He’s an award winner and an informationprofessional at the leading edge of where theindustry is going. Roddy MacLeod tells IWR abouthis involvement in trailblazing blogging

BLOGOSPHEREInformation professionals guiding you to the best bits of the blogosphere

HTTP://BLOG.IWR.CO.UK23

WWW.IWR.CO.UK INFORMATION WORLD REVIEW JANUARY 2008

Q Where is your blog orblogs?

A There’s the Heriot-Watt Library blogSpineless (at http://

hwlibrary.wordpress.com)and News from

TicTocs(http://tictocsnews. wordpress.com).TicTocs is a JISC-funded project todevelop a service to transform journalcurrent awareness. There’s also aprivate library staff blog I created topost details of anything of interest, aprivate TicTocs project blog for theproject consortium, and a blog inEmerge, another JISC project(http://elgg.jiscemerge.org.uk/roddym/weblog). I also write a fun pseudo-travel blog, which I’m tooembarrassed to reveal to any butclose friends.

Q Describe your blog?A Spineless provides news, views,information and advice on Heriot-Watt Library’s resources and services.We try to create eye-catching subjectlines and write posts from thereader’s perspective, explaining whatthey may gain from whatever is underdiscussion. There have been postsabout e-book services, open access,useful web tools, and even what wedid over the summer. In the future Ihope to get some students involvedin posting.

News fromTicTocs keepsstakeholdersupdated withthe project’sprogress. We’recurrently busywith technicaldevelopment,so most of theposts havebeen about journal table of contents’RSS feeds.

Q How long have you been blogging?A Since 2005.

Q What started you off?A I discovered by chance that therewere several hundred bloggersclaiming to be located in the Heardand McDonald Islands, which areactually uninhabited. It seemed sucha ludicrous yet free-thinking idea thatpeople could locate themselvesvirtually, anywhere, and then writeblogs (some of which supposedlydescribe life in those islands) that I

got hooked. Later, I realised therewas also a serious side to blogging.

Q Do you comment on other blogsand what is the value of doing so?

A I have some RSS feedsfor search terms such asTicTocs, which allow meto monitor any blog thatmentions the project, andI comment on thoseposts, often just to thankthem for their interest.

I also make occasionalcomments on one or twoother library and

information blogs, if Ithink I can add anythingto the discussion.

With respect to funblogs, commentsencourage the bloggers,so I regularly contributeto a handful.

Q How does yourorganisation benefitfrom your presence inthe blogosphere?A The Spineless blog is one way tomarket the library, give it a higherprofile, and make sure that expensiveresources are exploited. News from

TicTocs is, I hope, building interest inthe future service.

Q How does it help your career?A I think bloggers are scratching thesurface of what may be achieved inthe future, and it’s exciting to beinvolved in all this. Also, the best wayto develop and learn is at the coalface.

Q What good things have happenedto you solely because of blogging?A Blogging has helped me keep up todate with new trends, and my circleof virtual friends has increased. It hasalso, I hope, made me aware of

writing thingsthat willinterest readers,rather than justmyself.

Q Work aside,which blogs doyou read justfor fun?A Blogs thatare located onuninhabited

islands, and Silversprite(www.silversprite.com) because itsauthor is an eccentric with a goodphotographic eye. ■

Which bloggers do youwatch, link to and why?

I hate to admit that I monitor250 feeds via Bloglines, but someof these are RSS feeds ratherthan blogs. I regularly checkPhil Bradley’s blog (athttp://philbradley.typeapad.com)because he’s completely on top ofthings; Really Simple Sidi(http://rafaelsidi.blogspot.com)because Rafael Sidi often has newand informed angles on things ofinterest; CleverClogs(www.cleverclogs.org) in the hopethat I can understand MarjoleinHoekstra’s posts (which recentlyincluded the following: “Twitter toSkype Mood Message usingTwype”); UK Web Focus(http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com)because Brian Kelly is informativeand amusing; and Lorcan Dempsey(http://orweblog.oclc.org) becausehe’s a big thinker.

Peter Scott’s Library Blog(http://xrefer.blogspot.com)contains lots of news items ofinterest. Maeve’s Blog(http://maeverest.blogspot.com)is interesting, and, of course, theIWR blog (http://blog.iwr.co.uk) tokeep up with industry news.

023_IWR_Jan08.QXP 18/12/07 11:44 Page 23