Using this blog with my school community

In a recent comment (so far there haven't been many, so the least I can do is be attentive when someone takes the time - and it is a fair question!), Jenny wrote:

Could you add to your blog some of the ways you use this to communicate with your school community?

Um, OK. Right now, I don't. Not won't, but don't.

The school intranet structure has been undergoing a revision this year, with a fairly specific format, and there is a library section on that, although at present it's staff access rather than student access. I'm still learning how that format/software works, so I can see how to exploit it most effectively.

As you probably noticed, this blog exists on the internet, on the web, on an independent platform (Blogger/blogspot). I'm already familiar with wrangling Blogger, so when I started planning a blog related to my work, it was the obvious choice. And then it added scheduling entries (I often create a run on the weekend, and schedule them for during the week - you didn't really think I was blogging ten minutes before the roll call bell, did you?? You login at http://draft.blogger.com) which was useful.

My first goal in setting up this blog was entirely selfish, to bung in one spot stuff I'd found that looked useful, so I could find it again.

My second goal, hard on its heels, was the one common to so many teacher librarians, sharing this stuff in case it helped someone else not have to reinvent the wheel. The community this blog serves is the teacher librarian and teaching community, rather than specifically my school staff/students.

My third was to see what I did find, if almost daily posting was do-able not just in terms of time, but in terms of content/source material.

So far so good, I'm finding and posting and, to judge by the stats, being found by others.

Next comes the best answer I can presently give to your question: I don't know, but I'm thinking. With a body of work established, I have a stronger foundation to go the powers that be at school and suggest ways in which I could adapt this to serve my colleagues. I'm also thinking about how/where I might do a library blog pitched at students (one key: if they trip over it, they're more likely to read it, so where can it go in their login process so they do trip over it?). Lots of questions.

As I've alluded to in posts, I'm consciously drawing on a small part of this for the library piece I write for the school's monthly newsletter, providing some internet resources/ideas for parents. I don't print this blog address in there, because it is, in this form, not an official school-related document.

I do like the way a blog organises itself, stuff getting older and retreating, but findable through tags. That immediacy and regularity has benefits which aren't the same as a complex school library website on the school intranet, and I'm not sure that I have either the time or the wish to create or effectively maintain and develop such a website. I like blogging, and see its benefits in a variety of ways.

I'm not sure if this does answer your question, but it's the best answer I can give right now. I'll keep you posted. Thank you Jenny for your comment and kind words.