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January 17, 2005
Benefits of Blogging for Law Firm Librarians
Librarians typically come across new information, web sites and resources on almost a daily basis. But can you recall that new source or research tip the next time it's needed, months or even years later? I can often remember questions from months ago, but not necessarily the answers, or more importantly, how I went about finding them. In addition, in a multi-librarian firm, it's also very important to share information among the library staff.
It's clear that attorneys aren't the only ones that need knowledge management! The old 3 x 5 index card reference file really doesn't cut it anymore.
In a recent article in the "California LegalPro" supplement to the Recorder (Fall 2004), "Blog-On!", Diahann Munoz, a reference librarian in the DC office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, talks about how the library staff at Morgan set up a private blog on Blogger.com to save such tidbits as "new database information and passwords, answers to difficult questions..information regarding vendor or professional meetings, links to articles of interest..and new discoveries about products and services.."
Since blogs are full-text searchable, and allow categorization by topic, blog software/services can be a great way to create a shared, reference database, without those old 3 x 5 cards!
Comments
Blogger (sadly) doesn't allow categorization by topic (i wish it did!) Also whilst I agree that having a library blog such as this is a good idea, even 'private' blogs on blogger can be found by searching - I know because I experimented with a 'private' blog a while ago. I Therefore, I hope the Morgan, Lewis & Bockius library staff are careful about just what comments they make - especially about meetings and vendors.
Posted by: Scott at January 18, 2005 04:26 AM
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