Learning to Blog

A fantastic look at what libraries are doing with blogs as learning examples, The Free Range Librarian, K.G. Schneider, has posted her recent conference presentation "virtual handout" on blogging and RSS tools. Check out Blogs: Not Just Another Ugly Neologism

Also, Michael Stevens at Tame the Web has shared his Dominican University's LIS class assignment which includes creating a blog and then making 5 blog posts about libraries, technology and the Web. Wow.

CC: Library Supporter

Intellectual Property and Copyright Issues for Blogs

What about quoting someone else's blog? Can you use a picture you find on the Internet? What is all this "CC" stuff I need to protect my writings or art?

There is a ton of information on the Internet about copyright law, most notably from Stanford Law School's Lawrence Lessig, who currently chairs the Creative Commons project. A Creative Commons license on your blog "helps you publish your work online while letting others know exactly what they can and can't do with your work."*

Mr. Lessig is also involved with the Electronic Frontier Foundation which has published The Bloggers' FAQ on Intellectual Property. I highly recommend this article which addresses issues that arise when you publish material created by others on your blog.

Yahoo! News Includes Blogs

Certainly a big step towards blogs blending with the mainstream media...

Today we've begun the integration of blogs in Yahoo! News Search. Now when you search on Yahoo! News you will see blog results as well as content from thousands of trusted news sites. The experiences and opinions published on blogs make a great addition to the mainstream news people read everyday. And major world events are further fueling the growth of blogs as platforms for anyone who wants to have a public voice. At times, even everyday bloggers beat the mainstream media to a story. More...

Via Jeremy Zawodny's blog

Top Ten Tips On Writing Your Blog

Here are some great ideas for creating blog content:

1) Check your Inbox.
2) Start Blog Hopping.
3) Comment in Your Own Blog.
4) Read, Listen To, or Watch the News.
5) Give Memes or Collaborations a Go.
6) Create Lists (like this one!)
7) Play Games, Answer Surveys, or Take Quizzes.
8) Blog at Random.
9) Be a Sleuth!
10) Do Something New.

See the complete article at About.com.

Congratulations, you're ready to be a blogger!

I will continue post items of interest here, (it is a blog after all, and shouldn't lay dormant) but that's it for the course portion of the blog.

If you run into trouble there's alot of material out on the internet about using this software and the official help files are great. Remember you can always email me from the link on the bottom or comment here if anything comes up.

Happy Blogging!