My Thoughts on the Case Studies

Categories & Guides - Kansas City Public Library

I wasn’t too impressed with the Kansas City Public Library’s use of RSS. I think that patrons who are unfamiliar with the concept of RSS would be a little confused. They do explain the concept of RSS, but they don’t seem to make the actual subscribing part that easy. When you click on a subject under “most popular guides” the XML link is all the way at the bottom of the page. It is not very prominent and I’m sure that many people don’t even pay attention to it. I think that the Kansas City Public Library should try to highlight the fact that they use RSS and move the link higher up on the page.

Hennepin County Library - Subscribe to our RSS Feeds

In addition to regular library news and announcements, the Hennepin County Library offers feeds on various subject guides. Many of these guides contain information that would be of great help to all sorts of library patrons. I was especially pleased to find subject guides on learning English, immigration and citizenship, jobs and careers and parenting and childcare. What a great way for the library to reach out to their patrons! I am very glad to see a library using RSS technology to offer such valuable assistance.

NHMCCD

NHMCCD’s use of RSS is neat because it allows users to view a sample of the current content of each feed before subscribing. I think that this is a very helpful feature because sometimes a title is not always enough information when deciding if a feed is something in which you are interested.

Tacoma Public Library - RSS/XML Feeds

I like that the Tacoma Public Library includes cover art in their feeds. It is nice to have a visual of all of the new books. Also, I think that knowing what the cover looks like would be helpful for patrons who have read the feed and wish to find the book at the library.

University of Oklahoma Libraries RSS feeds

I was quite impressed with the New Book feeds at the University of Oklahoma Libraries. You can subscribe to any general discipline feed, or if you are interested in something more specific, you can click on the discipline, such as Language and Literature, to find a vast array of options, ranging from Artificial languages to Modern Icelandic literature.

Western Kentucky University Libraries

I don’t like how Western Kentucky University Libraries have set up their RSS. Only some links have RSS feeds and I can’t seem to figure out the reasoning behind why some do and some do not. Also, many of the feeds are confusing. Patrons can subscribe to three different event feeds: coming events, current events, and past events. Wouldn’t it make more sense to put all of these “events” in one communal feed? One of the libraries subheadings is entitled “stuff”. Could this be any less helpful? What the heck is “stuff”? And to make matters worse there are two feeds to which users can subscribe: new and old. Is anyone really going to be interested in subscribing to “old stuff’? Oh dear……

RSS: Are All of These Different Versions Really Necessary??

I found the RSS Tutorial for Content Publishers and Webmasters interesting. It was neat to see the other side of RSS, such as how to publish a feed, choose content and inform others about your feed. It all seemed pretty straightforward until I reached the section on format versions and modules. All of the different versions of RSS were thoroughly confusing to me! I still don’t really understand the difference between RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0 and Atom and I found that the Wikipedia article just confused me even more. When I installed my aggregator and subscribed to my first few feeds, I was blissfully unaware of all of this techno mumbo-jumbo. I was just pleased that everything seemed to be working as it should. I remained unaware of any possible problems because, as Good notes, for now most aggregators read all of these different formats. It makes me nervous that she uses the term “for now.” What does this imply about the future of RSS?

RSS is great!

The concept of RSS can be somewhat difficult to grasp, but this week’s readings do a good job of clarifying. I had only briefly heard of the term before beginning this class and did not really understand how the technology could be useful. I watched the RSS in Plain English clip before attempting to begin with RSS; however, I didn’t really “get it” until I installed an aggregator and subscribed to each student’s blog. When I opened my aggregator the next day, I was surprised and delighted! No more random blog checking for me! Before that point, I had been checking each blog for new posts a few times a day and needless to say, it was getting pretty annoying. So far I am a big fan of RSS. As of yet, I haven’t attempted to subscribe to any feeds other than those for this course. I wasn’t sure which ones I wanted to subscribe to and if I should mix my course stuff with other feeds. However, the Hot! Fresh! Delivered to You! RSS Tutorial made some great suggestions of types of information that you can get via RSS feeds, many of which I had never even considered. My favourites were zipcode-specific weather forecasts from the Weather Channel, custom movie listings and job listings. What great ideas!! I think that I may have to subscribe to some library-related job listings, as I will be graduating in December – scary!!!

