Library Blogs

 

This page contains examples of library blogs. For each entry, please include a URL and a brief description of the example. Please put entries in alphabetical order. 

 

Rare Book Blog - http://rarebookblog.com/ This blog discusses rare books in current news. The blog also discusses rare books, their business, and promotes information and idea sharing for everyone interested in rare books.

 

025.431: The Dewey blog - http://ddc.typepad.com/025431/  This blog is edited by the "assistant editor of the DDC, with contributions from other members of the Dewey editorial team."  It discusses a certain topic (such as measles), and then explains the Dewey Decimal classification that would pertain to that subject.

 

A Librarian's Guide to Ettiquette - http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/ This snarky blog's headline is "A polite librarian is a good librarian". The authors write with sarcasm about ettiquette for librarians.

 

A Look Back - http://blog.dispatch.com/lookback/ This is a blog maintained by the Columbus Dispatch Librarians.  Featuring photos, historic front pages, and other interesting items from the Dispatch Library's large archives, the librarians look back into the city's history in a fun but educational way.  An interesting example of how a special library can interact with the public.

 

ACRL Blogs -  http://acrlog.org/2008/10/03/how-dare-they-reject-my-conference-proposal/   This particular link is for a blog within  ACRL's blogs.  As you can see, the title is "How Dare They Reject My Conference Proposal," which is amusing, but also has comments that might be helpful for those who see the tenure process in their future, or presenting in general.  On the right hand side of the page (toward the bottom), there is also a long list of other ACRL blogs.

 

Alternative Teen Services - http://www.yalibrarian.com/  The Alternative teen services blog is maintained by teen librarians who share ideas, resources, and advocacy about serving teens.

 

Annoyed Librarian - http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/580000658.html The Annoyed Librarian is a blog that chronicles the supposed “rants” of an annoyed librarian who clearly uses the site to echo some very real concerns about the library profession itself.

 

[ArLi SNAP] - http://arlisnap.org/blog/This is a blog for Art Library Students and new ARLIS professionals.  It is a forum for sharing ideas pertinent to art librarianship.

 

Awful Library Books - http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com/ This blog is a collection of library books that are humorously outdated and should have been discarded, but are still part of a library's collection. Contributors come from all over.

 

Beyond the Job -- http://www.beyondthejob.org/ -- Calls for papers, scholarship, information about conferences... This blog has all sorts of information and ideas to keep you active professionally after library school. It can also give you a boost during school (especially those conference scholarships!). It can be boring, but keep your eyes on it and you'll find something good.

 

Biddle Beat -  http://library.duke.edu/blogs/index.html  The official blog of the Music Library at Duke University.

 

The Blogging Library- http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blogging_Libraries_Wiki An excellent site for libraries that have blogs! Public Libraries, Special Libraries, Academic Libraries and the like are all here, with a breakdown alphabetically of all the libraries. Check out the Cleveland Heights Library Blog, or the Columbus Metropolitan Library Teen Blog, for all the current events and hot titles out now!

 

Brewed Fresh Daily -- http://www.brewedfreshdaily.com/-- This blog is news and opinions about a variety of topics in the Cleveland, Ohio area.

 

Cool Cleveland E-blast! -- http://www.coolcleveland.com/ --This e-zine is a weekly newsletter about LOTS of stuff to do in the NE Ohio area. You can also sign up for a chance to win an IPod or an IPhone.

 

Flying Off The Shelf--http://flyingofftheshelf.edublogs.org-- This blog is written by a high school teacher and media specialist. She writes about the effects of technology on the high school library and how it is changing the interaction between the student and librarian.

 

Free Range Librarian -- http://www.freerangelibrarian.com -- Meditations on life and librarianship, by Karen Schneider. She recently accepted a job with Equinox Software, Inc. as their Community Librarian, where she'll work to build the Equinox brand and promote the use of open source software in libraries.

 

Hedgehog Librarian: Prickly, Nocturnal, InfoDiva  - http://hedgehoglibrarian.blogspot.com/ --Authored by librarian Abigail Goben, this blog is a patchwork of the author's opinion on library trends, book reviews, and work and life experiences.

 

Hey Jude - http://heyjude.wordpress.com/ - A blog created by Judy O'Connell voted best library blog 2007 by Edublogawards

 

In the Library with a Lead Pipe - http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/- This site is put together by six American librarians.  Contains essays and articles about maintaining a sense of community in the librarian profession.

