Comments on: Blogs I read, if you care

By: walt

walt — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 02:14:16 +0000

Blake, I think you may have internet “foraging habits” similar to what mine were a year or two ago–a few destinations worth checking regularly, and going from there (and with liberal use of search engines). At the time, there were maybe 12 blogs that I’d check every day or three.

For me, things changed when I started covering “net media” as part of C&I, and more so when I started this blog. I found it worthwhile to monitor a lot more blogs, if at a very casual level–and that meant going to each one on a regular basis was just too time-consuming. Thus, for me, for now, Bloglines is a lifesaver, and it’s allowed me the luxury of skimming through a really broad range of the biblioblogosphere, with (currently) 221 library-related blogs. I typically do that skimming twice a day (once a day on weekends, never when I’m traveling); it usually takes half an hour or less each time. Unless, of course, it’s one of those rare days when there are a bunch of posts I have to follow…as, for fairly clear reasons, has been happening since Sunday evening. (But should die down real soon now).

Different needs, different tools. And there’s just no way I could narrow my Bloglines list to, say, “my 20 favorite blogs”…for much the same reason that I can’t name my 10 favorite movies or my five favorite authors or…

By: Blake

Blake — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 14:57:05 +0000

I’ve given up on my bloglines account. It lasted a few weeks and then I just lost interest, not sure why. Just too much reading I guess.

Non-loggedin visitors to LISNews see a “friends” list that is rather similar to a blogroll, but I made the list just people I consider to be at least partially friends, people I’ve had a conversation with . They’re also the blogs that I read when I have some time for reading, and since many of them have blogrolls, I can read on and on and on…

But anywho… I really like blogrolls, I think they’re great way to find new reading material. If I find a site I like, they’re likely to point to other sites I like, and so on… So it’s not that I really care what you read, but I think it’s interesting and informative to see.

By: Jill Hurst-Wahl

Jill Hurst-Wahl — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 13:57:59 +0000

Walt, last year I also eliminated my “traditional” blogroll in favor to a link to the blogs I monitor in bloglines. It is a more honest list. I do like it when people have links to the blogs they link, since I may find a blog that I, too, should be tracking. So thanks for sharing yours!

By: walt

walt — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:12:48 +0000

Angel–thanks, but do note that there may be blogs on that list that I really don’t recommend, but feel I should keep up with. Not many, but a few.

By: Angel

Angel — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 21:16:50 +0000

I have mixed feelings about blogrolls. I like at least glancing at what people are reading, since like many other people, I often use it to get new ideas on where to get reading material. Having said that, I am very averse to making my own roll public. Sure, ask me, and I will be happy to tell. It’s no secret, but after reading some months ago a few posts on how blogrolls can turn into popularity contests, people getting offended if they got dropped off a roll, and other not so nice things, I figured I just did not want to play the game. Anyhow, you do have a very comprehensive list; I definitely have to explore some of your choices. And yes, I do care what you read. You are a respected voice in the field, it makes sense for those like me to want to know how they do it, or at least, what do they read. Best.

By: Meredith

Meredith — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 18:14:25 +0000

I know when I was first dipping my baby toe into the blogosphere, I didn’t know where to find good library blogs to read. While I don’t consider anyone’s blogroll an authoritative source, they did serve as a good place to find library blogs. Then I could see for myself which ones I liked and wanted to add to my own blogroll. At this point, I would only look at other people’s blogrolls to see if there are good new blogs I haven’t yet heard of. I don’t care which particular blogs any person is reading. Well, as long as they’re reading mine (just kidding)