I've talked to a couple of people recently who have said something like "I'm going to be done with my work blog after Learning 2.0 is over."
Now, these are not one-post-and-done, fulfill-the-assignment "bloggers."*** Both are people who have posted semi-regularly, and not "here's my blog entry, dum-de-dum, etc." either - there are some important questions about library policy and practice, observations about what we do, and actual discussion being generated because of what they're posting. So my question is:
Why would you quit?
Except for the fact that participation in Learning 2.0 by senior management has been minimal - very few were in evidence at the Michael Stephens presentations, and it's doubtful many of them have actually read more than two blog posts ... yes, I can see that that could be construed as discouraging.
But you have to allow time for the medium to catch on, and time to build an audience, and time for the interesting conversations to get back to senior management with the phrase "and I saw this discussion on so-and-so's blog!"
Influential library bloggers like Jenny Levine and Michael Stephens had to get their start somewhere. Though for many people, blogging about library stuff is not their thing. But I put it to those for whom it obviously IS their thing: Keep writing. I'll read your blog! And so will my librarian friends. (If it's not clear that I'm reading it, email me to make sure I'm living up to my promise.)
***Which is NOT to say that there's anything wrong with posting once to fulfill the assignment!!! That's what we wanted you to do. If you did that, way to go! I'm just saying that some people took to it more than others.
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Um... wow? I really did think I was to give 100% to this blog for a finite period. So I did! But it's not like it was hard, or painful, or nasty or anything. I just thought that was the assignment. It had this, "Do an assignment to get a T-shirt" feel to it. And, quite frankly, I was happy to log a couple hours doing it. I don't work much!
So will these blogs connect in any way to the blog that Nancy Saff writes for the library?
Just to make sure I was clear, I loved Learning 2.0 and blogging! (And the T shirt was cool, too).
I totally agree Ian. Why regress? It isn't as if blogging/2.0 techs will become less used in the future. I also know that there were quite a few interesting library related conversations that I would not have had were it not for posts in various ACPL blogs. Keep it up I say!
I agree Ian. I actually haven't gotten to a lot of the 2.0 things, but I've enjoyed the blogging. Have passed on my blog address to a number of folks outside ACPL who also enjoy reading it. It's usually about library-related things, but not always. I scan through most every other ACPL blog during slow desk times. Useful, interesting, fun stuff.
Jen - there are some plans in the works to revitalize "the blog that Nancy Saff writes" - there should be an announcement soon.
As for the future of the L 2.0 blogs, of course it's up to each individual blogger. The point of Learning 2.0 is to hook people up with some new tools, so that they can keep using the ones that they find useful in their jobs or private lives. I'm just saying I enjoy reading some of them, and that they make a not insignificant contribution to ACPL's internal dialogue, so I hope that they'll continue.
Nate - I've also been part of some library conversations that I wouldn't have without the blogs. I think that is a real advantage to blog conversations - the ease with which one can take part, *without* going to a meeting ... and I think that it's demonstrable that some of the blog conversations lead to continuations in a face to face setting. It might be the most valuable single thing that we (as an institution) have gotten out of L 2.0.
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