BLOG REVIEW

In my search for a decent blog to review, I stumbled across the State Library of Victoria website, and much to my excitement discovered they had several blogs to peruse.

(1) Library News Blog:
I found this blog to be more of a way to keep users up to date with the latest news of what's happening in the SLV. For example, it was more concerned with postings related to opening hours, catalogue updates and other announcements on exhibitions etc. This blog was useful to source the latest news in the SLV.

(2) Dome 100 Blog:
This was more of a specific blog related to the centenary of the SLV reading room dome. I found this was a truly unique and fascinating blog as it not only dealt with the SLV dome, but looked at other library domes in the world. There were postings that also dealt with the history of the dome through photographs, text and visual art. 

(3) Such was Life Blog:
This blog had more of a focus on Victorian history and had a variety of postings that dealt with all manner of topics. For example, there were postings related to Harry Houdini's flight of a Voisin biplane at Digger's Rest in 1910, as well as the founding of coach company, Cobb & Co. and the history of fire fighting in Victoria to name but a few. Definitely worth a look!    

                               ** Houdini flies at Digger's Rest **                                      
 image taken from:  http://suchwaslife.blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/2013/03/01/houdini-flies-in-diggers-rest/

                               

(4) Family Matters Blog:
A blog that examines all thing genealogy with fascinating guides on how to start family research for the beginner, as well as more advanced searching tools for the expert. Other areas of note are new records added to the Genealogy collection and for those interested in medical genealogy, there are the abundance of death certificates!

(5) Arts Blog:
I found this blog to be the most interesting, as it covered all sorts of diverse topics related to arts and culture such as music, visual art, film, theatre, as well as collecting and popular culture. Some postings dealt with the music of contemporary composer, John Cage to Miller's Collectibles Handbook, and not forgetting Korean contemporary art. A cornucopia of material with something for everyone!     

All of these blogs were well laid out and easy to read and navigate around the page. There was also a "search" blog function, a "browse by tags" area and a list of relevant categories for the more traditional blogger. There were also links to other SLV websites and SNS such as Twitter and Facebook. I found that all of these blogs covered there own niche area and offered something different in terms of research, content and subject. I will definitely be keeping an eye on these blogs from now on. Also great for dinner party conversation! These blogs are particularly useful for people with an interest in history, arts and culture, genealogy and library events and exhibitions. As I will more than likely enter the library profession, I found that these blogs are relevant to information professionals and librarians for their scope and user-friendly appeal.     

** The State Library of Victoria's Blog page ** 
image taken from: http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/

                                     

INTRODUCTION

Greetings from the Farside!

My name is Stuart and I am new to Blogger.

I am quite excited to start exploring and using this new technology as I believe that it will be an invaluable resource with which to communicate and create. As I have never started a blog before this is all new territory for me, and so far is a little bit overwhelming as there are lots of different options and functions to acquaint myself with.

Learning Goals that I would set myself for the duration of this assignment would extend to learning about and creating blog posts, communicating and collaborating with other members of my 'buddy group' and commenting on their posts. I believe that this is particularly important as it will establish relations with other members of the Blogger community by creating a dialogue about thoughts and reflections using this new technology. I would also like to learn about RSS Feeds, their function and place in Web 2.0. and I am also keen to investigate microblogging tools such as Twitter and Yammer and the role that they play in social interaction and communication. Other areas in the realm of Web 2.0 that I am interested in exploring further are certain social bookmarking sites such as Delicious and how user created bookmarks can be captured and tagged for future access.

Anyway this is just a start, and as I become more acquainted with of of these different tools, hopefully I will become more confident at using and understanding this new technology.