Digitalist life in the library

Blogging librarians

Almost half of the feeds I subscribe to are from blogs written by librarians or library students. There was a time when the majority of the library blogs I subscribed to were written by Americans, or at least librarians working in the US. Since the CILIP2 event this has changed. From that I not only connceted with a lovely bunch of UK based librarians through Twitter but I found a raft of new blogs written by UK librarians to subscribe to.

Sometimes I think people think I'm crazy reading so many library blogs, especially as I do it in my spare time. To me it seems natural not only for professional, but personal development. Us librarians have interesting things to say you know and it's not all about libraries and books! So why are library blogs so important? I heard a quote a while ago, and now I've completely forgotten it and my search skills are letting me down, but the gist of it was that librarians always have to try and stay one step ahead. This is something I strive for but I know that I wouldn't even be able to attempt it without the help of library blogs.

I was at a presentation this morning given by someone who is working on her dissertation for library school. Her topic is tagging and the future of the OPAC, a subject which has yet to make it to traditional literature so she has relied heavily on library blogs for her research.

For me reading blogs written by librarians is about keeping up with the game. It's about being connected, learning what other libraries are doing, what other librarians are thinking and discussing. It's about where our profession is going.

Below are a selection of blogs that I subscribe to. There are some you'll know, and some you won't and I hope something of interest to everyone.

Where it all started:

• Tame The Web - Michael wrote his PhD thesis on the role of blogging in librarianship. Check it out if you've got some spare time.
• Swiss Army Librarian - a great feature of this blog is Brian's "Research question of the week" - I wish I worked in a library where the questions were so varied, at at times odd.
• librarian.net
• Stephen's Lighthouse

Institutional:
Blogs have taken a while to get going in Oxford's library service but the range is slowly growing and blogging seems to be the most favoured web 2.0 tool among librarians here. My favourite, or the one I find most useful is the Oxford University e-Resources blog.

Professional development:
Last week my predecessor, Andy Priestner, started his libreaction blog. After just a few posts I can see this is probably going to be the most valuable blog for me and my development as a business librarian. Having people at the top of the game blogging can really provide inspiration and guidance for the next generation.

Ones to watch:
Here are a few blogs that are either new, or that I've discovered recently. I usually give new subscriptions a trial period, but these three are here to stay.

• Organising Chaos
• Outside Libraries
• Info-mational

Entertainment:
Where would we be without library cartoons? Unshelved is a favourite for most but I prefer Shelfcheck.