library + blog = web site

I've been brushing up by reading the copy of Blogging and RSS: A Librarian's Guide by Michael P. Sauers that I picked up at Internet Librarian 2006.

At Michael's referral, I clicked over to Ann Arbor District Library's web site and was pleasantly surprised to find that nearly the entire web site is an enormous blog, with multiple authors from the director on down. I think it's a great concept, and an example of breaking down the barriers of communication between the library and its patrons.

And apparently the proof is in the pudding: Director Josie blogged some usage stats related to their new design when it was recognized by the American Library Association as the best library web site in their budget range.

this is a test

this is just a demonstration post.

Research Beyond Google

ah, the power of the blogosphere!

I use Bloglines as my feedreader (also known as a newsreader, or a news aggregator). Bloglines allows me to subscribe to various web sites and alerts me whenever new content is added to those sites. The interface and subscription process is incredibly easy, and the whole thing is completely web-based, so I can access my blogroll from anywhere, anytime.

Today bloglines alerted me to updates from Librarians' Internet Index, which if you don't know is a truly remarkable site. Their blog, New This Week, turned me on to two interesting resources.

The first is a page from the Online Education Database called Research Beyond Google: 119 Authoritative, Invisible, and Comprehensive Resources. It links to 119 (obviously) sites that pull information from the "invisible web," information that you might not find in a traditional search engine.

The second is a list of Time's 50 Coolest Websites. I have yet to investigate them all, but the few listed that I do know of are definitely cool.

new Harry Potter book 7 title released!

It's not related to the CAWP Class, but it is expectedly causing a stir in the book world.

The hotly-anticipated final chapter in the Harry Potter book series will be titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now let the speculation about what that means begin!

Hear me roar! (actually I really just talk)

Gabcast!

Blogwild!

Found a book in the New Books section called Blogwild! A Guide for Small Business Blogging by Andy Wibbels. I've read the first few chapters and so far it is excellent. Wibbels breaks his chapters into bite-sized nuggets and avoids jargon and techno-babble to make an easy-to-read intro that makes the case for small business to get blogging.

I haven't broken far into the Wibbels' rationale for emphasizing small business, but personally I'd say small biz and blogs are a perfect fit, because small businesses generally need to emphasize their ability to respond quickly to market changes and customer requests as a competitive advantage, and what allows for quicker communication to a broad audience than a updatable, commentable, subscribable, blog?

openserving.com

Michael passed on a link to openserving.com, which Wikia proposes to be an open-source, collaborative blog platform. From looking at the tour, the features seem to be pretty standard and comparable to Blogger, but they do emphasize the bonus that as an open-source host, all generated ad revenue would go to the blog owner, as opposed to commercial hosts that often take a cut of any ad revenue generated by a hosted blog.

The platform apparently isn't live yet. We'll keep an eye on it.

Draft Outline

I'm working on the outline for the class.

So far, here are my main headings:

Welcome & Introduction
Why create a web page?
What this class is about
What's a blog?
Traditional web page authoring
How to Blog
1: Decide what to blog
2: Choose blog site
3: Create an account
4: Choose a look
5: Write
6: Experiment
7: Communicate
8: Repeat steps 5-7
Now what? (other things to do)
Examples
Questions?
Thank you and Goodbye

I think I can jam 75 minutes of content and 15 minutes of Q&A into that outline.

Class descriptions

Here are two descriptions for the CAWP class which will appear in some of our library publications:

This one's more of a marketing blurb which will go in the ads in city publications:

Have you heard the word "blog" everywhere but want to know how blogs can be useful to you? Did you know that there are free, easy-to-use tools that can help you create a webpage in minutes? This class will introduce some tools and tips and demonstrate how you can create your web presence today!

This one will be on the flier for our new adult computer classes:

This class will open the door to the blogosphere and explain how the popularity of blogs is reshaping the way the web works. Learn about free blogging tools to create your own unique webpage, and about technologies to share your blog with anyone.

Aren't you excited?

First Post - Creating A Web Page @ Sunnyvale Library

This is a blog for the new Creating a Web Page class at the Sunnyvale Public Library, which I will teach for the first time on Wednesday, January 10, 2007 from 2:00-3:30, and again on Monday, June 4, 2007, from 2:00-3:30.

I intend to use this as working space while I research and prepare to teach the class. I also plan to refer to this blog as a demonstration tool during the class itself. Finally, I hope that people who take the class and anyone else interested will add their feedback to this space.