Writing as an individual, rather than "For the Institution"

It's the reminder remainder of my lunch time as I write this. Taking a break before the workshop resumes.

I'm conducting a "Writing for Social Media"* workshop today. Have been conducting this for maybe three years or so. About eight runs so far.

The course covers aspects of writing for the Internet and social media -- blogs, a little bit of Facebook/ Twitter, an overview of planning vodcasts and podcasts. There's some technical information and techniques (e.g. what does it mean to "write concisely", "in a personal tone", "passive Vs active voice", differences in writing instructional posts Vs feature articles).

Participants go through writing activities, group discussions and class critiques (I always warn them to leave their egos at the door -- but it's not as hard horrible as it sounds).


I also try to get the class to discuss and think about what it means to be "social", as opposed to only "writing".

The hardest bit, from my perspective as a trainer, is in explaining what it means to "write from the heart". Or rather, convince the participants why it's important to do do.

In explaining about "writing from the heart", I still quote Shel's book: write with "Passion" and "Authority".

Participants also shared that it's about giving readers a glimpse into our personal viewpoints or work. E.g. how did we plan for this programme? What did participants tell us?

And about our feelings, e.g. what's my personal thoughts after facilitating a book discussion session? What new insights did I learn?

Technical skills are easier to master. But the ability to evoke emotions from the reader -- that's an art in itself.

Also, what one reader feels is emotive writing may come across as bland to another.

And I think in a work setting, few jobs require the employee to write with emotions. Couple that with the culture of librarianship being more of "behind the scenes" rather than being "front and centre", it's harder to get a library institution to share it's institutional knowledge, through its people-assets.

* The workshop details are not posted at the NLB Academy site, but you can email them to enquire.

Book: Blogging Heroes

“Blog for readers, not to get readers”. (p.200)

If you're hoping for tips to make your blog into an overnight success, forget about this book.


ISBN: 0470197390

This book certainly has a catchy title. Though it wasn't what I initially expected. It's not about bloggers who overcame adversity and controversy to emerge triumphant over Evil (my imagination tends to be a bit wild).

If this were a graphic novel, it would be an "Origins" story, where each superhero share his/ her tale of "how they came to be".

In a way, you might see this as a book on "Who's Who in Blogs", from the author's view. BTW, in the Preface, author Michael A. Banks explains more on how he decided to write about the selected 30 bloggers who "stand out as influential, ground-breaking, and singularly successful".

There is no hero-worship though. The book is a very readable, insightful and honest report of the bloggers -- how their blogs got started, their motivations, thinking, and even problems with regards to their blogs.

The recurring themes, to me, were:

• To blog well, you have to write what you care about. Or, care about what you write.
  
• It’s about consistency in what you feature in your blog. Your blog should have a focus or mission, purpose, theme -- but not necessarily a narrow focus or to limit your blog to certain topics per se.
  

One of the best quotes for me is on P.197, where Scott McNulty (TUAW) has this to say to bloggers who wonder why no one comments on their blogs:

“… It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s the same as everything else: If you work hard and stick to It,s eventually you’ll grow your audience. People will start commenting, a little community will grow, and from there, (you) just keep it going.”

He also adds:

“Blogging is a public discourse… don’t write anything that you wouldn’t say to someone face-to-face. So take accountability for your actions and never be ashamed of anything you write. The best way to accomplish that is to think about it before you write.”

In putting the book together, Michael Banks personally interviewed each of the 30 bloggers by phone -- not email, as that would have been lazy, in his opinion.

THE THIRTY

1. Dave Taylor - The Intuitive Life Business Blog
2. Chris Anderson - The Long Tail
3. Gina Trapani - Lifehacker
4. Ina Steiner - AuctionBytes
5. Mary Jo Foley - All About Microsoft
6. Dave Rothman - TeleRead
7. Frank Warren - PostSecret
8. Mike Masnick - Techdirt
9. Mark Frauenfelder - BoingBoing.net
10. Robert Scoble - Scobleizer
11. Peter Rojas - Engadget
12. John Neff - Autoblog
13. Ken Fisher - Ars Technica
14. Deborah Petersen - Life in the Fast Lane
15. Joel Comm - JoelComm.com
16. Brian Lam - Gizmodo
17. Kristin Darguzas - ParentDish
18. Christ Grant - Joystiq
19. Scott McNulty - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
20. Philipp Lebsseb - Google Blogoscoped
21. Brad Hill - Weblogs, Inc.
22. Steve Rubel - Micro Persuasion
23. Rebecca Lieb - ClickZ
24. Deidre Woollard - Luxist
25. Gary Lee - An Internet Marketing Website
26. Richard MacManus - Read/WriteWeb
27. Eric T. - Internet Duct Tape
    
28. Victor Agreda - DIY Life
29. Steve Garfield - Steve Garfield's Video blog
30. Grant Robertson - Download Squad

Whether you're new to blogging or you've been blogging for years, I'm sure one you'll be able to gain some insights from what these Blogging Heroes have to say.