 

Information Literacy and Web 2.0 - http://infolitweb20.blogspot.com - This is a blog maintained by a Science and Technology librarian at Iowa State University Library. It includes resources, articles, and discussions on current issues on the development of information literacy skills utilizing Web 2.0 technologies. This blog also considers challenges to information literacy presented by the changing technology landscape.

 

Information Wants To Be Free -- http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.phpA llibrarian, writer, and tech geek reflecting on the tools we use to serve our patrons.

 

Internet Public Library Blog Directory --http://www.ipl.org/div/blogs/ - This site provides sites about blogs and a list of blogs pertaining to libraries with the intention of them being constructive to library professionals. A comprehensive table of contents using the Sears List of Subject Headings is supplied to categorize each blog. Guiding stipulations for each blog is that it corresponds to IPL's mission which is to provide a learning / teaching environment to serve and ineract with library services, to teach through doing model, tp build a reference rich digital service to share among information professionals and increase a body of knowledge within the digital library environmentd adn to grow an infrastructure for long term sustainability. This is a wonderful place to explore aspects of blogging, to discover blogs themselves and to delve into blogs pertaining to librarianship and library services.

 

Jason the Content Librarian- http://www.jasoneiseman.com/blog/ This blog is written by Jason Eiseman, the librarian for Emerging Technologies at the Yale Law Library; his blog is concerned with technology and web 2.0, especially as it relates to librarians.

 

KPL_teens --http://kpl-teen-reads.livejournal.com/-- This blog is from the Kinnelon Public Library in New Jersey and features Teen book reviews. The books reviewed are current and a link takes you to the Kinnelon Public Library Teen page which features their Teen progarmming and more on what's new including movies. Matt Raymond who has been the Library’s Director of Communications since October 2006

 

Laurabelle's Blog-- http://blog.niceperson.org/ -- This blog is a chronicle of the life of an MLIS graduate student, including commentary on and links to library and information science-related events, information, and resources.

 

Law Library Blogs -- http://library.law.wisc.edu/wisblawg/blogslistpublic.htm-- Blogs for anyone interested in blogs about law libraries and by law librarians. Bonny Shucha has compiled a list of law library related blogs. It looks like she keeps this list pretty current as it was last updated October 4, 2007.

 

Librarian Activist -- http://www.librarianactivist.org/ -- This blog is centered on news and commentary of interest to progressive-minded librarians and information professionals.

 

Librarian Avengers - www.librarianavengers.org - "Want to be a librarian? Got chutzpah? This is the blog for you!" A blog written by a librarian that includes library related info as well as just somethings that us nerds can relate to.

 

Librarian Dot Net -- http://www.librarian.net/ -- Puttin' the rarin' back in librarian since 1999. Librarian Dot Net is a blog run by a librarian who is a bit of a tech geek as well as interested in all of the news that influences libraries. Her entries are interesting and generally amusing.

 

Librarian in Black --http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/ -- A blog maintained by Sarah Houghton-Jan, Digital Futures Manager for the San José Public Library in Silicon Valley. She created her blog for tech librarians who do not have time to weed out the resources on the Web pertinent to their specialty.

 

Library Juice - http://libraryjuicepress.com/blog/-A blog created by Rory Litwin that covers "the intersection of libraries, politics, and culture," and addresses topics such as intellectual freedom, censorship, and the image of libraries.

 

Library Link of the Day-- http://www.tk421.net/librarylink/-- This blog provides you with a daily link for keeping current with the library profession.

 

Library Mofo (A LiveJournal Community)-- http://community.livejournal.com/library_mofo/ -- This livejournal community is open to “librarians; library associates, specialists, technicians, and paraprofessionals of all kinds; library school students; library aides and volunteers; and all of those who love libraries, or even just love a particular librarian.” The community is basically a place for people who work in libraries to vent their frustrations (often patron-based)—most, if not all, entries are humorous. 

 

Library of Congress -- http://www.loc.gov/blog/ -- This is the official Library of Congress blog, written by LibraryThing Blog -- -- This blog includes new features, plans, and annoucements for http://www.librarything.com/blog/LibraryThing

 

Library outsourcing --http://apnews.excite.com/article/20071004/D8S2J2U80.html-- What are your opinions? I am still trying to figure what my thoughts are concerning this article. I know what outsourcing is like in the corporate world but will it work in a library environment? I posted this same article on Listserv and I expect (hope) to see it on a lot of different posts from the library community. From what I have observed so far "apathy" is not in the vocabulary of librarians. 

