Where to go to start your own blog

A few popular free blogging services:

Blogger (http://www.blogger.com/)

Vox (http://www.vox.com/)

Live Journal (http://www.livejournal.com/)

WordPress (http://www.wordpress.com/)

Xanga (http://www.xanga.com/)

How other public libraries are using blogs

Blogging Libraries- a wiki filled with hundreds of blogs maintained by public libraries

Ann Arbor District Library (Michigan)- the home page is in blog format

Darien Library (Connecticut)- nine separate themed blogs, including one written by the library director

St Joseph County Public Library (Indiana)

West Long Branch Public Library (New Jersey)- uses Blogger template for the library's home page

Why and How to Use Blogs to Promote Your Library's Services- Darlene Fichter

How HCL is using blogs

For Staff:

Librarians’ Blog

Via Staff Web (accessible from staff workstations only)

Via Extranet (available to all)

New Staff Web

Web Services & Training- What's New

Library Services- What's New

Technical Services & Subscriptions- What's New

...and more

For the Public:

Catalog News

TeenLinks News Flash

Summer Reading (only during the summer, of course!)

Blog search tools

Technorati (www.technorati.com/)

Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com)

BlogPulse (www.blogpulse.com)

IceRocket (www.icerocket.com)

Blogs about libraries

Peter Scott’s list of Library Weblogs

Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology- Michael Stevens

Stephen’s Lighthouse- Stephen Abram

Library Stuff- Steven M. Cohen

LISNews- a collaborative international LIS blog

The Shifted Librarian- Jenny Levine

Feel-good Librarian

Trends in blogging

Pew Internet Report / Survey findings released July ‘06
“Eight percent of internet users, or about 12 million American adults, keep a blog. Thirty-nine percent of internet users, or about 57 million American adults, read blogs.”

Bloggers: summary of findings at a glance

• Contrary to the impression created by the press attention on political blogging, just 11% of bloggers say they focus mainly on government or politics.
• The blogging population is young, evenly split between women and men, and racially diverse.
• Relatively small groups of bloggers view blogging as a public endeavor.
• The main reasons for blogging are creative expression and sharing personal experiences.
• Only one-third of bloggers see blogging as a form of journalism. Yet many check facts and cite original sources.

Source: Lenhart, Amanda and Susannah Fox. Bloggers: A portrait of the internet's new storytellers Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project, July 19, 2006. (http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/186/report_display.asp)

What is a "blog?"

Blog is the contraction universally used for weblog, a type of website where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary), displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blogs often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries.

(Source: Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogs)

BlogBib contains more elaborate definitions: http://blog-bib.blogspot.com/