A bit more on blogs and usability

Mark Lindner, of . . .the thoughts are broken, has written his thoughts on the Jakob Nielsen article. I wrote my own here. I think Mark's post brings forth an interesting question, one that some other bloggers out there may struggle with: do we need or have to separate our private from our public lives? I am sure the Tribble article only added fuel to the fiery question in the minds of many academic bloggers. It is a question I have struggled with myself. On the one hand, I do firmly believe that certain things should stay private. They are my business and no one else's. I am pretty sure Mark would agree to this, though I am also sure he would correct me for taking the liberty to guess if he does not agree. On the other hand, when I chose to create my blogs, I chose to make myself known. It means my public and private lives cross somewhat. I can be googled now, and people will likely find a good deal of stuff about me. I still try to be very careful about what may go online, since you never know who is out there seeking. At any rate, I think the struggle for some comes in deciding how and where to let those lines of a public life and a private life to cross. As a writer, I think we always bring a part of ourselves to what we create. An anonymous blogger may bring out more of his/her unfettered thoughts, but that blogger still reflects his/her person in the process. These are just a few thoughts on something I think now and then, and they are definitely a work in progress.

I went with the path of a second blog, but in my case, that just reflects the fact that I have a few "random" thoughts and interests. For example, last month I posted a quiz or two, went to a festival, read about Cognac and lesbians (not in the same post), and a few other things. My second blog is my place to indulge the urge to go unconventional now and then. I wanted this blog to be my professional development/librarianship blog. The second one is my "whatever else strikes my fancy, I got to say something out of bounds" blog. Two sides of me? Not really, maybe different moods. Hey, I learn a few things, reflect on my practice and trade, and have some fun as well. It sounds like a great reason to have a blog or two.

I loved Pharyngula's line about worrying over your future boss when you blog. Mark shares the line. I think it is so good it deserves to be posted here as well. The line is:

"This is his worst suggestion of them all: muzzle yourself now in preparation for your future corporate overlords. Screw that, bozo."

I think I could not have said it better myself. By the way, I pointed to Pharyngula's blog, written by P.Z. Myers in my earlier post, but if you have not seen it, it is worth a look.

On classic hits? Hmm, not sure about that. I have not been around long enough to compile "Gypsy Librarian's Greatest Hits" or "Itinerant Hits from an Unconventional Librarian." (Catchy titles, huh? No? Oh well). I did read someplace else, and I have to look it up, that revisiting older posts now and then is a nice way to reflect on your writing as well as give you ideas for content. So, in that sense, maybe you don't want your classics too buried. Then again, for the blogger, that is what search tools are for. Just another thought.

I am getting the impression the Nielsen piece will get some wheels turning for folks, so I will be looking at the biblioblogosphere and beyond to see what pops up. I think librarians, and writers as a whole, are too rebellious to be bound by a set of rules.

P.S. I came across a response by Jenne, of Redhaired Librarian, to Nielsen. It is well worth a look as well for another point of view. I got it through LIS News and its feature This Week in Library Blogland.