The 30 featured bloggers are smart but ordinary persons, as I found out.

Heroes, by definition, achieve great things or have noble qualities.

But heroes are not made overnight. Even if they gain their powers instantly (I can think of Spider-man and Captain America), they perfect their craft through consistent efforts.

That, I think, is the point of the book.

Reflection: Blogging less but producing more

Met a friend this week.

He commented that I seem to be blogging less nowadays.

True, I replied.

At least at this blog.

But I'm probably blogging the same quantity, if I add up all the blogs from here, here and here.

Still, my recent posts are definitely shorter and less analytical, compared to the ones in the earlier years. Recent ones are more "point and go" rather than "write and think".

I still write. If you consider my tweets as "writing". Probably more accurate to say "I still publish".

In many ways, I had more to prove back in the early days. When blogging was viewed with a certain degree of skepticism. Especially when corporate guidelines were vague about blogging about work. So I tend to give more thought and spend more time fleshing out blog posts.

Now, no one bats an eye when you say you have a blog.

I was also busy with this for a while.


You could say the Long Tail effect led me to being invited to do the demo. Someday I'll write about it.

There's a new equilibrium in terms of my blogging, reading, creating music and stuff.

I seem to spend more time reading now. I still go online every day, after work when I'm home. I read and respond to emails. Then I hit the books and magazines. Not so much RSS feeds even.

In terms of creating stuff (text, audio, videos), overall the number has increased compared to when I just blogged (text).

I've not made an exact count, but I'd estimate I publish one new song a month. Maybe more. Things like ccMixter is a reason why it's so easy to create songs.

Sure, I'm blogging less indepth as a whole.

But I'm definitely producing a lot more (quality is something for others to judge though).

UK Royal Navy soft-launches a blog

Discovered this from the Wordpress publisher's blog:

The UK Royal Navy recently soft launched their blog using WordPress. The new blog, called Jack Speak (a term for UK Navy slang), provides Royal Navy personnel with the opportunity to share their experiences with a wide audience.

At the blog, it says:

This blog offers an unlimited view of the Royal Navy, because it’s written by the people who truly understand what it means to be a part of this exceptional service – the Royal Navy personnel themselves. We are delighted to be the only one of the Armed Forces to have created a blog and hope you’ll enjoy sharing our Life Without Limits.

Hmm... unlimited view?

Their first post was on 2 Sept 2008. Looking at the initial posts, it's clear the blog started off as an online publicity tool for the few UK Navy personnel who were taking part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

It's a group blog (i.e. one blog with multiple authors).

Two things impressed me.

#1 - The fact that a military service has a blog!
It sure kills some sacred cows where organisational blogging is concerned :)

#2 - The blog is endorsed by a high ranking UK Navy personnel
Their About Page has an introduction by Admiral Sir Jonathon Band GCB ADC, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff. Woot. The title of the office holder is solid enough already (btw, is the title the highest ranking naval officer in the UK Navy?)

Admiral Sir Jonathon Band is listed as an author for the blog. I won't be surprised if someone does the writing for him, but to be fair, it might be him posting stuff. Anyway, it impressed the heck out of me that the UK Royal Navy has their chief as part of the blog.

#3 - "Unconstrained views"
Again, from the About Page, it says the blog offers "an unconstrained view of the Royal Navy". Does this mean the posts are not censored, or rather, they rely on self-censorship and for the contributing staff to exercise common sense?

I wonder what are their blogging guidelines etc.

Anyway, we shall see but right their approach impresses the heck out of me!

*

There's a consistent look-and-feel between the blog (on the left) and the official UK Navy website (on the right).

The blog design looks professional, I think with consideration for the overall organisation image and brand.

Would be interesting to follow the subsequent posts.

IFLA 2008 (part 15): Interview with "Pliny the Librarian" from Norway

[From Part 14]

14 Aug 2008. Quebec City, Canada.

I met Pliny the Librarian in person today. We even have an impromptu 10-minute video interview!

Totally unplanned. Video is unedited from start to finish (other than the intro/ end titles and a music soundtrack that I inserted, with whatever I had on my Windows laptop). View at YouTube if you want to see the annotations.

• 0:06 - How Tord started blogging
• 2:08 - What does he blog
• 4:10 - When did he noticed Norwegian librarians were reading his blog
• 5:13 - Does he encourage his students and academic peers to blog?
• 7:38 - Does he face resistance from his academic peers (wrt blogging)?
• 8:35 - How blogging helped him professionally

YouTube Link

I first learned of Pliny the Librarian when I was searching for blog posts about IFLA during the Oslo conference. He was maybe one or two of the bloggers I found, who were attending IFLA and blogging about it.

Then he linked to me again, for last year's IFLA conference.

This year I resolved to meet him in person.

