Blog Ideas

[Laurie Bridges]

I was just reviewing the questions from "mattering in the biblioblogosphere" and thought the 5th question might be a good one for this group:
"What’s missing from the LIS blogosphere that you’d like to see someone take on?"
I've heard many people ask, "What should I blog about." And the standard response is "you and your ideas." While this is a good answer, some people need more guidance, IMHO. Put your thoughts here...

[Connie Crosby]

That is a good idea. It would be GREAT to see library types creating blogs in the specific subjects they are specializing in. My specialty is law, and my blog focus is legal research, knowledge management, and Web 2.0 in law firms. I don't catch everything, but a number of my colleagues are also blogging, so taken as a group we cover new developments pretty well. If someone is, say, working in a the Arts department of an academic library, that person could be blogging about new ideas, publications and other developments in academia in the various arts areas. Someone else might specialize in A/V and music at the public library, and talk about that. Or specific topics within those areas.

The more of us blogging, the more specific we can become. I don't know if we can really create a list with subject gaps not covered by blogs...it is more like, pick your subject in the Dewey Decimal System (or outside DDS) and start blogging.

[Laurie Bridges]

Interesting Idea. I do subscribe to one blog done by a business librarian (I'm a business librarian) where she posts business related websites every few days. It would be great to find other blogs by business librarians focused on using web 2.0 for better services. Or perhaps a business blog focused on things the general public (not just their patrons) might find useful. OOOh oh oh, idea, a blog about information resources for small business owners. I don't have time to do any of these, but there are some good ideas here. ;)

[Connie Crosby]

I also am enjoying the increase of cooperative blogs. I think this is a fantastic way to get excellent coverage in a subject area without one person feeling too overworked by blogging. It would be great to see more public or client-facing blogs from whole libraries or library departments.

[Laurie Bridges]

Oh, I just found this interesting post about creating a niche blog:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/04/03/what-bloggers-can-lea...

[Laurie Bridges]

I had another idea...someone could create a blog called "gen x librarian". I found it interesting at ACRL how there was lots of talk about boomers and millenials and how they work together, etc. It's like everyone forgot about the middle generation there...

[adri]

The same thing happened at my state library association. (see my comments http://librarystories.blogspot.com/2007/04/kids-are-alright-millenn... ) It's because Boomers still dominate the profession -- and GenXers just dont' make up the same numbers... :-/

[Katie Dunneback]

There used to be a blog run by Christine Borne called NexGenLibrarian which grew out of her NexGen listserv, but I believe the blog was abandoned. I haven't seen anyone take up the slack.

[Library Mistress]

At first glance, I thought if someone asked what to blog about they shouldn't really blog at all. But considering a while, I think some guidance as you suggest could be really useful. Finding a niche is important, and I am a fan of collaborative weblogs, although I am a "single" blogger myself.

[Library Mistress]

As far as german-language biblioblogging is concerned, I miss weblogs about museum libraries and government / parlamentary libraries.

[RefLibrarian]

I have a niche blog called Senior Friendly Libraries. It covers library design, services, resources, programming, and marketing for all segments of older adults from the G.I. Generation to the Boomer generation. I think that writing a niche blog can be a bit difficult - it can be more of a challenge to come up with topics for your posts over time. I choose this topic for my blog since I would like to be an "older adults" librarian someday. By having this blog, I feel I can contribute something to the field now.