"Next Generation" of Library Blogs

One of our assignments for this week was to start thinking about the "next generation" of library blogs. I think that more libraries should use blogging software for bibliographic instruction. LaMee's article "Market your Library with a BLOG" notes that "a blog can become an additional tool for getting instructional information in front of the people who need it most... A few screen captures and some explanatory text can lead a student to the best resources and demonstrate how to use those resources" (LaMee). Librarians are not available 24/7, but a blog with useful tips can always be accessed through the Internet. I like the idea of creating screen shots to aid users through various exercises. This very simple use of library blogging software could have major impact.

Darien Library Blogs--Good Job!

I must say that I am very impressed with the main page of the Darien Library Blogs. The page includes links to all ten of their blogs and also to the Darien Library Podcasts. It also offers an easy way to subscribe to the feeds from these blogs. I also really appreciate that the library explains the terms "blog" and "RSS" and how to use them. They even include links to various articles incase anyone needs further clarification. I think that this is a great way to attract repeat users. People who are new to blogs and RSS may feel intimidated by many library blogs, which generally do not offer much explanation. The main page of the Darien Library Blogs makes it apparent that the library staff want to help users get the most out of the blogs.

Beware of Weblog Usability Mistakes!

I think that the article “Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes” is extremely helpful. Jakob Nielsen lists ten weblog usability problems which are very important to consider when blogging. Some of these issues I had already encountered and thought about, even in my short time as a blogger and blog reader. Others were new to me, but they made great sense.

Point #3 “Nondescript Posting Titles” jumped out at me because I struggled with this issue in my last post. It was the Friday before the long weekend and I started to type “Whooo hoooo, it’s the long weekend” as a title. As I was doing this, I realized that my readers would think that I was just posting regarding my excitement about enjoying three whole days off from work and not about the fact that “Blogs need to be visually appealing!!!” I quickly deleted the first title and chose the second, more appropriate headline. After reading Nielsen’s article I am glad that I did, as he states that “headline writing is the most important writing you do” and that “users often see only the headline and use it to determine whether to click into the full posting.” I doubt that many of you would have clicked on my “Whooo hooo, it’s the long weekend” post or taken it seriously, for that matter.

I found Usability Problem #5 “Classic Hits are Buried” to be a new and useful tip. Nielsen mentions that bloggers must “remember to link to [their] past pieces in newer postings.” I have gone ahead and taken his advice in my previous paragraph (check out my “Blogs need to be visually appealing!!!” post!!) I think that it is very important for bloggers to remember that all of their readers may not have been with them from the beginning. I may not have thought about this issue prior to reading this article because I have only posted a few times or because I don’t think many other people, other than my classmates are reading this blog, but in the real world, Usability Problem #5 makes great sense.

Ok, I don’t want to make this post too long, as Fichter notes “Brevity is important”, but I have one more issue that I would like to note: Usability Problem #1 “No Author Biographies.” I have noticed that many blogs do not mention anything about who is writing other than their name. This is quite bothersome. How can you trust a blogger when you know nothing about them? It is important for readers to know if bloggers “have any credentials or experience in the field [they are] commenting on” (Nielsen). Many of our case studies this week suffer from this usability issue. Some of the public library blogs we examined have a “Posted by …” at the bottom of a post or the blogger signs his/her name, but this information is pretty meaningless if you don’t know their position in the library. I did not notice any “about me” pages on any of the case study blogs. The only library blog that I believe did a good job of explaining who was posting was the Virginia Commonwealth University – Library Suggestion Blog. A library staff member answers each suggestion, and the posts begin with the name of the person responding and their position. For example, one post begins: “Pat Flanagan, Associate University Librarian for Public Services, responds....” I think that the other weblogs should consider a similar style or perhaps post an “about us” page on their weblog. I have an “about me” on my Loco Librarian blog, which states that I am an MLIS student. After reading Nielsen’s article I think that I may add a few more details.

I have tagged a couple of articles, “Dealing with Common Blog Usability Problems” and “If you’re reading this, you are a low-value demographic”, which offer some interesting additions to Nielsen’s usability problems.

Comments: WordPress VS Blogger

I just noticed something.....

I like posting comments in WordPress because when you do, you can still see the original post. This makes it really easy to reply. Blogger takes you to a new, blank page and I have found that I often forget what I wanted to say and have to open the original post again in another page--*very* annoying!

Blogs need to be visually appealing!!!