But I forgot to write to him prior to my leaving Singapore. It was only last night that I remembered. There was only one day left to the conference (i.e. today).

So I went to his blog. Learned from his About Page that he's serving on the IFLA Statistics and Evaluation Section. Figured we should be able to meet (I knew where their Section was holding their presentations). I left a comment suggesting that we try to meet up at IFLA.

I was pleasantly surprised that he emailed me and agreed to meet.

At that point, I had no idea how he looked like.

This morning, I asked a Norwegian colleague if he knew Tord. Answer was Yes, and that Tord was a popular blogger among Norwegian librarians!

I was told he's often seen carrying a "big-camera" (i.e. a SLR).

Right after my Section's presentation, I popped by the room where his Section was. Presentations had already started. I scanned the room and couldn't find him.

Until I noticed the slides on screen indicated the speak was "Tord Høivik".

Aha!

For the next two hours (there were four other papers after Tord's), I sat through the presentations on statistics and evaluation in the context of National Libraries. Can't say it excited me, though I still learned a thing or two.

When the entire session was over, I walked to where Tord was. He was busy speaking to another delegate.

More waiting.

I think I sat down for another five minutes (what's another five after waiting for two hours, eh?)

Finally he was available.

I walked to him. Introduced myself.

He went, "Ah!"

Then gestured that we sit down to talk.

Tord was very friendly. Unpretentious. I like him immediately.

On a whim, I asked if I could interview him. On video.

He instantly agreed.

He was a natural.



Oh, did you know he's 66 years old this year?

Keep blogging, Tord!
(Update: Tord's "IFLA Quebec" blog posts and bloggers round-up here).

[Next: Part 16]

NTDTV report: South Korean bloggers spur US beef import protest

This YouTube video by New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) talks about the influence of South Korean bloggers on public opinion against the resumption of beef imports from the US:


Citizen journalism isn't a new phenomenon in South Korea.

Dan Gillmor's book, "We The Media", mentions how South Korean bloggers, particularly the citizen journalism site Ohmynews (see this Wikipedia entry) played a significatn role in South Korean politics.

We the Media: Grassroots journalism by the people, for the people

NLB Call No.: 302.23 GIL

Resource: Screenshots on "Creating blogs with Blogger.com" + "Selected Tips"

Published these posts over at BlogCourseDemo in preparation for two blog-related workshops that I've been asked to conduct this week:

• Creating blogs with Blogger.com (Screenshots, with links to downloadable images at Flickr.com)
• Selected tips on using Blogger.com

One course will be on the 28th, for Primary school students (as a follow-up from last year). This year, we've made sure they'll get to create blogs, and learn things like creating links, commenting, and the basics of managing their blogs.

There will be two classes of 30 students each. My challenge will be to ensure all of them get to create and post stuff in their blogs without a hitch. There's always an element of uncertainty when it comes to "live" workshops.

The other workshop is for teachers attending the NLB/ MOE School Library Symposium on 30 May. It's structured specifically for teachers interested in using blogs and social media tools in the context of libraries.

I'll blog about the outcome of the sessions later.
[Post-workshop reflections: Introduction to Blogging workshop for 10-year olds, 28 May 2008]


This work by Ivan Chew is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. For permissions beyond the scope of this license , please contact via RamblingLibrarian@gmail.com.

Walter Lim, on "Surviving the blogosphere's social-list"

Walter was interviewed by Marketing-Interactive.com (28 Jan, 2008) on his views about social media, PR and marketing.

I like what Walter shared at the last two paragraphs:

The best way to understand the new digital domain is to become one of them. Get your hands dirty, roll up your sleeves, engage in online conversations and blog away. Mingle freely way before delivering your first ‘key message'. It is like Relationships 101 all over again.

Most importantly be realistic about what you can or cannot achieve in the new media arena. There are certain topics and subjects that just won't cut it online, regardless of the amount of cultivation/ friendship/ bribery that you have done. Be happy with little successes in the initial stages and build on to bigger and better things in time to come.

The full article, here (Note: I find it ironic that the website calls itself "Interactive Marketing" but the site itself doesn't have things like a Comment feature or Trackback for its articles, heh).

Walter should know what he's talking about. He's a marketing guy who's worked in both the private and public sector (Yesterday.SG's one of his projects, including campaigns like this one -- mentioned by other bloggers actually). He's been invited to forums on PR and Social Media.

And he blogs as well.

His blog is a mix of personal (he's a nature enthusiast at heart) and professional posts (like this, this and this one).

Walter started his blog in May 2005. I remember telling him over a cup of coffee that he's one of those people who should start a blog. He said he had no time. I agreed that blogging takes up time.

But added that since he was clearly passionate about Marketing (while in the coffee shop, he was pointing out what the shop was doing right and what could be improved) and he clearly has intelligent things to say, starting a blog would be a fulfilling experience personally and professionally.

