Collaborative Blogging: A discussion of "Chasing Reference" by Phetteplace

While reading the Accidental Technologist column on collaborative blogging by Eric Phetteplace I felt very inspired and motivated about beginning my own blog.  It is from Phetteplace’s article on collaborative blogging that I was struck by the idea for my initial post: “A Day in the Life of B,” a lighthearted introduction.    

I will be focusing on course material from her MSLS program along with various personal interests for the source of material for “From the Mind of B” because I am not (yet) authorized to blog on behalf of my employing library. 

Getting back to the article which sparked the first introductory post – Chasing Reference: Librarians and Collaborative Blogging, which presented me with some great ideas for a blog, along with making me wishful that I was authorized to blog on behalf of my employing institution. 

In the article Phetteplace defines six goals which were agreed upon by the collaborators who worked on the RUSA blog project which can be summed up briefly as: 

                1. Determine the focus and audience for the blog

                2. Determine the frequency at which posts will occur on the blog

                3.  Determine which domain or platform will be used for the blog (for example, B has chosen to use Blogger.com)

                4.  Determine the design and lay out some style guidelines for the blog

                5.  Determine a plan for implementation and publication

                6.  Determine a comprehensive timeline for the blog 

I found these goals useful in the planning and brainstorming for my own blog-although I did not draw out a formal document entailing the details as the collaborators described in this article.  I agree that it is important to have goals for a blog or website and that it would lead to consequences like disorganization and unclear direction if such goals were not discussed before the creation of such a publication-but because my blog is on a much smaller scale I think it less risky to have (which I did) an informal brainstorming session with my partner about possible topics and direction for the blog. 

Phetteplace also makes clear some benefits of having a blog, although it is not really stated that way in the article.  It is how I interpreted it, that there are four main profits to be made from maintaining a blog which I'll sum up as:

                1.  Creating a community or bringing people together where they can share and discuss   common experiences.

                2.  Having the freedom to post broad themed content over which you have the control.

                3.  Creating an environment of stimulating professional conversation.

                4.  Having an environment for expressing original ideas in a fun, safe, and entertaining way.  

The final thing that I took away from Phettplace’s article and plan to implement in my own blog and website, and hopefully one day in my professional social media channels when I am given rein over my organizations library social media pages, are some ideas/examples of the posts that the collaborators used for the RUSA blog which I thought were very good ideas and would engage my intended audience (university students) very well.  Below is a list and summary of the ideas I found particularly interesting and that I intend to use  or my own sites:

 

                1. “A Day in the Life” post to introduce the editors of the blog to the audience

                2.  Use schedueling applications (example given by article is Doodle.com) to schedule posts ahead of time

                3.  Plan to post consistently – for example the same time every day or the same day every week.

                4. Several ideas for post types like:

A. Use interviews as post material – this is not a new idea for me, as I have mentioned on my other sites (www.fromthemindofb.weebly.com) I like to listen to the podcasts of Mr. Tim Ferris which include mostly interviews of the most successful people in various fields, so this idea has occurred to me before.  In a library context I think it could be used in a “get to know your librarian” way for students to feel more engaged in the library scene and more connected to what goes on in the library in general. 

B. Post news material – either local or national news information re-posted on my page with an opinion post alongside, or library related news.  Institutional news in general could also be posted. 

C.  Features- one specific day each month (first Friday) can feature the “what were reading” series and all of the editors can write a short piece on whatever blog, book, magazine etc. They are reading presently. 

D. Essays

E. Guest posts – this was one of my favorite ideas, and one I plan to use on my own blog in the near future (Phetteplace 2013).  

To wrap up, I’ll just say that I enjoyed Phetteplace’s article and found it very useful in planning my own blog, even though it is a very different type than that on which he focuses in his article.  I like that he focuses on planning and setting goals, because I believe these are two tools that are essential not only when working on any  professional (or personal) project, but that are tools that are essential for a happy and healthy lifestyle in general. 

References

Barlow, Amy, Heather Love Beverley, and Carrie Dunham-LaGree, comps. "Chasing Reference: Librarians and Collaborative Blogging." Ed. Eric Phetteplace. Reference & User Services Quarterly 52.4 (2013): 283-86. Print.