A Weblog is a wonderful tool for building an interesting, interactive community Web site.
Western Springs History in Illinois is an example of a good use of an interactive blog. Although it serves more of an archival application, it should be of interest to us as librarians. I like the sense of community about this blog. Its intent is to build a local history residential archive. Blog categories are the street names and the blog entries are the addresses. Each address is its own post. Many posts have a picture of the residence at that address. Comments are enabled, allowing residents to fill in details about their homes. Residents would obviously have to know about this project to collaborate. Having said that the site is easily found using Google and it is easy to use. If I were a resident of this community, I might be inclined to contribute to this project by commenting. I can’t think of any improvements for this application. Is an interesting twist on a blog offering…very simple and graphically appealing. I really like the interaction.
Although we will look at the Williamsburg Readers’ Advisory blog and the Hennepin County Library Bookspace when we discuss Readers’ Advisories they are worth noting here as well. Readers advisories are probably some of the best examples of community interaction as they solicit input from the readers in the library community. Readers seem to value being able to do this. I know I like to tell people about what I’ve read.
User feedback in library blogs is likely to become increasingly important. People have become comfortable on the Web rating hotels, restaurants, etc. Participation can easily carry over into library Web presences as well. Interaction extends the library’s role as “meeting place” and also serves to put a human face to its services. We should realize that people who participate in their library, whether physically or online, will care about the library when funding issues arise.