Two years later, judging from his blog, he's clearly done that.

Speaking at USF (Part 5): Structuring the talk

[From Part 4]

Not sure if you're familiar with the superhero character called Midnighter (if not, check out Warren Ellis' The Authority and Stormwatch series -- great stuff, imho).

I'm referring to this guy.

[Source: Wikipedia.com]

He fights on the side of goodness. He has the ability to calculate and guess his opponents' moves before his opponents even realises what they'd be doing next. He's fond of saying that he's plotted all the possible moves and fought the fight a million times in his mind, and he's won it before the fight has begun. And he wins. Always.

So I'm thinking about the Midnighter character because in structuring my talk (one more day left!!!), I can think of so many ways to approach it.

Right now, I wish have Midnighter's cockiness.

Wish I could say I've already figured out, a million times in my head, how the audience will respond to my talk before they've even heard it.

Heh.

At least I still have a little sense of humour. Not yet at the panic stage (or maybe it's because I'm panicking).

Nah. Don't think so. Not after reading this comment from one of David's student's.

Wow.

Super-engaged is what I'll call Kelly. :)

I simply had to share her comment with the folks at the Media Socialist group (a non-political group; don't let the word "socialist" mislead you). Kevin said that would be what Singaporeans might call a "Super Siao-On" attitude.

It's a compliment, Kelly! If there's time, I'll explain what that means to you, in context. :)

So now I know what at least one student might be thinking. Of course I'm not going to structure my talk just to answer her questions. But now I have a clearer idea what to emphasise and what examples to show. Kelly asked very good questions.

I understand from David that his students -- seven of them -- are mostly in their early 20s. Six of them seniors, and one freshmen. The Davis Forum is an honours class.

Woah, I can hear some of you go, "Whaaat!? Off to USF to speak to seven students?"

Better seven highly engaged students than 70 uninterested ones.

But no, it's not just seven students. The talk is also open to the public.


I also asked David if his students are new to blogging. Apparently, some have been blogging for years, some recently, and some not at all.

But on tuesday, they will officially begin blogging as a class.

Nice.

I'd expect them to post their thoughts and reflections of the speakers, including mine I hope, in their class blog.

It's an extremely scary and humbling experience, as a speaker or trainer, to read about what other people thought about my talks or workshops. When I come across them, I always take a deep breathe breath before reading on. :)

Overall it works for me.

In the context of blogs, it's equally true that what doesn't kill you (comments wise) will only make you stronger -- as a speaker, trainer, service provider, or simply as a human being.

Speaking at USF (Part 4): My 72-year old cousin's blog

Yeah.

72-year old cousin.

Mine.

It's not a typo.

I've a cousin about half my age. We only discovered each other recently. There's a pretty interesting story behind this, which I'll let my cousin Philip blog about in his blog.

Later.

For now, here's his first post.

This is my first blog after much encouragement by my cousin Ivan Chew. I notice that most blogs are by young people. I am already 72 years old and my cousin is less than half my age. Anyway, there must always be a start and here I am Ivan! To begin with I like to talk about my primary school days.

I asked Philip if he intended to continue blogging, now that he's tried his hand at it.

He said he intended to blog as long as he can. So far he found it quite challenging, as it's not just about the recollection of his memories but also to research and get his facts right.

No, cousin Philip isn't a librarian. LOL!

And no, I didn't ask him to start a blog because I was going to give a talk at USF. I felt he has something worth sharing, so I encouraged him to try it out. We were digging about for some family history.

He declined at first (to start a blog), but later discovered a few inaccuracies (about a family member) reported in some other websites and posts. So starting his own blog was his way of attempting to correct those errors.

I won't give away the story for now (it may be an anti-climax to you, for all I know). I'll see if Philip has more things to share, so that I can mention it at my USF talk.

Over to you, Philip!

[See Part 3 and Part 5]

YO! a blog by the librarians & volunteers from the Young People’s Services (Public Library)

This is the 5th blog from the public library services (NLB), simply called Y.O!:

Blog URL - blogs.nlb.gov.sg/yo

According to this post, Y.O! stands for "nothing and yet everything".

There's an interesting story in how the name came to be, and how the blog design was chosen.

The blog was launched in December 2007. I'm happy to say they have "recruited" two regular teen contributors to the blog: Kathleen Tan from Temasek Junior College (her book reviews are pretty neat) and Sarah (who chose to contribute in a different way).

The Y.O! blog will feature things like stories from young people, book reviews (it's a library blog after all), the happenings from the teens bookclub, and a "library gossip" section.

The blog is really About Teens.

It's not about books, or getting teens to write reviews, or simple to recommend books to other teens (those will be nice and necessary, but not the entire point of the blog).

The simplest way to put it would be for the blog to acknowledge the individuality of young people (OK, maybe not so simple!)

