Library Blogs

Here at the LATI Blog, we asked librarian Ray Cruitt to write a blog post about librarian blogs and how to keep up. His report follows:

I was asked to write a blog post about librarian blogs. I hadn’t kept up with them for some time, but remembered when I first became interested in being a librarian, about seven years ago, how surprised I was by the large number of them. It was intriguing; I had never been exposed to professional-oriented blogging before, and librarians seemed to have this genre covered in spades!

Since then, not only have there been a proliferation of library-related blogs, but also other professional-oriented blogs: pharmacist, police officer, waiter/server, and even a garbage man blog exists on the Internet.

There are several prominent library themes: for instance, The Union Librarian, by Kathleen de la Peña McCook is written by a well-known academic librarian involved in the Progressive Librarian Guild, a very left-of-center organization. She is a supporter of the unionization of libraries. Walt at Random is a blog that addresses many subjects relevant to librarians, from librarian blogs and bloggers to technology to library policy issues; it is written by Walt Crawford, a well known name in the library field who describes himself as a voice for the “radical middle.” On another side of the spectrum is the Conservative Librarian, the Government Information and Political Science Librarian from Purdue University, who writes very little, if anything, about librarianship, yet keeps the “Librarian” as part of his identity. He mostly writes about conservative politics. One thing is for certain, library blogs tend to be partisan affairs.

Another popular genre of library blog is the kind that either provides a forum for other librarians to vent about patrons or relate funny patron experiences, such as the LiveJournal site The Society for Librarians Who Say “M…” (ah, well, maybe I should refrain from stating the rest of the name, it isn’t exactly rated G). If you don’t like to say the “M” word, but still want to post about weird, funny, or disturbing patron stories, you can always check out the Merry Librarian (oddly enough, it starts with an M, as well!).

There are four blogs that I would like to highlight. One is old news, another is new, but based on an older group, one is thoughtful, and the other a great place to get technology news and analysis.

1) Best of Publib:

Publib is a listserv that was established in 1992 and now has over 8000 subscribers. Best of Publib is a blog that was established as a means to conveniently find some of the more interesting threads that have been woven over the years on the listserv. This new blog is an especially good resource for public librarians doing research on a subject relevant to their work. Along with some of the more serious topics there are plenty of fun threads that only a public librarian can relate to.

2) The Annoyed Librarian

As mentioned above, I’m including an old news librarian blog, The Annoyed Librarian (AL, as she is prominently known). This pseudonymous provocateur has resonated over the years with many librarians who sometimes wonder about the direction of their profession and professional organizations. With subjects ranging from the nature of the MLS degree requirement to the political nature of the ALA and the ALA Council, this librarian weighs-in on the critical side. Of course, this fact and “her” pseudonymous identity have annoyed many librarians, which is part of the allure. The AL has her favorite subjects, the ALA Council and its non-library related political resolutions, the Progressive Library Guild, Library 2.0, and the perceived drifting away of the public library’s original charter to afford the appropriate resources for a educated society. Tip: just don’t take “her” too seriously. It’s all in good fun!

3) Academic Librarian

The Academic Librarian is the head librarian for the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Princeton University. Although, his main sphere of librarianship is the academic world, his views, many times, transcend that of his particular specialty and are applicable to all librarians. The ideas treated in this blog are articulately expressed and there is always something in his posts to think about. It is a nice antidote to the partisan and snarky librarian blogs that populate the Web, including the Annoyed Librarian! Some topics recently covered: the ethics of library school students posing as patrons on reference chat, millennials, and reading.

4) Disruptive Library Technology Jester

This blog is all about technology and its influence on library and educational institutions. While there are many technology-related library blogs, the majority of them seem to be only concerned with the promotion of social networking or Library 2.0 technologies. As the name of this blogger entails, his main mission, the Jester’s mission, is to give the “raw facts,” as critical as they may be, about all the technologies available to libraries, whether ultimately useful or not. The Jester’s role has always been to entertain while simultaneously telling it like it is. This blog goes a long way in accomplishing this.