#2 (week 1) Setting up a Blog & add your first post

Blog is short for weblog. It is an online journal for news, reviews and events or can be a personal diary. A blog can be whatever you want it to be and there are no real rules. The blog author writes commentary or news on a particular subject for readers to view. Blogs can also include links to other websites, pictures or videos. Readers are often attracted to blogs because they enjoy the style and content of a particular author and readers can interact by adding comments to postings.

The newest information in a blog appears at the top of the page with older information below. When the page gets too long the blog will archive older posts usually on the right hand side. A post is a single entry on a blog.

For thing #2 you will be setting up a Gmail account and creating your very own personal Blog. Each week you will be asked to write at least a 50 word post on your blog of to begin recording your thoughts, discoveries and exercises. If you participated in our last program, feel free to reuse the original blog you set up.

Throughout the program you will be asked to set up a number of accounts. We recommend that you remain anonymous and use the same username and passwords throughout the program so you don't forget them.


Discovery resources
ACL has some Blogs on their website which we use to interact with online customer and talk about topical issues, promote some of our services and encourage our customers to participate by commenting. Check out some of the Blogs.

• Books in the City - for people who can't live without reading: news, opinions and special features from the world of books.
• Kintalk for famliy history and genealogy - Kintalk is a family history and genealogy blog to let you know what's happening here at Auckland City Libraries and beyond. We will introduce new resources and revisit a selection of the old
• Rare thoughts - blog by the Special Collections department at Auckland City Libraries to keep you up to date with our collection and make our rare books and manuscripts accessible to the public
• Scooper on libraries - A New Zealand blog on current and future trends in public libraries and how they are being impacted by the internet and technology.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Create a Gmail account. Gmail is a free webmail service that combines traditional email with Google's search techology. Complete the form and choose a fictitious login and password. Ensure you check the availability of your login name. Note your login name becomes your username.
   
   
2. Create a Blogger account, and once again we encourage you to create an anonymous usename. Save the URL address in your favourites.
   
   
3. Play around with your blog, select a template and add a test post or two (different colours on your template).
   
   
4. Create a Post on your Blog. In approximately 50 words, reflect on what you did.....how you could use this in your role....what worked for you...and what didn't....what surprised you....and what amazed you etc. You will be asked to do this each week and the ACL learning admin team will check your blog when new posts appear and post comments on your progress.

Optional discovery exercise

1. Upload some images on your Blog, or play around with the title.