As the blog progresses, we hope there'll be more posts from teens themselves. Not just book reviews or recommendations, but stuff that interests them, particularly if there's a learning element (which most things are bound to have, if you know where to look).

I'll be mentioning this blog at my USF talk.

library@esplanade has a blog

I bet you didn't know about the NLB Public Library's fourth blog: it belongs to library@esplanade - blogs.nlb.gov.sg/epcl

Not surprising, since the blog is barely a month old.

From its first post:

Through this blog, we hope to engage you, our users, by:

1. Updating you quickly on what’s happening at the library@esplanade

2. Highlighting to you our special collections services, programmes and promotions

3. Providing you with the resources to spark your imagination through the performing arts

4. Allowing you to participate in shaping this blog through your reviews, thoughts and opinions about music, dance, theatre and film

Besides updates, you will be given glimpses into what goes on behind the scenes at the library and get to know the library@esplanade team. You will be treated to musings by our very own librarians and library staff. You can also look forward to exciting contests (yes, besides those we already have in the library!) where you can win prizes. We also hope many of you will contribute to the content of this blog.

I discovered my earlier post back in April 2005, where WrkShy shared how she'd started a blog for library@esplanade when it first opened in September 2002.

But the experimental blog (since taken down) didn't take off. I wrote about four possible reasons why it didn't:

1. Starting a blog does not automatically mean that it would be read.
2. Having a blog is just half the equation. What makes it complete is for users to subscribe to its newsfeeds.
3. There needs to be a "voice" -- a personality -- to the blog. If not, it's just another website or online brochure.
4. No links or tags to the blog.

Now that I'm older and wiser, with 3.5 years (only?) of blogging hind-sight, I should say I was right about points 1, 3 and 4 (about the links).

Having a blog certainly doesn't mean people will know about it (you didn't until you read this post, right?)

It certainly needs to have a voice (and I must commend my EPCL colleague, Peck Keong, for giving the library@esplanade blog just that -- considering that he wasn't an active blogger until he was tasked to write for the library blog).

There needs to be links (he's been incorporating YouTube videos and links to people featured in the blog). And I've also seen him make what I deem to be baby-steps in leaving comments in other people's blogs and facebook groups.



Now I'm not so sure if having RSS subscribers was a critical success factor. I used to think it was. But until today, RSS is still not well used by many people -- even bloggers.

I suppose what I was trying to say was there should be a regular following for the blog.

But even that would be wrong, I just realised.

Because having readers of the blog (either regular readers, or those who find their way via Internet search engines) is really an outcome of doing the right things for your blog.

And doing the "right things" mean writing in a manner that your readers can identify (i.e. having that appropriate "voice"), posting relevant content, using titles and words that people are likely to search, post frequently, linking to others, leaving meaningful comments in other blogs...

... I suppose the most elegant way to put it would be to quote from authors Shel and Scoble, from their book "Naked Conversations" published in 2006:

• Blog with Passion (i.e. what you love)
  
• Blog with Authority (i.e. what you know best)
  

It's not so much that blogging with Passion and Authority would result in readers per se.

It might not (for other reasons).

But at least it would mean blogging -- especially if its work-related -- becomes fun, relevant and sustainable for the blogger.

That's pretty fundamental.

Singaporean behind Direct2Dell blog success

Is Dell's blog a success?


It's a 'yes' in my book.

Almost everyone I know who owns a Dell product have read the Direct2Dell blog at one point or other.

Heck, I don't own a Dell but I've blogged about it nonetheless.

(I wish everyone who has borrowed a book from our public libraries have read a post from NLB's book blog, heh).

It's not just their blog per se. It's their use of blogs (and other people's blogs) to track customer's rants and comments -- comments that otherwise would not have been sent to Dell.

They actively respond to what people are saying in the Blogosphere (and their potential customers are able to see that they are responding).

What surprised me though, was that a Singaporean was instrumental to Dell's blog success:

Many folks have worked behind the scenes to help build Dell's Digital Media strategy. I'd be hard-pressed to find any single person who has been more influential to me than Wilson Tan.

What a nice gesture by Dell.

Or I should say, what a nice gesture by Lionel Menchaca, Dell's Digital Media Manager.

Singapore Writers Festival: "World Wide Web of Words" post-event reflections

[From this earlier post]

Arrived at The Arts House 30 minutes early.

Went upstairs and saw this scene.


Alas, they weren't queuing up for our panel discussion though, LOL (they were waiting to listen to a poetry reading session by Chinese poet Bei Dao, i.e. Zhao Zhenkai).

In contrast, this was how it looked at the other side where the "World Wide Web of Words" panel discussion would be held:


Heh. : )

I made sure I was at the right room (the one complaint I have of The Arts House is its lack of signages. Even the toilets were hard to find).


The "Living Room" where our panel discussion was held was lovely. There were about ten people when the session started (when we ended at 4pm we had about 20).

