There. I feel much better now.

rules should be put forth about what can and cannot be published on the weblog, as having this set up beforehand can resolve any issues that may arise afterward

I mentioned, some months ago, that I was working on a guidelines document for our library blog, and it’s finally complete. Since so much of it pertains to our particular blogging tool (we built our own), I think I’ll just post a precis here, instead of the whole document. Watch for it.

In somewhat related news, I recently selected a contact person on the RLG Web site (somewhat randomly) and sent him an e-mail message asking (and strongly encouraging) whether or not RLG publications were looking into providing RSS feeds (I probably wouldn’t have missed this article if I was subscribed to their feed(s)! What else have I missed?) Good news — he said they are in the process of actively investigating feeds. I volunteered to be a tester.

The importance of search engines could not be underestimated, especially for reference librarians and their potential clients. XmlHub (http://www.xmlhub.com), an Open Directory custom RSS-feed generator, recently unveiled two very interesting tools, destined to have an impact.

The first generates a customized RSS feed of Open Directory (http://dmoz.org) search results for any search term entered. The second generates a customized RSS feed for any Open Directory category. These tools make it possibly to alert patrons to new resources being added to Open Directory in the areas of their particular interests.

This same methodology could be used to generate customized RSS feeds for other databases, including libraries’ OPACs, bibliographic and full-text databases, and web directories. [p.13]

[via Stuff]

More and more, the “format” is a communication device that moves from creator to consumer in channels completely outside of the traditional ones such as the library. Content is no longer format-dependent and users are not dependent on traditional distribution channels for access to content. This is true both in the realms of scholarly communication and popular materials. For libraries and content sellers, this means the processes of acquisition, organization and delivery of content need to change to accommodate the expectations of our communities.

And, of course, the bits about wikis and blogs are worth a quote too:

As forms of social publishing, wikis and blogs are indicators of further change in the information landscape that could lead to a new publishing paradigm. Together with mechanisms to syndicate content — such as RSS and Atom — wikis, moblogs and blogs have enabled ordinary people to gain the power of publishing. Blogs and wikis could be a natural way for librarians and libraries to reach out to their communities — and perhaps more importantly, hear back from them.

At 20 pages, the report isn’t too much of a time-investment, and definitely worth a read if this stuff means anything at all to you.