Blogs: If You Write It, Will Anybody Read It?

Here I am starting another round of "23 Things" with the first topic being blogs. I spent some time exploring how blogs are being used by archives and special collections. First, there were the official blogs of special collections and archives that announced events, new acquisitions, collections recently processed, or highlighted collections relating to a particular theme. It is a good alternative to a newsletter but reaches a smaller audience generally than a social networking application such as Facebook. However, it does give you the option of writing more substantial information about the event or collection than the social networking applications. Many organizations are using a combination of both or a combination of several Web 2.0 applications. An excellent example is the Deseronto Archives in Ontario.

Another group of blogs in the profession concentrate on professional practice and issues. Blogs in this second category can cover a variety of issues or concentrate on a single issue such as conservation or an audience category such as NewArchivists, aimed at archivists entering the profession. One that I try to follow is ArchivesNext, a blog that explores the use of the latest technology by archivists. For those less serious moments, I turn to Derangement and Description, a comical perspective to the archives profession. Finally, there are blogs that are written more from the personal perspective of the blogger. These are sometimes useful but some times fall into the category of "Who Cares." I have to admit that the last category describes my own personal blogging so far. I assumed no one would notice.

Blogs can be very useful to archival institutions, but you have to be aware that they have limited audience and require some effort to keep current. Bloggers often get weary of it and drop out for a few months or years or just stop.