Diary might be a blog

If someone said, "I keep a diary" you might assume the individual kept a book in which she or he recorded thoughts and the stuff of life. But in this day of electronic everything, the individual might be referring to a blog, or web log. Jorn Parger coined the term "Web log" in l997; it was later contracted into "weblog" or "blog."

But never mind the history, what is a blog? It's a Web site an individual, group, company or institution maintains for posting commentary, information, or descriptions. It might include graphics, sound or video. Typically, the most current entry appears first and earlier entries are conveniently archived in chronological order.

One of the most interesting features of blogs is their interactivity, as you can have a conversation with any blogger around the world by responding to his or her post. The blogger might respond back to you and others might respond to your comments.

Most "with it" libraries have blogs. Some are livelier than others but even without many comments to the information posted, a blog is a useful way for the library to provide up to date information or commentary. Also, blog posts by individuals necessarily convey some personality and give the library a human face instead of a standardized institutional face.

I talked to well-known blogging expert, Michael Sauers, technology innovation librarian for the Nebraska Library Commission, and asked him how a beginner might get into blogging.

"Using Google, or the search engine of choice, just put in a subject word you're interested in and the word 'blog,' leaving a space between the two words. For example, if you like corgis just put in 'corgi blog' and you'll see listings for dozens if not hundreds of blogs on corgis. Click into as many as you wish, and if you find a blog on corgis that you like, bookmark the Web site and go back and visit on a regular basis. After awhile, you'll feel like you've made a new friend in the blog's author. You can comment, perhaps get feedback and really cement the relationship, if your comments are favorable."

"Digging deeper into the idea of finding friends," Sauers continued, "see if your new favorite blogger has a blog roll on his/her site. This would be a listing of the blogs the author regularly reads. If you like what one blogger is writing, you might also like what he or she is reading."

I quizzed Sauers about the advantages of reading blogs over more traditional media and he said, "Personal blogs are typically not written by professional journalists. You get a human connection in a good blog that's often missing in more traditional media. Often a blog post is really a personal story. Blogs are faster than almost any other media. I scan about 150 blogs a day and I am almost never surprised by someone telling me the news. Usually I've already heard it via the blogs I read. Finally, I would point out that you can respond to the information in a blog very simply and easily. Your local newspaper probably has its editorials online as blogs and it's really easy to just type in your comments."

For those wanting to become blog authors, Sauers says that's easy too. "Just go to blogger.com, fill out a form, and you're ready. If you can type you can be a blogger."

See Michael Sauers' book, "Blogging and RSS: A Librarian's Guide" published by Information Today in 2006 for more tips and hints.

Tune in to my podcast interview with Sauers at www.librarybeat.org.