OCLC Blogs

I usually don’t talk about library blogs and blogging. However, it would be strange not to note Jenny Levine’s reflective, pointed and kind comments about blogs by OCLC staff.
I often think that it is a pity that the Cluetrain Manifesto is presented in such a way as to appeal to a part only of the audience for whom it would be most useful. Its message that the Internet has made markets into conversations, and that corporations need to enter into those conversations in real ways, is an important one.
The library community is very highly networked. This is natural for a community to whom sharing is an integral part of practice. I sometimes wonder how we compare to other communities. Librarians meet through conferences and meetings, through numerous professional and other organizations, and through multiple consortial and other interinstitutional arrangements. This high ‘interconnectedness’ preceded the Internet but has been enhanced by it.
In such a networked community ‘voice’, as Jenny describes it, is very important.
I began this blog as an internal initiative. I had been doing it for quite a while when we agreed to ‘externalize’ it. The experience has been interesting. I am usually quite a slow writer, given to much textual tinkering. Writing for the blog requires rather more fluency 😉