 

Library Stuff--http://www.librarystuff.net/ -- This blog is maintained by Information Today, Inc. It is a library weblog that is dedicated to the resources for keeping current and for professional development.

 

Library Technology and Websites -- http://davidleeking.com He descibes what he does on this blog the following way: "I create, write, think, and speak aobut library websites and emerging digital technology."

 

Library Voice-- http://libraryvoice.com/ Another unique blog by yet another unique librarian

 

Library Weblogs -- http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html -- This unique blog site boasts library-related blogs from around the world in several different languages.

 

LibVibe: the library news podcast

http://libvibe.blogspot.com/ A daily podcast of Library news and information, professionally produced by a reference librarian with a background in radio and broadcasting. It's a blog and podcast, available by RSS!

 

Lorcan Dempsey's Weblog on libraries, services and networks -- http://orweblog.oclc.org/ -- Really interesting site with a ton of information on libraries and technology, including Web 2.0 and integrated library systems. Lorcan Dempsey is a Vice President and Chief Strategist for OCLC. 

 

McSweeney's Dispatches from a Public Librarian -- http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/librarian/ --  On the McSweeney's Internet Tendencies blog collection.  Posts generally are observations on the daily grind of working in a public library.  However, being on McSweeney's you can expect some pretty humorous writing.

 

Miss Information - http://miss-information.blogspot.com/ This is a blog by a woman who is a library clerk and is currently attending library school. Her view is slightly pessimistic but she's funny as well.

 

MLA Conference Blog -- http://npc.mlanet.org/mla09/ - This blog contains information about the Medical Library Association Conference from 2009.  One can learn about the different sessions that were offered during the conference.  Information about future conferences may be included.

 

Multicultural Link--http://www.criticasmagazine.com/blog/820000482/post/1760027376.html- A blog from Criticas Magazine which is a great review source and resource for non-Spanish speaking librarians who serve Hispanic populations. The blog describes itself as "news for booksellers, librarians, and educators who care about serving speakers and readers of Spanish."

 

Phoenix Public Library Teen Blaze -- http://phxblaze.blogspot.com/">http://phxblaze.blogspot.com/ -- This blog is part of the Phoenix Public Library's teen section. The blog includes polls, photos, articles, websites, events, and a list of contributors.

 

Second Careers - http://lifetwo.com/production/node/20070104-librarian-jobs - Almost 58 percent of professional librarians in the United States will reach retirement age between 2005 and 2019. Wall St. Journal is reporting that public libraries fear a staffing shortage as retiring baby boomers may be hard to replace. What are your opinions?  

 

Radical Patron -  http://www.radicalpatron.com- This blog is created by a patron who would like to stimulate dicussion about how to strengthen our communities and public libraries.

 

Read it or Weep -- http://readitorweep.org/ -- This blog from Rocky River Public Libary (Ohio) puts up links to books recommended by library staff members.   Twice a month one of the Reference staff writes about their all time favorite books.   

 

Stacked-- http://cincinnatimercantile.wordpress.com/ - This is the blog for Cincinnati's Mercantile Library, one of the oldest subscription libraries in the country. Merc staffers offer pithy comments on things literary and things non-literary.

 

Stephen's Lighthouse --http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/ -- Blog created by Stephen Abram, Vice President of SirsiDynix. Stephen focuses on trends in libraries, librarianship, and technology. He tends to offer his own opinions and also adds insight using the writings of others.

 

Tame the Web: Libraries, Technology and People --http://tametheweb.com -- Blog by Michael Stephens, Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University.  Stephens "deals with libraries, technology, and people -- and the fascinating intersection between all three".  This blog also features many uploads of signs in libraries about cell phone use that the Annoyed Librarian likes to make fun of.

 

Teen Librarian-- http://www.teenlibrarian.com/blog.html -- This is the blog site for teenlibrarian.com. This site features a variety of blogs on topics such as Teen Book Discussions, Teen Gaming and Libraries, Top Trends in YA Librarianship , Teen Library Wikis and Teen Library 2.0. I found all of these blogs to be interesting and full of useful information. This blog is a useful resource for anyone who is interested in becoming a Young Adult Librarian.

 

The Annoyed Librarian - http://annoyedlibrarian.blogspot.com/ For a VERY different take on libraries and librarianship and the field in general, check out the annoyed librarian. No one seems to know just who the annoyed librarian is or if it's a group, but the posts are definitely interesting, though not terribly hopeful for LIS students.

