Review 4- Using blogs and wikis to communicate with library clients

The article is an overview which based on the findings of the research porject ‘'Investigating Blog and Wiki Technology for the Enhancement of Internal Reference Services Processes’ by K Watson and C. Harper. The project has investigated current and potenti provide the short overview of blogs and wikis, and somw important tips which librarians need be concerned when applying new communication tools.

Firstly, Authors give a brief introduction to blogs and wiki and explain their differences. Blogs likes an online journals or diary which contributed by any topics and content by chronologically. Blogs as a communication tools because readers are allowed to give comments to the blogs. Different from the blogs, wikis consists on the HTML pages and the owner of wikis has a limitation on who is able to edit it. Also, the arrangement of the posts is according to the subject. Those tools are simple to use and inexpensive for librarians to create an online platform which communicating with users.

Blogs and wikis are quick and simple process to create communication tools, but as J.M. Maness (2006) criticized that blogs and wikis lack of editorial governance and the security. Thus, for integrating those technologies in to library services successfully, a lot of planning and works are required before using those technologies. Authors gave six tips to describe how libraries can best manage the blogs and wikis. Those tips are as follows:

Tips 1: Mange your communication tool
It is a hints that the attention when implementing new technology to libraries. Librarians need to keep in mind the organization’s goal and objective. Having a strategic plan and preparing the policy and guideline are essential step before releasing the new technologies to library patrons.

Tips 2: Control ‘technolust’
The libraries need to against the new technologies when it is not suit the organization’s strategic missions and objectives. It is suggest testing the technologies before releasing to public.

Tips 3: Have an agreed upon, honest library voice
The library speaks to library users by using communication tools so that it must be honest and genuine. The articles used the case of Mazda that ‘a fake blogs was released by the car company to appeal to Generation Y was apparently written by a 22-year-old Mazda M6 enthusiast’ (Watson & Harper, 2006). It proved that communication tools must be truthful because the fake information published at communication will misunderstand readers and harm the image of library.

Tips 4: Update often
The contents in blogs and wikis must be kept in current and fresh. Libraries need to update the blosgs and wikis regularly so that information is keeping fresh and present as well.

Tips 5: Enable comments, where appropriate, and respond
Not only update the blogs, but also the library staff response the users’ comments on blogs when appropriate. It is an action to harvest opinions from users’s comments and give feedback so that users may feel libraries listen to their voice.

Tips 6: Use RSS feeds or other promotional avenues
The communication tools will fail if users do not know it. Libraries need to promote the communicate tools in order to inform the new communication channel to users. The RSS feeds can be used to alert the user about updates and new posts of communication tools.

The shortcoming of this article is that those tips a very common that those will be concerned when libraries implementing. There is another factor that affecting successful of using blogs and wikis. For example, do the interfaces of communication tools friendly to the users? Do the current contents or topics catch the users’ eyes and meet their needs? Moreover, monitoring the open-source such as wiki is a challenges for librarians, as stephens, M (2006) said that Public wikis will easy be a battleground for two authors who disagree. If authors give more examples to illustrate those tips and the the focus on barries on new technologies, it will give a clear and comprehensive concept how libraries implementing those new technologies.

To conclude, it is a useful guideline to use a blogs and wikis as a communication tools in library environment. It provides the basic information and differences of blogs and wikis and library attitude in the world of Web 2.0. It also gives the tips which librarians need to be concerned when implementing new technologies in library services.


Reference
Maness, J.M. (2006). Library 2.0 theory: Web2.0 and its implications for libraries. Retrieved August 30, 2009, from http://www.webology.ir/2006/v3n2/a25.html

Stephens, M. (2006). Wikis. Library Technology Reports, 42(4), 52-57. Retrieved August 26, 2009, from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text database.

Watson, K., & Harper, C. (2006). Using blogs and wikis to communicate with library clients. Retrieved August 26, 2009, from http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/incite/2006/12/print.html?ID=138