BLOGs in Australian Libraries

When asked if their library had a blog, 18% of respondents indicated Yes, 77% indicated No and 5% didn’t know. Of the respondents who indicated they had a blog, 12% were university libraries, 47% were public libraries, and 41% were special libraries.

 

58% of respondents indicating they had a blog had only one, while 33% had between two to five. 4.5% had between six to ten, and 4.5% had more than ten.

 

Survey recipients were asked to consider their library’s main blog and respond to questions regarding accessibility, availability, and purpose.

 

59% of respondents indicated their library’s main blog was available externally via the web while 41% were only available internally to library staff. Of the blogs available externally 10% belonged to university libraries, 50% to public libraries, and 40% to special libraries. Of the blogs available internally 17% belonged to university libraries, 17% to public libraries, and 66% to special libraries.

 

Of the respondents with blogs 9% were using commercially available blogging software, 59% were using open source software, and 32% indicated ‘other’.

 

Of the respondents with blogs 18% had been available to their intended audience for less than one month. 32% had been available between one to six months, 14% had been available between six to twelve months, and 36% had been available for more than twelve months.

 

21% of respondents indicated their main blog was used for communication with clients, 11% indicated internal workflows, 16% indicated marketing, 9% indicated organisation of specific events, 9% indicated professional development, 11% indicated reference services, and 23% indicated ‘other’.

 

When asked what kind of policies and/or guidelines they had for their blog/s 53% of respondents indicated they had not created policies and/or guidelines. 26% had policies and/or guidelines under development, 5% had them available internally only, 11% had them publicly available via the web, and 5% indicated ‘other’.

 

When asked what kind of usage statistics they kept for their blog/s 55% of respondents indicated they kept no usage statistics at all. 10% kept statistics on the number of comments made, 20% kept statistics on the number of hits on the blog, and 15% indicated ‘other’.

 

Of the respondents who indicated they did not have a blog at their library, 23% indicated that it was because there was no need for one. 26% indicated time constraints, 11% indicated financial considerations, 19% indicated a lack of technical knowledge and/or support, and 21% indicated ‘other’.

 

PUBLIC LIBRARIES

 UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

 
SPECIAL LIBRARIES

TAFE LIBRARIES

SCHOOL LIBRARIES


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