 

The Corporate Librarian - http://thecorporatelibrarian.com/thougThis blog is for those interested in corporate librarianship.  It discusses the profession in general, continuing education, links to other pages, and pertinent announcements about developments in corporate librarianship.  It also contains job hungting resources.

 

The Days and Nights of the Lipstick Librarian - http://www.lipsticklibrarian.com/blog/ 

An humorous look at trendy, fashionable librarianship by Linda Absher. She is one of the top 25 librarian bloggers (by the numbers) according to OEDb (http://oedb.org/library/features/top-25-librarian-bloggers-by-the-numbers)

 

The Handheld Librarian -- http://handheldlib.blogspot.com -- The Handheld Librarian is a blog about handheld computer news, ideas and opinions from librarians and those interested in libraries. It’s edited by a Computer Librarian, and features contributions from a webmaster, and others in library and computer fields. This blog is a great resource for librarians who have to confront increasing changes in technologies, and want opinions of those in the field.

 

The Indie Librarian - http://indielibrarian.blogspot.com/

This blog was created by Kimberly Bolan Cullin, a librarian, consultant and author, and has many posts on library conferences, books by the blog creator and her husband, and various other informational posts for those in the library field. In addition, the site includes labels that can be navigated on the right-hand side of the page.

 

The Inforcion Literacy Land of Confusion - http://www.information-literacy.net/   This blog was created by Michael Lorenzen and has many posts pertaining to "library user education, library instruction, librarianship, information literacy, education, and search engines".  It has many posts that are applicable and interesting to those in the library and information science fields.

 

 The Massillon Public Library's Reference Blog- http://www.massillonlibraryreference.blogspot.com/ This blog is run by the reference librarians at Massillion Public Library in Massillon, Ohio documenting their experences and what they learn from reference questions asked by patrons.

 

The Shifted Librarian-- http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/-- is the blog by Jenny Levine. She describes the shifted librarian as "someone who is working to make libraries more portable. We're experimenting with new methods, even if we find out they don't work as well as we thought they would." The blog discusses new and emerging technologies for libraries, Web 2.0, gaming, and other topics.

 

Thing-ology Blog -- http://www.librarything.com/thingology/ -- The other LibraryThing blog, Thing-ology contains ideas on "the philosophy and methods of tags, libraries and suchnot. 

 

Turning the Page-- http://www2.cincinnatilibrary.org/blog/-- is the blog of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and provides commentary on books, literary topics, and news. The library staff contribute to it and it is updated on a regular basis.

 

Twilight Librarian -- http://keillor.richmond.edu/blojsom/blog/jrettig/-- This blog is created and maintained by Jim Rettig, a librarian at the University of Richmond in Virginia. It is his "ruminations on libraries, librarianship, the infosphere, and more".

 

Twinsburg Public Library Blogs --http://www.twinsburglibrary.org/asblogs/asblogs.htm -- The Twinsburg Public Library website offers a variety of blogs for its patrons. The library News Blog features announcements of upcoming programs and information on library and community events. In the ABC Book Reviews Blog two reference librarians review books; one of them specializes in adult and young adult fiction, and one focuses on fantasy and chic lit. The "Booking for a Look" blog is dedicated to the children's department, with reviews of children's books by a librarian, links to sites that feature children's literature, and an opportunity for readers to share their thoughts on books. Visitors to this blog cannot offer comments anonymously, and must use or sign up for a Google account in order to post a comment. The library's "DigiDownload Blog" lists summaries of available audiobooks. Titles may be downloaded and many "may be burned to a CD for personal use." Altogether, the Twinsburg Public Library offers seven blogs that patrons may subscribe to.

 

Union Librarian -http://unionlibrarian.blogspot.com/ A blog about librarian union activity and news for librarians supporting workers.

 

Westerville Public Library Director's Blog -- http://blog.westervillelibrary.org/director/ -- Blog by Don Barlow, Director of the Westerville Public Library.  The Director highlights news, events, and services of the library for patrons.  Also includes links to the other blogs of the Westerville Public Library.

 

What Does This Mean to Me, Laura? - http://www.oplin.org/meanlaura/ A blog by Laura Solomon, Library Services Manager at OPLIN. The focus of this blog is on technical issues faced by librarians and library webmasters on a regular basis. The most recent emphasis has been on cascading style sheets (CSS) and Social Media.

 

The YA YA YAs- http://theyayayas.wordpress.com/ This blog is written by three Young Adult librarians.  They blog about YA literature, librarianship, and other related topics.  Links are provided for other children's and YA literature blogs.  Reviews for YA literature in various formats are also included.