I took this shot in the midst of them moving to the front seats. Deepika (she's in the red top, from the left) requested that they moved up, to make things cozier.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the panelists: [from left to right] Sharon, Deepika and Zafar.


Zafar wasn't listed in the programme, and there wasn't time for us to be introduced (along the way, I learned he's a published author, currently starting on his third novel, and has a blog with a poetic name: DreamInk).

Deepika started by asking the audience if they blogged. About five people did.

Perhaps that set the tone for the session, with most of the talking points focusing on the topic of blogging, and the panelists' motivation for starting them.

Why we blogged
Deepika directed the question to me first ("What made you start blogging").

I shared my "blogs were platforms for verbal diarrhea" story.

Sharon essentially explained that she had a compulsion to write and blogging was her outlet. She often had to tell herself to stop posting (and occasionally feed her husband, she says).

Zafar's blog was his "cure for isolation".

Deepika started her blog to post material from her interviews with celebrities (with permission from her then-employer), that otherwise would have been wasted since only a fraction of the interview content was used on air.

Would blogging stay?
We discussed about whether the advent of Facebook shifted our blog readers away. Deepika observed that Sharon's blogs seemed to have relatively fewer comments, and wondered if people were participating more in Facebook. I shared my observation (in using Facebook) that people were using Facebook to promote their blogs.

"Blogs as spaces for inserting your voice"
Deepika also started her blog in response to her being misquoted by some other websites. Since they weren't going to properly acknowledge her or publish corrections, she used a blog to publish her version.

Managing Comments
We discussed quite a bit about dealing with comments.

Deepika turned off her comment feature entirely.

Sharon, on the other hand, said she welcomed comments and the more argumentative the better. Her aim was to create Sharon "self-sustaining conversations". She viewed her blog as a catalyst to get conversations going.

Most satisfying part about blogging
Zafar iterated how his blogging was a way to reduce that sense of loneliness of living in a new country. For Sharon it was from "having lots of conversations" with her readers. Deepika said "blogging takes a life of its own". I shared how one has to blog to truly understand the feeling of receiving an unsolicited comment. It was like an affirmation that your existence is being acknowledged.

So...

While the discussion wasn't so much about books and blogging, or about our writing per se, I thought it might have benefited the audience as most of them might not have found a reason to start one (which might change after hearing what the panelists had to say... maybe).

There were lots more points being discussed, but those were the ones I managed to note down on my handphone/ PDA.

Interestingly, at one point, Deepika noticed me punching away on my handheld and asked if I was "live" blogging (in fact, I'd noticed from the corner of my eye that Sharon was looking at my handheld and I bet she thought I was SMSing!)

I quickly explained that I wasn't "live blogging" (it didn't work for me, as I preferred to compose my thoughts and write about it later). And I told the audience I was taking notes.

Speaking of notes, the organisers passed me this -- a personalised notebook (with my name stamped at the bottom-right corner). How nice!


Unfortunately I got caught up with chatting with some participants after the session, and didn't manage to chat more with Deepika, Zafar and Sharon.

But then again, I'll have their blogs to read and to stay in touch with.

Closure of library@orchard: D-Day (Part 4)

[From Part 3]

This post is dedicated to the 13 volunteers who signed up as the library@orchard citizen reporters (in no particular order):

1. Alice Cheong (she brilliantly archived the library@orchard interior with several 360 degree views; even generously supplied us with 20 copies of the CD)
2. Angela Jean (and her moving video, "You Are The One")
3. Christine Tjia (who wrote that "a small part of library@orchard" rescued her)
4. Donna Daritan (there's 11 things she loves and one thing she hates about the library@orchard)
5. Regina Chan (check out her pictures of the library@orchard, and man you'll never guess how old she is from reading her blog... she's young in age but pretty mature in thoughts!)
6. Joel Sim (who's "emo-fied by the touching scene" when the doors closed)
7. Kenneth Goh (and his Five People Who Will Miss library@orchard Very Dearly)
8. Charles Wong (and his "clandestine photography")
9. Ceneple (she created a category just for her library@orchard posts)
10. Priscilla Tan (disappointed that some "don't know and don't care")
11. Olivia Wee (she guest-blogged and shared her perspective after being away for three years)
12. Ian Timothy (he learned more about the library)
13. Max Teong (shares a conversation with a friend)

I discovered this post by Yuhui, who attended the party and felt "weird and uncomfortable" how the library seemed to be "raving about the impact of blogging and "citizen bloggers" in chronicling the last days of the library".

It's an interesting perspective. I suppose to a bystander, it could seem like overkill that we mentioned the bloggers in our Chief Executive's speech, plus several references by the MCs, and then a video tribute to the bloggers.

I suppose she he, as a blogger, felt that it might cause a rift between bloggers and non-bloggers.

I'm not apologetic though :)

The 13 citizen reporters deserved it (Joel was overwhemed by it apparently, with his mind going blank after what he called was the "OMG" moment, heh).