Hi Hi,

After reading all of your blog posts about the "case studies" for this week, I realize how important it is for blogs to be visually appealing. Stephanie, Kaush, Christy and Gerry all noted that they were turned off by Georgia State's library blog because of it's formatting and drab colours. I did not find Georgia State's blog too bad, but one pet peeve I do have regarding blogging is when people choose to use dark letters on a dark background. How do they expect anyone to be able to read their posts??!! I found an interesting article about useful blogging tips entitled: Ten ways to become a better blogger. Check out # 2!!!

Who knew there were *so* many blogging tools??!!

Upon reading "Time to check: Are you using the right blogging tool?" I was shocked to discover how many blogging platforms are out there. The only two I had heard of were Blogger and WordPress and that is only because these are the two that Amanda suggested we use when creating our blogs. The article refers to a Darren Rowse and states that he is a professional blogger. I had never before heard the term "professional blogger." Does anyone know what would qualify one as such? I set up an account with Blogger, but if I had read this blog post and the comments it received prior to constructing my blog, I probably would have gone with WordPress. I noticed that many people commented on how much they like the WordPress software: "the streed cred for a blogging tool would come with Drupal or WordPress", "I am a WordPress user and I am in love with my blogging tool", "I use WordPress and I am completely enamored [with] it." There were no such praises for Blogger. However, I discovered that I am not completely stuck with Blogger. Apparently, if I decide that I want to switch to WordPress, I can mitigate old posts and comments into a new WordPress blog. This is great! I think I will stick with Blogger for awhile, perhaps when/if I outgrow it I'll give WordPress a try. Happy blogging!!

Should library Blogs allow for comments?

I decided to start this week's course work by examining the case studies. One thing that I noticed straight away when viewing the Georgia-State University Library Blog is that their patrons cannot post comments. The Georgia-State University Library addresses this issue in their article "Building a Home for Library News with a Blog." They state that: " because these blogs are part of [their] library's Web presence, the administration [had] concerns about allowing patrons to "talk back," thereby adding content to the library Web site anonymously and possibly irresponsibly." I find this interesting.... isn't the point of a blog to communicate with other people? A Wikipedia search for the term "blog" mentions that "the ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of most early blogs." A blog is a form of social software, but the fact that the Georgia-State Library Blog does not allow their users to respond seems to take the "social" aspect out of the term. I think that this is a major flaw in the University's Blog. It seems to me that an easy solution would be to make students who wish to post a comment sign in with their username and password. I doubt that students would post inappropriate comments if they were aware that they would be held accountable.

Web 2.0....exciting stuff!

Hi all,

So after completing some of this week’s readings I feel pretty out of touch. Can someone please tell me that I am not the only person who had never before heard of Web 2.0 ?! Upon discovering that “Web 2.0” has “more than 9.5 million citations in Google” (O’Reilly), I am a little embarrassed to admit that prior to beginning this class I was unfamiliar with the whole notion. Although I have completed many of the readings, I still find the concept a bit hazy. My understanding is that the key point of Web 2.0 is facilitating communication. Does this make the main component of Web 2.0 social software?

In his blog post A Round of Web 2.0 Reductionism, Dion Hinchcliffe suggests that Read-write Web + People Using It = Web 2.0. This makes sense, as Web 1.0 seemed to be more one-sided and Web 2.0 is all about participation. I found the examples that O'Reilly provided very helpful, especially when he compared Britannica Online (Web 1.0) to Wikipedia (Web 2.0). Wikipedia definitely creates greater shared knowledge for all, by letting anyone add or change information; whereas, Britannica Online did not allow for any interaction. So, if we have moved to Web 2.0, is it possible to say exactly when this change occurred?

Hellooooooo!!!

Hi Guys,

My name is Alexandra and I am currently completing my second co-op term. I am working for Environment Canada at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters' library in Burlington. I have finished two terms of my MLIS degree and I am back to London in the fall for my final semester.

I am fairly inexperienced with social software and that is part of the reason I decided to take this course. During my first co-op term, a library patron searching one of our databases inquired about the little orange RSS button on the top of the screen. I am ashamed to admit that I could not answer her. In fact, I had absolutely no idea as to the function of the "orange button". Being a good librarian, I performed a little search and found a number of definitions. My favourite explanation was this one: "How to explain RSS the Oprah way", come on, who doesn't love Oprah?!

This got me thinking about different types of social software and how they are used in libraries. When I realized that FIMS was offering a course on the topic, I was very excited. My social software experience is quite limited. I do have Facebook and Instant Messenger accounts, but this is my first blog experience. I use Wikipedia occasionally and I am interested in learning about other ways that wiki's can be employed.