Blogging Section of SLA-IT

IT Division at SLA

Just a quick reminder to check out the IT Division's schedule for SLA this year - lots of great CE classes and talks - including mine on Mashups for Libraries.

See you all there!!

does blog design matter?

i was IMing with a good friend about my blog and how since the end of the semester i have had very little time to update it, though i have about 10 posts half-finished. she felt the same way and said that if it weren't for RSS feeds, no one would be reading her blog, because the lack of posts recently would have seriously reduced traffic.

this made me think about a few things:
1. i spend way too much time tweaking the CSS of my blog given the fact that most people read it via RSS feed. (that won't stop me for playing with it, but maybe it will help me prioritize.)
2. if  people are reading blogs using RSS feeds, then elements like the title of your blog, the title of the post even, are much more important than we think they are.

so how do people read your blog?
how many RSS subscribers do you have?
do you offer your full post to RSS readers or simply a snippet (note: offer more than a snippet, plz)?
do your titles make sense (or, if they don't, are they at least amusing)?

Follow SLA IT Division at SLA Annual

This arrived in my inbox recently and I thought you'd all like to be updated.

The IT Division and Dialog/ProQuest are proud to collaborate to give you the latest updates on IT Division programming during the 2009 conference!

During the Expo Hall, visit the Dialog/ProQuest booth (#620) and check out the big screen. You will be able to follow the IT Division Twitter backchannel live, as it happens!

The tweets will be provided by the Division members and conference attendees participating in the Division’s events. See what questions, comments and additional insights program attendees have in real time while they are attending sessions. It’s a different way of keeping abreast, keeping current and keeping engaged, perfect for any info pro!

The screen will also show the backchannels for the @sla2009 and @proquest profiles.

Twitting at the conference? Use the #slait hashtag for everything IT Division and the #sla2009 hashtag for everything conference-wide.

Having to miss the conference? Follow our hashtag on your favorite Twitter app.

Article: Bloggers, ask the right question: ‘What if I’m sued tomorrow?’

This chronicles one person's experience in being sued over a blog post, including why it happened and what she learned from it.  Rather than summarizing it here, go to the article and read it. 

If you have not run into any problems with a blog post, which have caused you to be contacted by someone using stern words, count yourself lucky.  It happens (and has happened to me).  The article provides some things you need to know (and do).  Read them.