More blogs....

I forgot to mention that in fact my own library has a blog! It's at http://contedlibrary.blogspot.com/
It's used to update readers on any important information, like changes to opening hours. We have an RSS feed so that news items appear on the library web-page at http://library.conted.ox.ac.uk/ - clicking on a "headline" takes you through to the full post on the blog.

I've been having a look at a few other library's blogs. There is a mixture of time-limited information (like upcoming WISER courses), information which is new but will stay relevant (like availability of new resources) and reminders of information which isn't time specific at all (like resources we've had for years but which readers may be unaware of). I think given the chronological organisation of blogs, it does make more sense to use them for the time-specific information. They're not a great way to store information in the long term, unless you have a very sophisticated tagging system, but they are useful for updating people about information as it comes up.

Blogs

I use blogs quite a lot in my spare time. I have my own personal blog that I use mostly for rants that I'm not sure anyone would want to listen to in person! I also read a number of feminist/anti-oppression themed blogs, which I find is a really useful way of learning about different people's perspectives and experiences. In particular, the immediacy of comments threads makes reading a blog a very different experience from reading a book or journal. But it's also very different from an informal conversation face-to-face: people from all over the world who share similar interests can easily find each other on the internet and discuss issues they are interested in, and the topic - and style - of the discussion can be quite tightly defined by moderators, so that it doesn't get derailed in the way "real world" conversations might.

But in terms of libraries.... I know the SSL has an issue desk blog for day-to-day information that needs to be quickly accessible to all staff on the desk - mostly lost property, but it can be used for other things too. That's a really effective use of a blog for information sharing.

I think it's also a really good idea to use blogs for this project - as people are working on similar things at similar times they can share their experiences, and for people like me who are way behind - the information is all still there!