Wiki or Blog?

I had pretty much decided a while back to turn our library web page into a wiki. Have actually been working on it off and on for a couple of weeks and had planned on linking it to our school web page in the fall and start off fresh. I recently read an article in the January issue of SLJ, "Putting your best foot forward" by Carolyn Foote on how some schools are using blogs as their library page. The idea being that it is in a format the students are used to and you can keep it constantly updated and fresh. One of the examples shown was Milpitas High School Library. I must admit, I liked the format and some of the widgets the librarian is using. I noticed that when you linked on the Pathfinders the links take you to a wiki. So even if we switched over to a blog format should we still keep our Wiki? Then why even switch? Maybe we should just keep our Wiki and continue to link our blog to that. Now the dilemma, should I switch? Our wiki is coming together, still needs tweaking though. I tend to use this blog for professional blogging and Porter Reads I have linked to school. Porter Reads would be the obvious choice if we decided to use a blog instead of the wiki. Decisions, decisions.

ESC Thing #9

Looking for new blogs to read is always fun. Different people often commenting on the same topics really interests me. As long as the RSS feed button is available, and the blog interests me, it is easy to add to my Google reader. Google is always my favorite blog search tool and I have it set up on my iGoogle page. Technorati is easy to use and I have recommended it to others.

ESC Thing # 3 and 4

My blog has been up for a while but I can say it was a breeze to set up. Setting up my Avatar was just fun. I've worn that outfit for a while so I might change it up a bit. The only problem is I love what I'm wearing, it looks like something I like to wear. My poodle, Cosita, looks great doesn't she? Since setting up this blog I have also set one up in Edublogs which actually gets through our filter. Here is the link to our school blog , Porter Reads.

Thing #23

What a difference a few weeks can make. I have learned so much and realize that there is still so much more for me to learn. This is what I love about my profession, it is constantly changing and the ride is so much fun. I have been informing my faculty about what I have been learning through my newsletters. There are plans for an inservice and I am very excited about sharing what I have learned.

Our school district filters blogs, but Edublogs is not filtered. Our library has already set up another blog, Porter Reads, and are encouraging our students to visit and leave comments. It is still in the very early stages but we are very excited about our new blog.

The format of 23Things was very non-threatening for me. If there was something I did not understand I could read other blogs or ask for help until I figured it out.

Many many thanks to the Spring Branch school district for allowing this librarian from South Texas to tag along in this fun project. Hopefully our school district or Region One ESC will offer something just as good for Valley librarians.