AL Blogger Questions

What differentiates blogging for library media specialists from writing for the generalist biblioblogs?

Nothing differentiates school library blogging from other types of library blogging. This is actually what made American Libraries initial oversight of school library blogs so unfortunate. School librarians – like public, academic, special, law, medical, or any other type of librarian – are blogging about library thoughts and practices from their specific perspective.

What are your professional objectives for blogging?

I blog to share. One of the most powerful aspects of the biblioblogosphere is the social network that is created amongst participants. The real secret, though, is that you don’t have to be a blogger to join the network. I want to invite more librarians to join this network because with every new reader and commenter I can also learn and grow.

How much time do you devote to blogging?

I spend a few hours a week on the actual writing for my blogs, but many more hours are spent reading, thinking, commenting, and otherwise participating on a variety of blogs. I don’t see this as time devoted specifically to blogging, but rather as a regular part of my professional development activities. The blogs I read and write are just one of the tools I use for continual growth as a librarian.

What are the pitfalls for a school librarian to be writing a blog?

This is a great question, and especially timely as I was just thinking about this for an upcoming column. School librarians tend to be held to the higher standards of behavior that teachers face in their lives. School librarians cannot engage in radical trust to the same level as other librarians, but must instead focus on moderated trust. I have comments open on my personal blog, but were I a teacher-librarian in a school I might consider forcing moderation of comments for my own protection.

How does blogging affect your interaction with nonlibrarian colleagues?

Actually, most of my non-librarian colleagues don’t know that I blog. I am very careful to keep blog content separate from other conversations.

What has been the response of your faculty and/or administration to your blog?

My administration has been very supportive of my blogging. My supervisor suggested that I not refer directly to my place of employment on Infomancy, but only so that I could speak my mind a bit more freely.

If your administration was wary of you blogging, how did you allay those fears?

Before I started blogging on Infomancy, I let my supervisor know my plans. I was very upfront on what I would cover, and that I would not be talking about work issues (too much). As a conversation starter, I shared the IBM Blogging Guidelines [ http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html ]. I also made sure that she had a bookmark to my blog so she would feel comfortable monitoring the content. This is probably a very good idea for any librarian (or any other professional) who is blogging.

What is the greatest benefit to blogging about school libraries?

I worry that other librarians do not always understand about school librarians. We live a dual life that seems confusing to both groups with which we are involved. That American Libraries failed to include any school library blogs in the initial article shows once again that additional work is needed to bridge this professional gap. Many times when I am in mixed library type professional meetings, I hear surprise from other librarians regarding the jobs that school librarians take on. Blogging is a way for school librarians to share their thoughts on topics like library skills instruction (something we do rather a lot of!).

How do you see the evolution of blogging (i.e., the growth of online video) as intersecting with the job of school media professionals?

The School Library System with which I work is taking a lead in providing blogging and other Web 2.0 tools to the school librarians we serve. In September, we will be rolling out our open source, next generation library portal. Moving beyond the outdated OPAC model, our portal will provide local and union catalog access enhanced with tags, book reviews, podcasts, streaming video, social bookmarking, and much more. A number of our schools (and many more out there as well!) are using blogs and podcasts to facilitate conversations about books. The librarian’s professional role is already moving beyond being about “the book” to being about “the conversation.”

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