Blogging Section of SLA-IT

Thanking Donors

Looking for a way to thank your donors?  Princeton Theological Seminary Library has come up with a great way to thank donors who donate special collections to the library.  As a thank you to Dr. Samuel Hugh Moffett and Mrs. Eileen Flower Moffett, who donated books, manuscripts and photos, the special collections department used Blurb.com to create a book of pictures.  The tool has some quirks, but once you figure out how to use it, it's a great way to create a print on demand gift for your donors and those interested in their collections.

Book: Social Software in Libraries

Meredith Farkas' book Social Software in Libraries: Building Collaboration, communication, and Community Online has been published by Information Today.  In addition to the book, Meredith has a web page with relevant resources. 

Named one of the 2006 Library Journal Movers and Shakers, Meredith has done much to advance the cause of social networking tools in libraries. Many people know her from her wikis, which she has built in order to demonstrate how we can benefit from them (as well as contribute to them). 

By thew way, if you're going to the Computers in Libraries conference, Meredith will be doing a book signing Tuesday evening during the reception.

New book on wikis

U.K. Publishing house Chandos just got a new book out on wikis for a library audience:

Wikis: Tools for Information Work and Collaboration. Jane E. Klobas. Oxford: Chandos, 2006, xxi, 229 p.

The book was conceived by the regretted Laurel A. Clyde. Chandos usually publishes good books in the library and information science field.

Blooks

Looks like it's a day of musings for me today... I recently learned about the term "blook". I knew about the phenomena but not that it had a name! The term is either used for a book whose content is based on entries published on a blog (like Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton); or for a book serialized on a blog (like hackoff.com by Tom Evslin). There is even now a Blooker Prize, launched last October by self-publishing outfit Lulu. From what I can see, blooks so far are mostly based on blogs of the personal musings type.

But as more professional blogs are being published; as academics reportedly use blogs more and more to propose, promote and exchange ideas and theories, I'm wondering if there will be blooks based on that content. Maybe academics already do, in scientific publications, without exactly citing their blog as a source of information but using it a source of inspiration.

Finally, a question, would you buy a book for your collection based on blog entries that could be read for free on the Net?