ABOUT BLOGGING
“A blog is an online journal that’s updated on a regular basis with entries that appear in reverse chronological order. Blogs can be about any subject. They typically contain comments by other readers, links to other sites and permalinks.” Source: Social Media Glossary
Starting a blog is easy. There are various blogging platforms that you can use to create your own blog; some of the most common are Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr. If you are new to blogging you will find that Tumblr is the easiest to use.
For the activity below, you’re welcome to adopt any blogging platform you like. You will find brief instructions for how to setup an account and post entries by going to the Activities tab > selecting Thing 1 > and choosing from Tumblr, Blogger or WordPress. Alternatively, we have provided links to these instructions below :
Instructions for Tumblr here
Instructions for Blogger here
Instructions for WordPress here
ACTIVITY
This activity will run over two weeks so that you have enough time to experiment with all 3 platforms and then decide which one you want to use. We also want you to spend a bit of time exploring the blogosphere – see how other libraries, museums, archives and collecting institutions are using blogs to share their collections and generate a sense of community online.
1. Create a new blog account or use an existing account (you might want to revive the one that you used for 23 Things a few years ago). Once you have created your blog, send Mia the link by cutting and pasting the URL at the top of the page – you will then be added to the Participant Blogs page.
2. Spend some time exploring the way your blog works. Change a few of the settings and themes; customise your blog by changing layout, colours and fonts.
3. For your first post, write about your past experience using blogs. Which platform do you prefer using? What do you like/don’t like about using Blogger, WordPress and Tumblr? Or perhaps write about a blog that you follow or find particularly interesting.
4. Explore the blogs of your colleagues on the Participant Blogs page and say hello.
5. Find a couple of blogs that interest you and comment on them in your own blog. As a starting point, Salem Press offers a database of library-specific blogs that are well worth a look. Or check out the following :
WEB 2.0 REFRESHER ACTIVITIES 