The book for the LIBR 284 class "Web 2.0 Tools" by Kate Theimer gives a really good break down on how archives should implement a blog and what they should expect from doing so. The archive should consider what they are going to blog about and how often they will do it. I like that she also pointed out that an archive should not be afraid to change how the blog is being done if it does not seem to be working that well.
The San Diego Historical Center uses Facebook as their main blog. While it uses it to post about new collections or special events, it mostly uses it ask trivia questions about San Diego's history. This is great way to get people interested in what the archive houses. It also allows the archive to keep generating posts when they do not have much to post about otherwise.
The lack of consistent posts is what will kill a blog. If the SDHC did not do those trivia questions, I am sure people would not try to keep track of their posts and they would lose out on the point of having the blog. I do not know how many people actually go to someone's wall to see all of their posts or just look at the most recent posts from the list of friends.
I'm enjoying reading your blog posts! The title of your blog is clever. You are correct in pointing out that people won't take the time to read a blog if they don't think they will find interesting and fresh information. The trivia questions provide a fast and easy way to add new content.
ReplyDeleteI hope you like Blogspot. I found Wordpress was a little rough starting up (as far as the writing aspect) though installing it on my website for LIBR 240 was fun.
ReplyDeleteTrivia questions sound like a fun way to keep people engaged but how do they link people to their blog in the first place?
So far, they are about the same to me. I think I had a little more control over Wordpress on the look and function of the blog, but this is not bad.
ReplyDeleteSince the San Diego historical Center really only uses Facebook and Twitter (do not know how that works, as I avoid Twitter). They just link to it from their web site.