Posted for new class July 23 at the library!
What is a Blog?
Well, the quick and simple answer is that the word “blog” is an abbreviation for web log. Unfortunately, the simple answer is not necessarily the complete answer.
“I can define them for you very easily,” Jason Calcanis (Weblogics Inc. co-founder and chief executive officer) says. “There are three main features of a blog: the first is reverse chronological order, the second is unfiltered content — the second somebody filters or edits the author it’s no longer a blog — and the third is comments.” Calcanis’s insistence on a precise definition puts him clearly in a minority of blogging experts who mostly admit they can’t or won’t define exactly what constitutes a blog. Calcanis might add a fourth condition: hypertext links to the world outside the blog
This quote is taken from a great article called “Just what is a blog, anyway?” by Michael Conniff which you can read here.
So, that’s his definition and I have to agree with him! If you start a blog, it is absolutely imperative that you write on a regular basis. Once a week should be the minimum. Think about it: if you don’t write frequently, there’s absolutely no reason for anyone to keep coming back! With the Library Currents blog, we try to have something new up every couple of days. Of course, for us it’s easier as there are five of us! We try to add lots of links and photos also.
The cool thing about a blog is that anyone can create and maintain one. A blog gives you your own voice on the web. In a blog, you can collect and share things that you find interesting— whether it’s your political commentary, a personal diary, or links to web sites you want to remember.
Many people use a blog just to organize their own thoughts, while others command influential, worldwide audiences of thousands. Professional and amateur journalists use blogs to publish breaking news, while many blogs are very personal and reveal the blogger’s inner thoughts.
There are many places that one can obtain a free blog. Included in these are:
www.wordpress.com
www.blogger.com
www.sampa.com
www.clearblogs.com
Each of these blog sites provide free and easy access to templates, some custom features, access controls, statistics, and the ability to upload photos. If you don’t know html, it’s ok…all provide a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) composer.
Here at the library, we have three blogs currently accessible through our website. These are Library Currents, which is maintained by 5 librarians including myself, Lisa’s Blog which is maintained by Lisa Webb from our Children’s department, and The Book Goddess Blog which is maintained by Tina Maura-Albee, our very own Book Goddess.
Blogs are a great outlet to express yourself and share your thoughts and feelings about the things in life that you feel strongly about. Not only can you share your thoughts, but your readers can share their feelings about what you have blogged! Comments are a very important aspect of blogs. When you go to a blog, make sure you comment! We bloggers love comments, it means someone is out there…
Since, I use WordPress and am most familiar with it; let’s look at how easy it is to post a blog.
So, what the heck is a Wiki? How is it different from a blog?
Probably the most well-known wiki is Wikipedia. Wikipedia defines wiki as a collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. Think about that for a minute. A wiki can be edited by anyone. That means that if you want to go in a change something in Wikipedia you can! Kinda scary, huh!
Why would you want a wiki and what is the advantage over a blog? Well, as I said a wiki can be added to by anyone and basically they don’t need your permission. With a blog, outsiders can comment but you can check the comments before the world sees them! Wikis are good for fan clubs, family trips, classrooms, sports teams, community groups, book clubs, fan clubs, party organizers, wedding planners, etc. Think about your life… are you part of a group that would like to share information? Then, maybe a wiki is good for you. There are a number of sites that provide free wikis. They include:
http://pbwiki.com/
http://www.wikispaces.com/
http://www.wetpaint.com/
RSS
Finally let’s talk about RSS. RSS is short for RDF Site Summary or Rich Site Summary or even Real Simple Syndication (depending on whom you ask), The important thing to know is that RSS is an XML file (the RSS “feed”) that reformats Web content for distribution. This enables a subscriber to have updates “fed” into an aggregator as new information is published. For instance, if you subscribe to one of CNN.com’s RSS feeds, every time a new headline is published on their website, it is also sent directly to your agrregator. Ok, lot’s of new words!
Feed: The feed is the actual content that is distributed.
Aggregator: also known as a feed reader, is client software or a Web service which gathers syndicated web content such as news headlines, blogs, etc. in a single location for easy viewing. Aggregators reduce the time and effort needed to regularly check websites for updates, creating a unique information space or “personal newspaper.” Once subscribed to a feed, an aggregator is able to check for new content at user-determined intervals and retrieve the update.
Every blog and wiki should have ways that your readers can subscribe to your feeds.
There are a number of aggregators around. Aggregator features are frequently built into portal sites (such as My Yahoo! and iGoogle), modern web browsers and email programs. I use iGoogle. I have included a list of others at the end of the page.
More Information
Feed Aggregators
More Feed aggregators