I commented in Yuhui's post, explaining that it wasn't about highlighting bloggers and non-bloggers. We were genuinely appreciative of the 13 volunteers. Their posts did make an impact as far as the library was concerned.

Collectively, their coverage, interviews, photos, video etc. gave us at the library a different perspective -- of how our library customers felt about the library. I guess you have to be working for the library to understand how those perspectives mattered.

Besides, I'd say NLB was unprecedented in allowing bloggers to have free rein over what they wanted to cover.

We didn't vet their content.

They could have posted the negative side of things or highlighted the unpleasant (there's always something negative to say, and there will always be people with axes to grind).

But they didn't.

They spent their own time and expenses writing, taking photos, making a video.

They saved the library@orchard in words and pictures.

So no, I didn't think it was excessive.

Folks, here's a personal Thank You to you once again.

Wanted: Citizen-Reporters for library@orchard

I'm helping my colleagues with this event for library@orchard's closure/ relocation. Interested bloggers are invited to attend a "truly brief, briefing" on 30th Oct 2007, 7.30pm at library@orchard.

We'll have an honest discussion with you on why we're doing this, and what you're expected to do. I'm supposed to do the briefing. I promise not to ramble!

The library@orchard won't be "control-freaky" about you reporting for the library@orchard. You don't need to let the library vet your posts before publishing.

Oh, while the library would like to publicly acknowledge bloggers who are eventually appointed as the "official bloggers", you can choose not to reveal your real names (i.e. we'll consistently use your blogger identity if that's what you're most comfortable). Anyway, details will be at the briefing session.

If you're interested, feel free to write to the email address indicated below. Or you can email me if you prefer (RamblingLibrarian@gmail.com or ivanchew@nlb.gov.sg)

We'd be grateful if you can pass the message along as well (and thanks to the folks at Tomorrow.SG for highlighting the post).


From the library@orchard blog:

Calling for Citizen-Reporters for library@orchard

Be involved in the closure of the library@orchard!
From now until Nov 30, we’re looking for bloggers who are willing to act as Citizen Reporters.

Read on for more details!

Sounds interesting, what do I have to do?
We’d like you to report on events from now till our final farewell bash on Nov 30. Or you could write opinion pieces about the library, eg. your experiences (ok, so long as it’s not X-rated) in the library or what you hope it’ll be in 2 years time etc.

OR photoblog it etc. It’s kind of like “Save, i.e. preserve the library@orchard through photos, text, videos etc”, since the physical location will be gone.

Ok… so far so good, but what’s next?
You’ll need to attend a truly brief briefing on the 30th of Oct, 7.30pm at the library@orchard (RSVP by dropping an email to occl@nlb.gov.sg) . During this session, register your interest with us. Upon confirmation, we’ll give you a pass when you are in the library, that identifies you as our Citizen Reporter. This will give you the ”licence” to interview people in (or staff of) the library@orchard, and even access our secret-secret workroom.

Har, must attend briefing??
Yah… We won’t vet your posts, photos or videos. However, the reason for organising this briefing is so that you’ll have a better understanding what we are trying to do and some of the concerns the library might have. Plus, it’s a chance to meet up and discuss stuff in person (we are nice people, ok). And we will feed you. With food.

What about the intellectual rights to my stuff? Will the library be control-freaky?
You can post your content to whichever site you want or upload it wherever you like. Just pass us a link or let us feature it on our blog and (potentially other publicity material) as well.

Riiiight… So! What’s in it for me?
We’ll credit your names/blogs in our official press releases (if you’d rather not be featured, that’s cool too). And you’ll get guaranteed invites to our farewell party (limited space available ah). Oh and also tokens of appreciation just for bothering to blog about the library@orchard.

Happy birthday, library@orchard

The library@orchard will turn eight this month. You might want to leave them a happy birthday greeting.

In a recent talk I gave, about one-third said they didn't know library@orchard had a blog. And they thought the library was already closed.

I'm not surprised relatively few Singaporeans are aware of the library@orchard blog (and all the NLB library blogs, for that matter). But that's the nature of blogs, if you ask me. Generally speaking blogs are good for attracting a specific niche of audience. Not everyone who go online are interested in say, what's happening to library@orchard.

But for those are want to stayed informed after the library closes and moves to a new site, the blog is a useful information source. It's an official source, but not official-sounding.

OK, what's the Return-On-Investment (ROI)? (as some would inevitably ask).

Let's say the library@orchard blog gets around 50 unique visitors a day (just my guess and not an official statistic). That number may not be fantastic but that's 50 more people the library wouldn't be able to reach once the library is closed (the NLB website is too cluttered and not easy to post frequently).

Even if that number is halved for the next two years (during the relocation), we're talking about 18,250 unique visitors in total (25 visitors x 365 days x 2 years). That's a good number, relative to the costs of maintaining the blog.

