Exercise #2

1.
In the Library With the Lead Pipe
This blog is maintained by a "team of librarians" who post at both a personal & professional level. Some posts include images & are styled in a journal-like format while others take the form of scholarly written articles with bold subheadings as well as bibliographical references & recommended further readings. When reading the blog outside of Google Reader, I glanced at the "about" section where it is noted that every "article" (I'm not sure if this means every post or only those posts that take the form of a traditionally published article) is peer-reviewed by both an internal & external reader/participant. Updates to the blog are somewhat infrequent as there are only a couple of posts per month.

Librarian's Commute
This blog is maintained by an individual & the majority of the posts consist of personal experiences & lessons learned from the reference desk. The structure of the entries are more like those that are found in more casual & recreational-type blogs. Out of the five blogs discussed here I found this blog to be the most interesting & readable. That might be because it seems more simplistic in style & content (which says a lot about me).

The Distant Librarian
This blog is clearly the work of a Public Services Systems Librarian (as noted in the author's "about me" section). The posts are primarily "techy" & short; no verbose prose here. Posts mainly consist of book reviews & how-to's. Unfortunately, I found the Google ads very distracting in my perusing as they take up just as much space as the posts themselves.

Librarian by Day
I originally tried accessing this blog through ANGEL from my workplace & was unable to do so for some reason. Instead, I googled the blog's title &, interestingly enough, came up with several results. One result was the older version & URL of this blog (librarianbyday.wordpress.com); one was the correct & current blog (librarianbyday.net); finally, the third blog with this title (librarianbyday.blogspot.com) belongs to a completely different author & is made up of teen lit reviews. But, I digress...
This blog also seemed more "techy" to me but also seemed a little more coherent to the layman. The blogger makes heavy use of current social networking tools including Twitter & YouTube & at the conclusion of each post readers are encouraged to share the post via their favorite social network(s). Many of the posts also include links to posts with similar subjects & discussions.

David Lee King
Each post includes an image, text in the form of paragraphs, & text in the form of bullet points. The blogger posts on new resources & tools & also gives tips on a variety of subjects, including giving presentations. King keeps the posts brief & to the point.

2.
Personally, the blogs & posts that interest me the most are those that narrate & recount a story, specifically through the blogger's own life-experiences. I think such blogs can also touch on current issues in the field & inform readers at the same time, as evidenced by Librarian's Commute.

3.
The Librarian in Black
Along with the more "typical" posts this blog also includes videos, of presentations by the blogger as well as a television appearance on Tech News Today. The "librarian in black" discusses new & newish technological tools from both the perspective of the customer/user & the librarian. As evidenced by the blog's title & the author's streaks of blue hair (as shown during her television appearance), the title librarian is not your grandmother's librarian.

Marin County Free Library Blog
I selected this blog mainly because of the library behind it. This library is a somewhat local library & as I had once considered applying for a position there this blog, by the title alone, stood out to me more than the others. Almost daily posts inform readers of upcoming events & workshops, new acquisitions & resources, & the featured weekly download from the "always available" digital audio-book collection.

Virginia Commonwealth University Library Suggestion Blog
This blog interested me because my library made a similar but, unfortunately, ill-fated attempt. Patrons' suggestions are posted & a librarian's/blogger's answer is posted publicly so that all of the library patrons can be informed & kept in the loop regardless of whether they did the asking. My library was planning on setting up a "virtual bulletin board" where suggestions & answers would be publicly posted but due to the lack of suggestions submitted the plan was scrapped. Hmm, perhaps this is one of those "if you build it, they will come" instances...

4.
I think a unique title & concept, such as that of The Librarian in Black will grab the attention of readers more than a "boring", more run-of-the-mill title. However, that alone will not keep the readers interested. As evidenced through the Marin County Free Library Blog & as noted in many of the assigned readings to date, posting to a blog infrequently does not a successful blog make. Rather, blogs that are constantly updated with a wide array of subjects will have readers constantly checking to see what's new. If readers check the blog & see that the latest post was made weeks or months ago, the blog & the body behind it (be it an institution or an individual) will have lost a part of their user base or at least lost some points in terms of user relevance & interest. Successful blogs also need to provide a platform, not only for the blogger(s) but also for the readers. Readers should be able to comment & expect a response from the blogger(s). There should be opportunity for dialogue & discourse.