While not as inviting as the introduction to the New York Public Library (NYPL) blogs, the users introduced to the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) blog page gets a clear idea of what to expect. Accessible from the “About” drop menu and reminiscent of the NYPL Blog Channels, the SFPL blog page has “channels” to individual branch blogs, as well as to “channels” such as the African American Blog Center, the LGTB Resources Blog, the Teen Services Blog and the Magazines and Newspaper Center Blog.
Clicking on the Mission Branch Blog, for example, takes me to a supposedly bi-lingual blog. (While I expected all posts to be bi-lingual, it turns out that only a few seem to be.) The side bar on the right has information about the branch hours, upcoming classes and events and children’s programs, as well as links back to the main SFPL website, the Mission Library webpage, SFPL on Facebook and SFPL News on Twitter. Unfortunately, unlike NYPL blog posts, these posts allow for comments from users, but do not integrate other Web 2.0 technologies that would allow the user to share interesting posts.
The Mission Library blog is also accessible via the branch webpage, by clicking on “Social Media” on the right sidebar, which takes the user to “Mission Library Photos on Flickr”, or to “Neighbourhood Social Media”, “Library Social Media” and “Media Resources” on the right sidebar. While the blog page fails to integrate other technologies, the webpage connects well with the other library services, as well as the community.
Accessibility, however, may be a bit tricky for a novice – from the SFPL home page, the user would have to know that s/he has to navigate across the drop-down menus on the top. From the Mission web page, some novice users looking for the blog page may not be familiar with the term “social media”.
In terms of content, blog posts include titles such as Organic Container Herb Gardening, Staff recommended reading: The Shack, Hispanic Heritage Month at the Mission Branch and (one of the few bi-lingual posts) We introduce to you, our new children’s librarian!
Clicking on the LGTB Resource Blog takes me to the Queerest Library Ever, where I am informed that I will be kept
up-to-date on resources, collections, archives, public programs, and exhibitions of the James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center and the Eureka Valley/Harvey Milk Memorial Branch Library. We’ll also tell you about LGBT services at other SFPL locations, as well as highlight new books, archival materials and more.
Of course, being San Francisco, the so-called gay Mecca, it is not surprising to find a “queer” blog. With titles such as Queerest News Ever, Education and Homophobia, Proposition 8 on Trial, The Queer Perspective in Spanish Culture and Africa and LBTG Citizens: An Uphill Battle, the blog discusses a wide variety of books and issues, both local and global, of interest and concern to the LGBT community.
The blog format is simple, with one link to the SFPL home page and a “Hot Links”, which is a “work in progress”, on the right sidebar. Unfortunately, like the Mission Branch blog, the Queerest Library Ever does not integrate other technologies to allow users to share information easily. In answering the question: Why should your library have a blog? The Shifted Librarian argues that
There are many benefits, but my biggest reason is because it gets your current news and announcements in a syndicated format, the display of which you can automate anywhere. You can easily recycle your content to Twitter, Facebook, elsewhere on your website, and more.
From this perspective, it seems that the SFPL fails to take advantage of one of the benefits, namely “recycling” blog content using other Web 2.0 technologies.
In the final analysis, the SFPL blogs page reflects the diversity of the community it serves, which is the essential element, notwithstanding the problems of accessibility and sharing, which require only a technological (and maybe a financial) fix.