Costs like staffing and hardware are Sunk Costs. There are no specific costs just for that one blog (at least to my knowledge). So there ought not to be any additional expenses to maintain the blog once it's up.

In fact, there's also the continued library@orchard branding, the "online presence" and the goodwill being sustained with the blog. If we factor that all in, the costs are even lower.

One more thing -- my colleagues and I have this idea of inviting "citizen-reporters" to cover news leading up to the day of closure. Details are still being worked out but I can share that those who volunteer will get an inside-look and access to areas normally out of bounds to the public.

We're not looking for "Top-bloggers" (they are always welcome, but not our aim). We're not that particular if you "can't write well".

We're more interested in those who are passionate about promoting reading and learning to Singaporeans.

If you're residing in Singapore and you're interested (or know of someone who might be), please email me - ivanchew@nlb.gov.sg or ramblinglibrarian@gmail.com.

Kevin starts an online campaign for a USD$10K blogging scholarship (or "Why I think he deserves to win")

Kevin emailed us about a Blogging Scholarship. I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. Seems there really is such a thing. He wrote that his friend won it last year.

He doesn't think his chances are good at winning the scholarship. But he's trying for it anyway. Kevin's started an online campaign. A Facebook group. A YouTube video. Getting his friends to blog about it.

I commented at Kevin's blog that I voted for him not because of his video, nor his Facebook presence. Not because he's a fellow Singaporean. Not because he's the apparent underdog. I voted for him because I think he deserves the $10K scholarship.

I've read the blogs of the nominees. They all seem like worthy winners.

I voted for Kevin because I know him. He's my friend. I don't really know the other people. So it may be down to "who knows more people".

Maybe.

Honestly, in looking through all the other bloggers (I skimmed, Siva -- heh), there are better writers than Kevin.

But Kevin seemed to be the only one who has taken the Openness and Social Engagement aspect of blogging to the next level. He has leveraged on social networking tools. His video asks you to be a participant in how he will end up utilising the scholarship money. The other nominees -- as far as I can tell -- have only blogged about their nominations.

Anyway, best of luck, Kevin.

One more thing -- if you do win, use it for your education.

Saving the world can come later. :)

Announcing the SeaStars 2007 Album blog (and how it became more)

At this previous post, I mentioned how a long-lost friend and I were working on a collaborative music album project.

Exactly a week ago (Sept 29th), I created this blog: SeaStars2007.wordpress.com


Before Adrian and I told anyone about it, three days later I received an email from Jeremy (of Songcraft). He found his way to the SeaStars blog by checking his blog stats (incoming links). He emailed me some questions. Adrian said to go ahead and reply.

I decided to blog our response (thanks to Jeremy for giving our amateur efforts a positive nudge. Also Siva's post).

Next is what I felt was the most interesting development to date.

After I posted the interview, I emailed the page URL to some contacts to share more about our music blog. A mutual friend of ours, Ms. November Tan created a fanclub in Facebook (Adrian knows and has met her before while I only know her from email interactions).

Within 8 to 10 hours, I saw that the fanclub had 23 members already. From November's and Adrian's invites, I suspect.

With a fanclub manager whose name is November Tan, how can we not be popular?! LOL



As I post this (maybe 24 hours after the facebook group was created), the members have grown to 63.

Interesting.

I shall blog about some observations and reflections, in the next post.

Podcast: Once Upon A Star

It's been weeks since I've touched my keyboard. Not the computer. The musical one (but they are both powered by electricity, heh).

Finished dinner. Went into the study room. Removed the dust cover from the keyboard. Played a few notes... C-G-F. A simple tune developed. Sounded kinda nice. Decided to record it to the Mac. Before I forgot the tune.

Switched on my Mac, fired up GarageBand, plugged in the MIDI cable, started recording. Before I knew it, it's five hours later and the song's done.

powered by ODEO
[or listen/ download at Archive.org]

I'm dedicating this song to the children at Tumaini Kids!

... a blog written by kids at the Tumaini Children’s Center in Nyeri, Kenya. The kids are part of the Hope Runs project, started by two Stanford University students to provide an understanding of personal health, social entrepreneurship, and technology to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) through running. The kids write about running and other events in their lives—they are inspiring, hilarious, and will steal your heart.

The above quote is from Tara (aka DIY Librarian). I learned about the Tumaini Kids! blog from her Happy Blog Day post (gee, I ramble? No!)

Read the first post at the blog. Then the second, and third, and devoured a few more until I reached the very earliest one. Loved every one of the posts. The typos and all.

Learned from the Hope Runs video that "Tumaini" (pronounced "Tu-ma-ee-nee") is Swahili for "Hope".

Thanks for your posts, you Tumaini Kids.

(Incidentally, I titled the song before I learned about their blog. Hmm...)


RamblingLibrarian's Podcasts:


[update: thanks to Shel for blogging about Tumanini Kids]