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Reaching Library Users: Delivering Dynamic Library Content with Blogs and Wikis

Reaching Library Users: Delivering Dynamic Library Content with Blogs and Wikis. Chad F. Boeninger NELINET IT Conference October 13, 2006. Outline of Talk. Overview of Blogs and Wikis Applications to complement or replace traditional subject guides/pathfinders

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Reaching Library Users: Delivering Dynamic Library Content with Blogs and Wikis

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  1. Reaching Library Users: Delivering Dynamic Library Content with Blogs and Wikis Chad F. Boeninger NELINET IT Conference October 13, 2006

  2. Outline of Talk • Overview of Blogs and Wikis • Applications to complement or replace traditional subject guides/pathfinders • Promote resources and research skills • Pros and Cons of blogs/wikis

  3. What is a Blog? • Initially a blog was a “log” of one’s daily “web” travels • Blogs became popular as online journals • Now blogs are used for a variety of purposes

  4. Common Blog Characteristics • Frequently updated • Posts appear in reverse-chronological order • Often theme or topic oriented • Many allow comments • Sense of community • Syndicated content

  5. Leveraging Blogs for Libraries • Create Dynamic content • Multiple Authors • Reduce bottleneck of information • Give others ownership of content • Syndication • Internal and External Communication

  6. Internal Communication • Communicate with department or library • Keep staff up to date • Build a knowledgebase • Refblog http://www.library.ohiou.edu/refblog/ (protected)

  7. External Communication • Communicate with patrons • Promote resources • Announce events • News Blog http://www.library.ohiou.edu/newsblog/ • Syndicate Podcasts http://www.library.ohiou.edu/podcasts/

  8. Subject Blogs • Subject blogs are tailored to a community of users • Encourages knowledge of the community the library/librarian serves • Encourages participation from the community

  9. Content of Subject Blogs • New products, new book lists • Promote resources • Research hints • Contact information • FAQ resources • “Nuggets” of Information Literacy • Mortar for community building

  10. Why A Subject Blog • Patrons can check the blog for the most recent entries • Patrons can search the blog (knowledgebase) • Librarians can link to posts • To make your job easier • To be a better librarian

  11. Examples of Posts • Supermarket & Grocery Industry Trends • Company and Industry Research Guides • 100 Best Companies to Work for • Top Business Resources • Apparel Industry Resources • Mutual Funds Resources Video

  12. Business Blog Readers

  13. Blogs for Assessment

  14. Dreams vs. Reality • Originally used to complement research guides • Aspirations for comments/ community building • RSS slow to catch on

  15. Cons of Blog • Measuring use is difficult • Which posts are being read? • RSS is slow to catch on • Authors must regularly generate content • Organization of archives can be an issue • Spam-- Use a filter like Akismet

  16. What is a Wiki? • A website in which content can be created and edited by a community of users • Best example is Wikipedia • Strength of the resource is often dependent on the strength of the community

  17. Wiki as a Research Guide • Previously had 3 research guides • Business Research Guide • International Business Research Guide • Marketing Research Guide • Redundancy of resources • No interlinking • Multiple edits of the same content

  18. Why A Wiki • Incredibly easy to add content • More room for content and “nuggets” • Organize by categories • Searchable • Huge potential for building community • Familiar interface???

  19. The Biz Wiki • Organized by area of research need • Browse by category or alphabet • Searchable by keyword • Users can edit/add content • Interlinked articles allow for increased access to information The Biz Wiki http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki/

  20. Reference Content • Key reference resources • Guides to common questions • Definitions of terms • Examples: • Regional Encyclopedia of Business & Management • Doing Business in Another Country • Company Annual Reports

  21. Instruction Content • Wikis make excellent teaching tools • Replace class handouts • Broader scope than class specific handouts • Example: Industry Research Basics • Example: Marketing 379 Assignment

  22. On the Fly Content

  23. “On the Fly” Content • Email question from patron • Respond to patron • Similar question via IM • Use content of previous question to create wiki article • Answer is out of email and on the web • Easier future access to information

  24. Creating Content • Create an article • Link to the article from another article • Assign a category for the article

  25. Measuring Use

  26. 1 115055Academic Search Premier 2 37955 Lexis-Nexis Academic 3 21845 PsycINFO 4 20621 ERIC 5 18874 Business Source Complete 6 11456 Science Citation Index 7 11224 JSTOR 8 10711 Business and Industry 9 9793 BIOSIS Previews 10 9605 Education Abstracts 11 8789 AnyWho Directory 12 8438 WorldCat 13 7897 Medline 14 7883 Hoover's Online 15 7577 Factiva 16 6774 RefWorks 17 6686 Communication & Mass Media Complete 18 6087 Biz Wiki 19 5911 Mergent Online 20 5769 Google January 1-October 5, 2006 Biz Wiki Usage

  27. Feedback on the Wiki • “You weren’t around, so I showed them the Biz Wiki Guide to Doing Business in Another Country, and they were satisfied.”--Reference Librarian • “I had no idea how to find a swot analysis, so I just searched for ‘swot’ in the Biz Wiki, and low and behold, you had an article on finding a SWOT analysis.” ---Reference Librarian

  28. Wiki Challenges • Getting others to contribute • Faculty, students, other librarians • More content = more maintenance • Maintaining organization and structure with growth of content • Difficult to see new content • Spam, Spam, and more Spam

  29. Other Wiki Applications • Internal Communication and Knowledgebase • Campus/Community collaboration tool • Course content management system

  30. Other Great Wikis • SJCPL Subject Guides • Butler Reference Wiki

  31. Blogs and Wikis • Extend the reach of the librarian • Promote sources • Teach research skills • Make the job of the librarian easier • Make information and knowledge more accessible • Potential for contributing to the academic learning community

  32. Lessons Learned • Blogs and wikis take time • Blogs and wikis save time for librarians and patrons • Blogs and wikis can make you a better/more effective librarian

  33. More Lessons Learned • Don’t be surprised if usage is different than you expected • Don’t expect to be “cool” because you have a blog or wiki • Patrons/Community will appreciate your work

  34. Future of Blogs and Wikis • Gather measurable feedback from users (librarians, students, faculty) • Record usage of library resources • Investigate Other Uses • Student Research Blogs/Wikis • First-year experience wiki

  35. Special Thanks • Alden Library Reference Staff • Alden Library Systems Staff • Numerous Library Bloggers • Ohio University Business researchers

  36. Questions?? Slides available at LibraryVoice.com

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