Thing #4

So, I've explored the participants blogs for this 23 Things project. My favorite so far, even though there aren't any posts yet, is Digital Deliberations. I like it because of all the widgets on the side, especially the one that shows me all the posts by participants. It functions as a SAPL Learns RSS feed, so I don't have to go clicking through to each blog to see what's new.

Part of the fun of this project is figuring out who people are. It's like a treasure hunt, looking for clues that will tell you who the author is. While I think it's fine to blog anonymously, there are others who feel the "secrecy" is not necessary. I don't think it's secrecy, I think it's more about a comfort level, with the medium, the technology, personal writing skills, personality types, etc. I would consider this blog semi-anonymous, in that it wouldn't be hard to figure out who I am, several people already have. So, while I think that transparency is a good thing, I don't think it's necessary for this project.

Speaking of transparency, one of the blogs on the LISNews list has been making the rounds again because of it's lack of transparency. Library Journal is taking some heat for hosting the Annoyed Librarian on their site. The argument there being LJ is supposed to be an authority in the library profession and the AL has a history of, well, being not so nice to those same professionals, all the while hiding behind an anonymous blog. Some feel the AL shouldn't have to hide if he/she feels so strongly about things. Interesting position for Library Journal to be in.

From the 10 Blogs to Read in 2008, I only read two of them on a regular basis. However, I use Google Reader to keep track of over 40 library themed blogs! Yes, I'm kind of a geek like that. Some of my favorite "library" blogs are Michael Stephen's Tame the Web, A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette, Karen Schneider's Free Range Librarian, and Helen Blower's LibraryBytes. It's great to read about what's going on, not only in other library systems, but in the larger library field.