Assignment: Blogs

Remember, blogs can be and do many things. In addition to the content suggestions in the Blogs & RSS: Introduction, here are a few ideas to consider for personal blogging:

• journals or diaries
• commentary, news, advice
• newsletters
• classes
• presentations
• novels
• notes, research
• resume, CV
• galleries
• reviews, summaries
• intranet
• ...... in general, blogging is your own publishing platform.

And there are many tools for blogging (see the Tools section below). For now, though, let's start simple by posting to your blog in Moodle, our Web 2.0 Challenge course software.

Required assignment

1. Post your thoughts about blogs and RSS to your blog in Drupal. (No need to create one - all participants automatically have their own blog) For instructions, read and watch How to Post to Your Student Blog. (Screencast will be posted late Sunday)
2. Add a post or two:
   • Explore a few of the examples below and think about what makes a blog "successful" (e.g.: what makes a blog work?).
   • Take a look at some of the blogging tools outlined in this Wikipedia article, or in this TechSoup article (part of the earlier readings). If you were to start a blog for your library, which blogging tool would you use and why?
3. Don't forget to add tags!

Optional advanced assignment: Create a blog using Blogger

Your student blog for this course is available only to other participants in this course. As an optional assignment, you may wish to create a public blog using Blogger. Follow the instructions in the blogs screencast.

Examples:

• Stark County Law Library Blog - http://www.starklawlibrary.org/temp/blog/index.html
• Jenkins Blog - http://www.jenkinslaw.org/blog/
• Kansas State University Library Blogs - http://ksulib.typepad.com/
• Law Librarian blog - http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/law_librarian_blog/
• LLNE News - http://llne.blogspot.com/
• Massachusetts Law Updates - http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/whatsnew.html
• National Indian Law Library News - http://nilllibrary.blogspot.com/
• Maryland Law - http://marylandlaw.blogspot.com/
• New Jersey Law Librarians Association Blog - http://njllablog.blogspot.com/
• Out of the Jungle - http://outofthejungle.blogspot.com/
• Virginia Commonwealth University Library Suggestion Blog - http://blog.vcu.edu/libsuggest/
• WisBlawg - http://www.law.wisc.edu/blogs/wisblawg/
• Law Library Blogs and Blogs by Law Librarians or Law Library Associations - http://aallcssis.pbworks.com/Law-Library-Blogs

Tools

Free/Libre/Open-Source Software

The following are popular examples software packages offered under a FLOSS license. Therefore they are free for everyone to download and use. Commercial support contracts are often available. These packages range from the robust content management system of which blogging is just one module (Drupal) to a simple publishing package (WordPress). This software is self-hosted, meaning you would need to install it on your own or your library's web server.

• Drupal - "Drupal is ready to go from the moment you download it. It even has an easy-to-use web installer! The built-in functionality, combined with dozens of freely available add-on modules, will enable features such as: content management systems, blogs, collaborative authoring environments, forums, peer-to-peer networking, newsletters, podcasting, picture galleries, file uploads and downloads."
• LiveJournal - "LiveJournal is an online community, a social network, and a place for self-expression."
• MoveableType - "The perfect platform for building easy-to-maintain blog, web, and social media sites."
• WordPress.org - "WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability."

Developer Hosted

These are popular software services operated by the developer, requiring no software installation for the weblog author. They are quite often free and extremely easy to use.

• Blogger - "A blog is your easy-to-use web site, where you can quickly post thoughts, interact with people, and more."
• LiveJournal - "LiveJournal is an online community, a social network, and a place for self-expression."
• TypePad - "TypePad is the premier blogging service, hosting the world’s leading blogs and small business websites."
• WordPress.com - "Express yourself. Start a blog."