Blog with Integrity

Following the lead of other bloggers whom I respect, I have signed the Blog with Integrity pledge, promising to behave ethically and respectfully. What this implies is that I will strive to review books, media, or other products fairly, taking no payments or gifts for anything I say. If I know and like an author, which will happen when reviewing library science titles, I will reveal this. I will keep all conversations polite and constructive. I will identify sources when quoting. I will credit to others for their ideas.

One of the tenets of the pledge is that I be willing to criticize as well as praise. With that I agree, but you may notice most of my reviews are positive. I mostly read books that I feel sure to like.

Anyone wants to know more can click on this link.

Books and Blogs, Made for Each Other?

The verdict on whether the Internet is killing reading is still out, as evidence presented often says more about its source than the readers being studied. What is clear is that an attempt is being made to utilize the web to increase reading, especially of books, as a community of book lover bloggers has grown. Included is this community are readers, librarians, authors, and publishers, each contributing to the promotion of books, but often for different reasons. At Booklist/Booklist Online: Books and Blogs, Made for Each Other?, Keir Graf of Booklist and a panel of bloggers discussed the relationship of blogs with books and its prospects for the near future.

The panel included the following:

• Mary Burkey of AudioBooker, who started her blog to keep track of audio titles that she had read. Her independent blog was later acquired by Booklist.
• John Green, a former Booklist employee, who with his brother posts videos to You-Tube as Vlogbrothers. He has also written a novel Looking for Alaska.
• Kaite Mediatore Stover of Kansas City Public Library, who posts to Book Group Buzz for Booklist.
• Nora Rawlinson, who has never been a Booklist employee. She was, however, the librarian at Baltimore County Public Library who uttered "give them what they want" and has worked as an editor for both Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. She is now writing the blog, EarlyWord, which is a for-profit effort.

Keir listed some qualities that make blogs useful to book professionals:

• Blogs offer immediacy. Bloggers can address issues quickly and can discuss books at the time they are published or are otherwise in the news.
• Blog writing is more personal and casual, allowing for a friendlier feel, attracting some loyal followers.
• Because blog postings are often short, writers have to hone more concise writing skills.
• Comments from blog readers start conversations that may bring forth issues that the blog writer did not address. They may also correct errors or otherwise keep the blog writer honest.
• Through comments, bloggers know their readers better.

Here are some highlights from this discussion:

Authority is something in which print excelled in its prime. Readers trusted the reviewers in newspapers and magazines, such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or Atlantic Monthly. Now that these publications have their own blogs, that authority has transferred to its blog writers. Nora thought this advantage would in time diminish as other brand names are established. Some bloggers have name recognition for being on the scene early. Kaite said that with so many people blogging it is now difficult for a new blogger to get recognized.

Few book bloggers make a profit - or anything. They do not often get readers the way that niche technology bloggers do. Book bloggers blog for love of books.

Well-produced book trailers may be a passing fad. There is not enough money in the book market to support most expensive publicity, and the panel opinion was that the novelty will soon wear off. John said that most blog readers seek authenticity and are suspicious of slick marketing.

None of the panelists thought that writing blogs hurt their print writing style. Mary thought that bloggers free of institutional ties are franker in their blogs.

None of the speakers thought that Twitter would replace blogging. It is a good vehicle for posting links to reviews on blogs or telling others what you are reading. John said that Twitter is more important to people in Third World countries because they can tweet and read from cellphones, which seem to be harder to restrict than Internet access.

Kaite liked that bloggers sometimes review old books. It is not all about buzz.

Citizen Reader: A Blog About More Than Nonfiction

The blogger formerly known as Nonanon has remade herself into Citizen Reader. In her welcome to the new site, she explains that the new title reflects that her interests are a bit broader now. Though she will still review nonfiction books most of the time, she will include fiction or other media when inspired. I expect she will continue to be provocative and pan the books that deserve panning, while lifting up titles that we should consider for our collections and personal reading. Bookmark her site.

Aggrevating Aggregators: A Note to Bloglines, Google Reader, and Other Readers

If you are reading this blog through an aggregator, you have missed some content. Several times lately I have posted pieces in which I embedded a form from Zoho Creator. Bloglines and Google Reader do not show these. So, if you notice a gap in the text and wonder what should be there, click on the item title and come to the home site of the blog. There you will find a form and be able to easily contribute to a survey.

Yesterday, I asked for help identifying who should be on a core biography list. Click here to see the post with the embedded form. The data you submit goes directly into a database. I will report the results later in another posting.

It is a good idea to occasionally go from the aggregators to the originating sites because there are often sidebar material that you are missing. Many bloggers have posted their favorite links, and some bloggers have created special features, like their own search tools, which you can access from their sites.

