I don't know if I can answer this part of the question properly yet, as I've only been looking at the blogs for the 3Cs course. I have looked at others when I've been trying to find material for other assignments. My main concern would be: Is this blog relevant to me? I don't want lots of noise; ads, pictures - unless they are relevant. Blogs should be brief and be clear on what their purpose is.
I think design is important, but I can't put my finger on why some blogs look better than others, some of them are too busy.
What roles can blogs play in library settings?
Having looked at a few library blogs it appears that there are various roles that blogs can play; current awareness tool, information bulletin/newsletter and for training purposes.
I've looked at Shropshire & Telford's blog which seems to incorporate several of these roles, the Middlesex University Health library blog appeared to be operating in a purely current awareness role, and Clare's LDG blog appears to be operating as an information bulletin.
Lesley mentioned that a blog had been set up by her church as an easier option to setting up a web site, that gets out of date very quickly and requires regular maintenance. My main concern is to ensure that library users are aware of a library blog/s and that we overcome the perception that blogs are only used as personal diaries, not in a professional setting.
What does your library need to do in order to start blogging?
First of all we need to decide why we would start a blog and what purpose it should fulfill. I can see the point of setting up a blog as current awarenes tool and that the Outreach librarians could set up blogs for each of their specialties or specialty groups to keep them up to date with NLH devleopments, guidelines, news etc.
We could use a blog instead of a regular bulletin and ensure staff know about changes to services as they happen and allow them to respond or comment on changes.
Once we decide why we want to set up a blog, the next concern would be to meet with our IT department to ensure that a blog can operate within the technical constraints that exist within the Trust.
I would also want to ensure that guidelines are agreed about how we communicate via a blog and that everyone follows an agreed style and has good communication skills. It is very important that the library displays a professional image via all the communications modes in use.
