1. To do or not to do?
Some
dos and
don’ts of
blogging
1

2. To do or not to do….
• DO…..
• Be positive
• Enjoy
yourself
2

3. To do or not to do….
• DO…..
• Use images and links
• Images help a post to flow (although
you may be restricted by what
platform you use)
6

4. 4

5. 5

6. To do or not to do….
• DO…..
• Use images and links
• Images help a post to flow (although
you may be restricted by what
platform you use)
• And can add traffic to your site via
Google image searches
8

7. 7

8. To do or not to do….
• Links can add greater depth to a blog
post (a sort of active foot-note)
• It’s not a good idea generally to add
so many links that the post becomes
a list of links.
• Be inventive in the links you use –
don’t always rely on Wikipedia.
8

9. 9

10. 10

11. 11

12. 12

13. To do or not to do….
• DO…..
• Blog regularly
• BUT think about
how blogging can
be fitted into your
workflow
• Multiple bloggers
can be a real
asset here… 11

14. 14

15. 15

16. 16

17. To do or not to do….
• DO…..
• Use social media (Facebook, Twitter
etc.) to promote your blog.
12

18. 18

19. Don’t….
• Be afraid to experiment
• DO…
• Experiment with length, content, tone
and medium
19

20. 20

21. 21

22. 22

23. 23

24. 24

25. Don’t….
• Do it all yourself
• Different team members will have different
perspectives
• = More blog posts
• = More diverse blog posts
• If you’re part of a small library what about
a group blog with similar institutions?
• Or if you’re blogging as an individual, how
about blogging with others??
25

26. 26

27. Don’t….
• Use links that have limited access unless
your blog is private / on an intranet
• Ignore copyright laws
• DO….Think creatively about this
• DO….Use Wikimedia / Google image
search (but be careful – images may not
always be copyright-free in the UK)
• DO….Use links to YouTube for videos, if
in doubt
27

28. 28

29. Don’t….
• Forget (if blogging within an institutional
framework) that it’s not your personal blog
• DO….Think about the platform you use –
e.g. Is there advertising on the platform
that doesn’t fit with the image you (or your
institution) wish to present?
• DO….Think about the tone and language
you use.
29

30. Don’t….
• Be down-hearted if no-one seems to
be following your blog….
• Stats on blog platforms are
notoriously unreliable
• DO….Think about the quality of your
readership rather than the quantity
30

31. 31

32. 32

33. To do or not to do?
Do….
• Be positive.
• Enjoy yourself.
• Use images and links BUT don’t ignore copyright.
• Blog regularly BUT think about how to fit blogging in with your
workflow.
• Make use of social media to publicise your blog and open it (and
your institution) up to the wider internet community.
Don’t….
• Be afraid to experiment with tone, medium and content.
• Do it all yourself.
• Use links that have limited access.
• Forget (if blogging within an institutional framework) that it isn’t your
own personal blog.
• Be down-hearted if no-one seems to be following your blog. 33

34. Blogs featured in the presentation
• Cambridge University Music Department :
http://musicb3.wordpress.com/
• Oxford Martin School : http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/blog/
• Bookhound (personal blog) : http://the-bookhound.blogspot.com
• Senate House Library newsfeed :
http://senatehouselibrary.blogspot.com/
• Senate House Library blog :
http://senatehouselibrary.posterous.com/
• Encountering the other blog (Irving S. Gilmore music library at Yale)
http://encounteringtheother.wordpress.com/
• Conservative party archive :
http://conservativepartyarchive.blogspot.com/
• South Asia Archive & Library group : http://saalg.blogspot.com/
34

35. Thought-provoking blogs to explore further
• Bournemouth University Library : Research support :
http://bulib4research.blogspot.com/
• The London Library : http://blog.londonlibrary.co.uk/
• Sound recordings at the British Library :
http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/archival_sounds/
• Wellcome Library : http://wellcomelibrary.blogspot.com/
• Library of Congress : http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/
• Yale Arts Library : http://artslibrary.wordpress.com/
• Irving S. Gilmore music library news (Yale) :
http://www.library.yale.edu/musiclib/news.htm
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C. :
http://blog.nasm.si.edu/
• Laurens Kuipers photoblog : http://blog.laurenskuipers.nl/pixelpost/
• Subject-led blogs(Food!) : http://eatlikeagirl.com/
• … and classical music : http://www.overgrownpath.com/
• Quirky blog (just to show the myriad things you can blog about :
http://beautifulrailwaybridgeofthesilverytay.wordpress.com/ 35