The aggregators are great help to readers trying to keep up, but you should not stay within their lines. Stray a bit to see what you might find.

Pop Goes Fiction: A New Fiction Book Review Blog

Lora Bruggeman, a reader's advisory librarian currently tending to her family, has started Pop Goes Fiction, a new fiction book review. In a month and half she has posted 17 snappy reviews and a short list of her favorite books from 2006. She seems to have a knack for knowing what people like; I cross checked the titles with our library catalog and see that many of her choices having dozens of reserves. Her blog can help us with our fiction selection.

The reviews can help with reader's advisory, too. She captures the essence of each book in one nice-sized paragraph and she adds useful tags, like "first novels," "page-turners," "women's lives and relationships," and "multicultural fiction."

I have added Pop Goes Fiction to the Librarian's Book Revoogle. I am also adding the link to the right.

Nice work, Lora.

The Status of Aaron Schmidt

Libraries are evolving beyond traditional limits. Several social/political/economic trends are at work. Here are just a few:

1. Libraries are being challenged to move beyond their walls to serve their public. Librarians are getting out into their communities more. Libraries are also now making websites into virtual library branches.

2. Librarians are joining the effort to cross political boundaries. The idea of librarians without borders, serving individuals from beyond their taxing districts is a more accepted idea.

3. Advanced communication technology is making telecommuting to work more practical. Work from home is more common. The distance between the workplace and the worker hardly matters any more.

This all leads to the current status of Aaron Schmidt at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library.

I am continuously asked by library clients and other librarians about Aaron and what he is doing. Many express surprise when I say that in addition to attending Portland State University he is working for us from Portland, Oregon. That's about 2100 miles away from Western Springs, Illinois, according to Google Maps. It is a long commute. When they ask what he does, I sum it up with "He works on our website," and then they ask whether he is biking or climbing mountains.

Aaron really does more for us than just work on our website. He is loading some content on the current website and generating ideas and designs for the website that we want to have. Working with Kristin Schar and me, we are trying to improve the website so it truly can be a branch of the library. Aaron serves as our consultant for a variety of technical issues. He also carries our library name to professional conferences and promotes us across the web. Our library now has friends throughout the library world that we would never have had if he was not representing us.

How do we in our small library benefit from the new reputation?

1. When we advertise a staff position, we get applicants who know what we have been doing and want to continue the work.

2. We get new ideas from our diverse contacts.

3. We have a reputation to maintain and have to continue to innovate.

How does having Aaron work remotely actually work?

I hear from Aaron almost everyday by email, instant message, or telephone. His cellphone is still a local call for us, so he is not hard to reach. There are times when he is off at a conference, at class, or on a mountain, but it was the same when he was living in Western Springs.

We still get mail for Aaron. Several times I have scanned the pages, attached them to email, and gotten these communications to him much faster than if we returned them to the post office. We are in touch.

How does the library benefit from this arrangement?

Often when a valued employee leaves there is a break in continuity. We have lessened that problem substantially with our current arrangement with Aaron. We are cross training other staff to do some of his web duties, but Aaron is still there to do some work that we are finding hard to schedule.

We also benefit somewhat from his moving away in that we added Kristin Schar with her new skills, fresh ideas, and passion for her work.

What is the downside of the arrangement?

We do not have Aaron here to work the reference desk or to participate in lunch meetings. He can not run out for our veggie burritos or brownies.

Aaron is missing his faithful clients and tons of cookies, coffeecakes, chocolate candies, snack mix, etc. that seems to arrive in the workroom, especially during the holidays.

What does the future hold?

We do not know how long our arrangement will last. Aaron will eventually finish school and be hired to a demanding position that may make the arrangement hard to maintain. In the meantime, Aaron and the library are benefitting. For now he is Thomas Ford West.

I feel proud that our small library has the flexibility and courage to try such an experiment. I expect to see more of this kind of work in the profession in the future. Some libraries may even hire librarians who will work from a distance. Consider it.

Library Dust by Michael McGrorty

Library Dust is a blog from Michael McGrorty, a new librarian, who has also been a U.S. Navy enlistee, a labor investigator, a private investigator, a probation officer, a novelist, and a poet. Writing is obviously very important to him. Many of his entries on Library Dust are fully developed essays that could easily fit in a magazine or newspaper. His December 28 entry about the fate of the library in Salinas, California is eloquent. He write to us as if we are friends. I enjoyed reading about his pickup truck in his review of the book High and Mighty by Keith Bradsher. You do not have to be a librarian to understand Library Dust. We should all take writing lessons from Michael McGrorty.