I have mentioned in previous posts that this year while I am president of MLA my blog poses several challenges for me.
The first challenge is time. Several people have asked me over the years about how I find the time to do things. I am creative with my time. Sometimes I write instead of watching TV. If I find myself at a child’s sports practice where there is free wifi, I may write. When my children go to bed they often want me to sit in the hallway as they fall asleep, they don’t care what I am doing as long as I am nearby to chase away monsters. I get a lot of typing done while in the hallway. However, as I am traveling more, doing more MLA and work things outside of “normal business hours” I just don’t have as much time to be able to write posts.
My second challenge is my role as president and the role of the blog. This blog exists to share information and opinions on issues within medical librarianship. Sometimes the information and opinions are controversial and sometimes they aren’t. For example, I try to be as objective as possible regarding product reviews, but I realize as president of MLA my product review on this blog may imply an endorsement (or rejection) far beyond the scope of my humble opinion.
Finally, I am looking at ways to make this blog evolve. The idea of a blog in its traditional format is dead. As the article by Kevin Drum mentions, the conversation that once was on blogs has moved to Facebook and Twitter. I have seen this with my own blog. While Facebook and Twitter offer their own opportunities for communicating and connecting with others, it comes with limits. Twitter has a 140 character limitation. Facebook offers more than 140 characters but doesn’t lend itself to longer posts that professional blog posts often generate (especially a product review). So I am trying to figure out the next evolution of my blog. I want to move it from where I am the only writer to where I might have several writers and make it more of a destination for more voices on medical librarianship. (I am not sure how it will all look or happen, quite frankly I’m wingin’ it.)
So with these three challenges all facing me and my blog, I have decided to ask for people to apply to be a writer for the Krafty Librarian blog.
There are some ground rules…..
1. You don’t have to be a medical librarian BUT this site is about issues within medical librarianship. So you must stick to the overall theme of the site. I can be very flexible. For example a post about the Apple watch isn’t directly medical library related but we use technology in everything we do, so it could work. I do NOT want things about the ACA and its impact on society UNLESS you mention how librarians can be a part of it. -Get my drift?
2. Humor and a conversational tone are the primary writing style of this blog, however it will remain professional.
3. I will be creating a Google Calendar for all writers to see. Depending on the number of people who are accepted, you will be asked to post no more than once a month. You will be expected to maintain the writing schedule. If you commit to posting a piece for a certain day you need to honor it.
Additionally, you do not have to be constrained by the calendar. If there is something late breaking or immediate that you want to write about, feel free to do it. If you want to write more than once a month, then go for it. The calendar is meant to help ensure that we have something relevant posted on regular basis.
4. You will have the freedom to write about any topic or have any opinion, with a few caveats. First, it must be related to medical librarianship. Second, your opinions must be stated as such. Please for your sake and mine, you must be very careful about what is considered fact and what is considered your opinion. Third, it should be professional. Fourth, you cannot post confidential information (personal or vendor related). Finally, I reserve the right to not publish or remove a post.
5. You won’t be getting paid. For various reasons this blog is not a business endeavor. I take no money in advertising and everything comes out of the pocket of a medical librarian with three kids. I cannot offer AHIP points either. If you do this, you write because you just want to write.
6. You will retain full authorship and ownership of your post and may promote it and link to it on other mediums and sites. You may repost your own post as long as it is not for profit. I retain the right to promote it and link to it. I will not repost it on any other site other than the Krafty Librarian site. While I will do my best to keep the site up and running and retain posts for as long as possible, I cannot guarantee any posts’ permanence. Technology failure, storage issues, and other unforeseen events may lead to a post being lost.
So if you are interested, please apply here http://goo.gl/forms/OWM1G7S0A9/I hope to have things going before August 1st. I am looking forward to this new evolution.