comprises the public, oft-daily mumblings and grumblings of one K.G. Schneider, a writer and librarian who has published over 100 articles and 2 books, primarily about Internet technologies for library trade publications. Her less technically-oriented works include essays, portraits, travelogues, video reviews, and a historically dubious account of Washington crossing the Delaware.
(http://freerangelibrarian.com/2003/12/about.php Accessed March 29, 2007)
The Handheld Librarian Edited by Grace Lee and contributed by a core of about 20 discusses “handheld computer news, ideas, and opinions from librarians and others interested in libraries”.
The Information Literacy Land of Confusionby “librarian Michael Lorenzen discussing library user education, library instruction, librarianship, information literacy, and search engines. Also covers other observations on life in general.” Of note for Lorenzen’s posts is that he often provides direct links to recent information literacy publications.
Information Wants to Be Free is a blog by well known “Wikian” Meredith Farkas. Farkas is the Distance Learning Librarian at Norwich University, and creator of many wikis including Library Success: A Best Practice Wiki, and ALA New Orleans 2006 Wiki to name a few. Begun in November 2004 Information Wants to be Free deals mostly with library and web 2.0 topics but Farkas frequently discusses ALA related issues as well. Recently, Farkas has provided posts on her experience with 5 weeks to a social library.
Learning 2.0 designed by Helene Blowers of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County with the goal of encouraging staff to experiment and learn about new and emerging technologies. Staff are encouraged to complete 23 self discovery exercises with incentives of mp3 players and a final drawing for a laptop. This nine week activity is laid out in an easily adoptable way that many libraries without the in house expertise can follow to be further in the know.
Librarian Central is Google’s newest iteration of the former Google Librarian Newsletter. Begun around midwinter 2007 Librarian Central is the place to find “Google news, updates and tips relevant to the library community” (Saenger). On this blog you will be introduced to new Google products and initiatives from Book Search to new Google mashups.
The Liminal Librarian by Rachael Singer Gordon describes her blog as Liminal librarians are on the threshold, mindful of their in-betweenness, taking issue with absolutes, and excited about what the future may hold”. Posting frequently, Gordon blogs about everything from her cat to Movers and Shakers in the library world.
LISNews is a collaborative weblog [aka blog] devoted to current events and news in the world of Library and Information Science. A dedicated team of international bloggers scour the World Wide Web to find stories they find interesting. You'll find links to news stories and Web sites, along with original writing, interviews and reviews. LISNews is updated frequently, usually 7 days a week. We are a non-commercial site, supported by our users. (http://lisnews.org/about.shtml accessed April 24, 2007)
User Education Resources for Librarians (UERL) is the work of Theresa Hartman the Head of the Education Department at the University of Nebraska McGoogan Library of Medicine. Beyond user education UERL focuses on supporting learning in an electronic environment and distance learning as well as many issues related to librarianship and information access.
(http://libeducation.blogspot.com/2007/03/xps-vs.html accessed March 23, 2007)
The Shifted Librarian written by Jenny Levine of Library Journal focuses on impact of information shifting on libraries. The technological information shift that is. Levine’s focus is on preparing librarians to be as technologically savvy as their users to be able to stay viable by being able to deliver services to users where and when they want and on their terms.
Tame the Web by Michael Stephens an instructor at Dominican University and columnist for Library Journal focuses on technology issues and applications for libraries.
User Education Resources for Librarians (UERL) is the work of Theresa Hartman the Head of the Education Department at the University of Nebraska McGoogan Library of Medicine. Beyond user education UERL focuses on supporting learning in an electronic environment and distance learning as well as many issues related to librarianship and information access.
(http://libeducation.blogspot.com/2007/03/xps-vs.html accessed March 23, 2007)
Blogs targeted towards academic libraries:
ACRL Blog is the official blog of the Association of College & Research Libraries. The blog is authored by a group of academic librarians referred as the BAB (Blog Advisory Board). The BAB has a simple mission for this blog:
ACRLog is a blog that aims to discuss the issues of the day in the field of academic librarianship. It will strive to get you thinking about what you do, why you do it, and how it fits into this enterprise we call higher education. We are passionate about academic librarianship so we will call it the way we see it. You may not always agree with us - and when you do or don’t - let us know - but if we get you thinking about the issues that impact on academic librarianship then we are doing our job. (http://acrlblog.org/about-acrlog/ accessed March 19, 2007) Begun September 2005.
Designing Better Libraries is a blog about design thinking and how it applies to library settings. The goal of this blog is to provide information, news and ideas that librarians can use to design a great library user experience for their communities. Among the topics we’ll be covering are instructional design, innovation, technology design, and the application of new media to design - and of course - design thinking. (http://dbl.lishost.org/blog/about/ Accessed March 19, 2007) Begun February 2007.
In The Bookroom a collaborative blog by the staff of library journal which discusses topics such as the new Harry Potter release and Hemmingway giving Gabriel García Márquez a shiner In the Bookroom discusses everything book related.
The Kept Up Academic Librarian by Steven Bell of Temple University is aims to help “Academic Librarians Keep Up with news and developments in higher education”. Bells frequent posts makes this a mini Chronicle related to higher ed. issues.
(http://keptup.typepad.com/academic/ accessed March 31, 2007)
Blogs targeted towards public libraries:
Librarian.net is the product of Jessamyn West a public librarian in rural Vermont. Jessamyn discusses all manners of topics from her most recent talks and experiences at conferences, to off site after hours wireless access dilemmas. Discussing issues in a practical way while still emphasizing the larger issues this blog provides information useful for both public and academic libraries.
New Technologies for Public Libraries or Nits4pl has been set up specifically for Youth Services Librarians in Western Australia to discuss issues and share information on interactive technologies available on the Web. This site focuses particularly on the use and relevance of blogging, wikis, flickr, MySpace etc in the promotion and expansion of public library services to teens.
(http://nits4pl.wordpress.com/about/ accessed March 27, 2007)
ALA:
ALA also has over 20 blogs that you can subscribe to see ALA Blogs, RSS Feeds, and Wikis for titles and addresses.
To be sure you're up to date on all ALA blogs you can subscribe to ALA Weblog Service which pulls together posts from all ALA blogs.
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