Writing a blog entry with international impact.

By writing blog entries in Thai language or English, we share things of interest with fellow staff and other readers. Most major university libraries in the world have blogs. By looking at them from time to time, we can get ideas about presentation, visuals, content, and other aspects of promoting and presenting a university library. The Oxford University Library and Cambridge University Library blogs show how librarians and staff in the UK deal with old collections, presented in refreshing new ways. Cambridge in particular has some outstanding library blogs on a range of subject matter. Among American university libraries, among the oldest with compelling blogs is the Harvard University Library. The Princeton University Library is another outstanding example. Other leading American university libraries have blogs worth looking at, from the University of Texas, noted for being a well-funded library system, to the University of Michigan. New York’s Columbia University, the University of Illinois, and California’s Stanford University Library all have noteworthy blogs.

Writing in Thai or English.

It is important to be correct and comfortable with what you write to make a good impression. It may be worth facing the challenge of writing a blog entry in English, if you consider how many more international readers will be able to appreciate what you have written than if you write in Thai language. The point of international exchange is to let some farang people know that we are aware that they exist and that we are interested in or appreciate something they have done. The only effective way to make them aware of this is to write in a language they can read. That means, for our ASEAN partner nations as well as countries farther away, writing in English.

Choosing a subject.

Since you hope your blog entry will interest Thai readers as well as people overseas, try to find a topic that is of some interest to Thai readers, or has some element that can be related to Thailand. Choose positive, encouraging, and inspiring subjects. The best university library blogs are always forward-looking and optimistic. Avoid subjects that have already been discussed on the library blog, unless you have something new, original, important, and helpful to add to the ongoing discussion. Among topics that are always of interest are the future of libraries, acquiring books, and new technology. Make your blog entry timely, if possible. Try to offer material that is best read now, rather than at some other time. Whether involved with news of some kind or some innovation, it should be something that is not already known to people. If your blog entry is about an event, there is no need to tell every single thing that happened. Focus instead on a few highlights, things that were done or said that are new and original, making the event worth attending or knowing about. Readers of your blog entry will have limited time and should be told in the first sentence what the subject matter is.

How many words?

The length of a blog entry should depend on the subject or subjects you are dealing with. Many blog entries are short, which is fine. Others go up to 1800 words, but you may not have the time or energy to write such long essays. How long should it take to write a blog entry? There is no general rule. Rewriting and proofreading the blog entry usually takes more time than writing it. Choosing illustrations and uploading content onto the site can be time-consuming. Do not be in a rush, unless the subject is urgent and must go online immediately. Otherwise, take your time. Try to get your reader to share your enthusiasm about something, to want to read the book you have just read or experience anything else that you are describing in the blog entry. A blog entry should be a call to action of some kind, even if only to make people more aware of a situation.

Choosing lively illustrations.

Appealing images can draw a reader’s attention. Make sure you have the right to use any images you choose to illustrate a blog entry. Wikimedia Commons is a good source of rights-free, eye-catching color images. You do not need to use high resolution images. Something in medium resolution (around 400 x 400 pixels) is good enough for online reproduction. Avoid posting blog entries with no illustrations or boring black-and-white pictures. Also avoid too many snapshots showing unexciting events, such as people sitting around looking sleepy at seminars. While they may show what an event really looked like, they will not inspire readers to find out more about what happened. How many illustrations should you use? It depends how many words are in your blog entry. Use illustrations to break up solid blocks of print, or to separate and make easier to read sections which might otherwise be confusing to the reader. Even for a long blog entry, more than five or six illustrations is probably not necessary, and requires too much memory. There is no point in posting endless photos which mostly show the same thing. Choose the best image and let that represent the rest. Put your best illustration first, to draw the eye of readers.

Choosing a title.

Keep the title short and informative. The first sentence or two of your blog will make readers want to know more or convince them they are not interested in what you have to say. Try to make them want to click on the read more tag to find out what is next. Insert the read more tag after one sentence or two of your blog entry. That way you can check reader views. Otherwise if you do not require readers to click to read the full blog entry, you have no idea how many have read it. Do not put several photos before the read more tag. This takes up space on the blog’s homepage, and people are less likely to look at a blog entry once it is no longer on the homepage. While a formal conclusion is often not needed in a blog entry, it can add to the serious impression of a text, especially if you must express something important or urge readers to do something. Your conclusion should sum up the message of what you have written. Make sure that whatever you write is relevant to a specific topic. If you are tempted to add related information about something else, save it for a future blog. By sticking to the main point, your writing becomes clearer. As an exercise, even if you do not use Twitter, try writing a short descriptive Tweet (maximum 140 characters) about the main message of your blog entry. That should help you keep it in mind and not stray to some other topic.

Inserting links.

Links to other blog entries by yourself or others can help boost the clicks on the site. Links to book titles on Koha can encourage book circulation and make readers aware of the TU Libraries collection. When choosing tags to describe your blog entry, avoid repetition. If you have already chosen the tag English writing, you do not have to add a tag with just the word English. Include names of important people who may be mentioned or quoted in your blog entry.

Always name, and if possible link to, your sources.

If your blog entry is based on anything you read, give full credit to it, ideally linking to the Koha or Worldcat page for a book or other library item. If your source is an article, link to that. It can be helpful to insert key quotations in a blog entry but always credit the source and link to somewhere online where the reader may find the full source if it is needed. Try to use more than one reliable, authoritative source for your information. Rather than simply repeating a press release or something you saw online elsewhere, try to prove it is correct by looking online for confirmation of anything you plan to state in your blog entry. Make sure that everyone agrees that this is the truth. If not, report on the controversy or disagreement in a polite way. Avoid anonymous sources. Since much that is on the internet, especially Facebook, is anonymous, try whenever possible to quote well-known authors or experts such as ajarns at noted universities. That way your blog entry is more likely to contain fact instead of rumors.

Writing approach: keep it short and simple.

Whether writing in Thai or English, it is usually a good policy to try to keep your words and sentences as short as possible. The more serious your subject is, the shorter the sentences should be. Never forget to proofread what you have written. Reread it as many times as possible. In English, it is best to do a draft as a Word document and use the Word document’s spell checker. If your faculty has an English language expert, send your blog entry to this person and ask for feedback before posting. Even after you have posted your blog entry, go back and reread for further corrections/updates. If you wait a few hours, you can look at it as if someone else had written it, and that gives you a more objective view of what is being said in the blog entry. Make sure all links work in the blog entry. Also that you have said all that you wanted to say, in the way you wished to say it.

When to publish a draft.

If you feel sure you have done all you can to make the blog entry look good, with accurate content, then it should be published before it becomes out of date. Once it is uploaded, make as many people as possible aware of your blog entry. If you cite an author or discuss another library or other institution, send them a link to it. They will appreciate that you are aware of their work. Share your blog entry on Facebook and other online media. Ask for feedback from authorities in the subject field and if they offer any corrections, update the blog entry promptly according to their advice.

Using view count statistics.

After posting, from time to time see how many views your blog entry has received. This can help you decide whether the subject you treated is of interest for readers of the blog. Also see which other blogs get the highest view counts and try to figure out why. Sometimes one blog entry on the same subject as a popular one will be less popular for no apparent reason. Perhaps readers had less of a chance to see it due to weekends or holidays. It is not always possible to draw logical conclusions from view counts.

(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).