Sunday, September 18, 2005 Marriott Crystal City • Arlington, VA
Program
8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Registration
& Coffee
8:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. Welcome & Library Blog Tour Jane Dysart, Dysart & Jones Associates
8:45 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Technology
Options Steven M. Cohen, Senior
Librarian, PubSub Concepts Inc., & Library Stuff.net
Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Ford Memorial Public Library
& Walkingpaper.org
Which blog software is best for your library or service? With
the numerous options available, choosing the right tool can
be a daunting task. Cohen and Schmidt discuss the major blogging
software and the various options and add-ons for each, including
price, server space, and other features that will help users
choose which software is best for their library environments.
9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Ask the Experts Steven
M. Cohen, Senior Librarian, PubSub Concepts Inc. Blake Carver, LISNews.com
Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Ford Memorial Public Library
& Walkingpaper.org
Join practitioners and colleagues for a discussion
about the key benefits of and experiences with Weblog technologies.
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Getting Buy-In Sabrina Pacifici, Law Librarian, Editor/Publisher
of LLRX.COM, beSpacific.com Ideas for Weblogs in libraries are one thing.
Implementing them is another. Join our blog experts as they
discuss the best methods for getting buy-in from administration,
IT managers, and fellow librarians.
10:45 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Designing Weblogs Amanda Etches Johnson, Reference Librarian, McMaster University, & Blogwithoutalibrary.net
Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Ford Memorial Public Library
& Walkingpaper.org With Weblogs, content is always king. And designing
a Weblog interface to correlate with the library Web page is
just as important. The library Weblog can also be a place to
display other library applications—the library catalog
for example—and bring them to the forefront. This presentation
incorporates many aspects of Weblog design and how to make it
best work within your library Web environment.
11:30 a.m. - 12:00 Noon Design Tips & Tricks Blake Carver, LISnews.com
Amanda Etches Johnson, Reference & Instruction
Librarian, McMaster University, & Blogwithoutalibrary.com
Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Ford Memorial Public Library
& Walkingpaper.org This interactive discussion shares secrets from
experienced and successful bloggers.
12:00 Noon - 1:00 p.m. Lunch Break
1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Case Studies & Real-World
Applications Blog University Faculty
Join us for an in-depth look at some of the creative ways that
libraries and information services are using Weblogs. Gain lots
of insights and ideas from these and other interesting applications
from outside the field that bring lessons for information professionals.
Includes a whirlwind tour of each of our speakers’ favorite
blogs.
1:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Guidelines, Policies, and Ethics Steven M. Cohen, Senior Librarian, PubSub
Concepts Inc. With any new library initiative, guidelines and
policies need to be written. Cohen considers a number of guidelines
and policies for Weblogs including the type of content that
gets published, whether to allow comments from readers, and
who can post to the Weblog. In addition, ethical considerations
should be approached with care, and our expert shares some strategies
and practical advice.
2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Networking Break
3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. Writing Good Content Blake Carver, LISnews.com Without good content, a Weblog doesn’t have
a chance to survive. Carver, an expert who runs a collaborative
Weblog and has experience in publishing content from multiple
writers, focuses on how to write the best Weblog content for
your specific user base.
3:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Content Tips & Tricks
The BlogU faculty share their content secrets during this interactive
discussion.
4:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Marketing Library Weblogs Amanda Etches Johnson, Reference &
Instruction Librarian, McMaster University, & Blogwithoutalibrary.com
Jill Stover, Instructor, Research & Reference Services,
Virginia Commonweath University & Librarymarketing Blog What good is a library Weblog if nobody reads
it, especially its intended audience? While the literature on
marketing library services is vast, library Weblog content needs
a different style of marketing approach. In addition, with an
accompanying RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, more marketing
and education may be necessary. Hear practical strategies and
techniques for marketing the library Weblog and getting the
most out of your RSS Feed.
4:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Ask the Experts
The content-rich day finishes with a discussion among the faulty
of BlogU and the audience that touches on topics and technologies
related to Weblogs such as podcasting, photo blogs, permalinks,
finding related blog content, social software, wikis, and more.
