Blogs, Blogs, Blogs

Welcome to the Blogs portion of The Spider Catches the Fly. This blog focuses on the new beta version of Blogger, a free blog hosting website. This blog is available to you at any point in the future. It includes information that you can use to get started using a blog.

NOTE: It is best to use the Labels on the sidebar to navigate the various topics on this blog.

First I will introduce you to some of the basics of blogs.

Then, we will get our hands dirty as we will use individual training blogs to:

• Change the look and feel of your training blog.
• Change the title of your training blog.
• Create a post.
• Create a post that includes hyperlinks to other websites.
• Create a post that includes an image.

NOTE: The blogs you will begin customizing are training blogs and will not be available to you after this class.

Blog Characteristics

• The main part of the blog is the posts area. This is where all new content appears. Posts are the "articles" that the author(s) of the blog create. This post area generally shows the last 10 posts, or all posts from the last two weeks, or some other limitation.
• Each post will have a title as well as the date and time of the post. If your blog has multiple authors, it will show the author who created the post.
• Each post will also have the ability to comment. This is the beauty of the blog, in that it allows for a certain level of interactivity with the readers.
  
• Blogs also have a sidebar with various tools.
• On the sidebar, you should find an Archive. Since the post area does not show all posts, you can use the Archive to find older posts.
• You may also find another navigational tool called Labels. This can also be called Categories. Basically, this is an index or a table of contents that the author can create.
• Some blogs may have a search box in which you can search their blog for specific content.
• You will also find a Personal, or About Me, section in which you can view the author's profile.
• You may also find a set of links to other sites or blogs.
  

What is a Blog?

According to Wikipedia, a blog, or Web log, is a website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.

Permissions

You can adjust the permissions for you blog in order to add more authors or to restrict availability to certain people.

For example, if you want the contents of your blog to be available only to your staff, you can invite your staff members to join the blog. Then set the permission level so that only members can read your blog. This is useful if you will be using the blog for sensitive internal communications such as meeting minutes and such.

You can also have multiple authors in case you wanted to have a blogging team.

To set these permissions, click on the Settings tab. Then click on the Permissions section.



To add authors, click on Add Authors. A box will appear in which you can type the email addresses of the people you want to invite.

Under, Blog Readers, you have three options of who can read your blog: 1) Anyone; 2) Only People I Choose; 3) Only Blog Authors.

If you select Only People I Choose, a box will appear that will allow you to type the email addresses of the people you want to invite to read your blog.

For further information, see Bloggers instructions.

Posting Basics

When you post, you have two options. You can either use the Edit HTML mode or the Compose (WYSIWYG) mode.

Click here for further instructions from Blogger.

The Spider Catches the Fly: Blogs, Wikis and Aggregators as Professional Development Tools

• Do you have time to wade through the vast amount of professional information on the Internet?
• Do you need a professional web presence for your library but lack the budget?
• Do you desire to utilize the power of the Web 2.0 to reach your customers but lack the technical expertise?
• Would you like to use the social networking aspects of the web to create "communities of practice?"

Attend this MALC Fall CE event to bring the resources of the web to your desktop. Learn to utilize the latest free web authoring tools to create a professional online presence. Learn to utilize the power of Web 2.0 technology to collaborate and share knowledge with your peers.

• When: Thursday, October 26, 2006
• Where: Rhodes College; 2000 North Parkway; Paul Barrett, Jr. Library; Barrett--Room 128
• Time: 1:00-4:00 PM
• Fee: Free to MALC members; $10.00 for non-members (includes membership)
• Instructors: Kevin Dixon, Technical Trainer, Memphis Public Library; Damone Virgilio, Staff Development Manager, Memphis Public Library
• Registration: Contact Damone Virgilio, 415-2723 or virgiliod@memphislibrary.org

Creating Images from Your Screen

Throughout this blog, you have seen posts with pictures of objects on the screen. This is a wonderful way to add some spice to your blog. Here is a free download that can help you do that.

Flickr and Webimager allows you to copy the entire screen, an active window, or a specific part of the screen. You can then automatically upload the image to your flickr account.

Visit their site to see a demonstration video.

Things to Consider When Posting Images

When adding images to your blog, you need to consider a couple of things. First, are you allowed to use the image. Second, are you stealing bandwidth.

Blogger has a decent Help article explaining these scenarios.

TechNewsWorld has a good article as well.

There are a number of sites that offer photos that anyone can use:

http://yotophoto.com
http://www.imageafter.com
http://www.morguefile.com

Using Flickr to Insert Pictures to Your Blog

Because you are limited in the amount of image space you can upload to Blogger (300 MB), I suggest that your organization register for a free Flickr account. The free account limits you to 20 MB per month; however, there is no final limit.

Flickr is a photo-sharing site that several libraries are utilizing. While many libraries are using it for an outreach tool, you can also use it to store web-based images that can then be inserted into blogs.

Once you upload photos to Flickr, you are given the HTML code that you can use to insert the picture to your blog.

Basic Instructions for Adding Pictures to Your Blog

Since your blog is on the Web, the pictures you add to your blog need to be on the Web as well. Blogger has a built-in tool that lets you easily add pictures to your blog. You can upload images from your computer or add the URL of a picture that is already on the Web.

Follow Bloggers instructions found here.

There are numerous other ways to add pictures to your blog. Blogger offers some suggestions here.