[Web4lib] Successful book discussion blogs, anyone?

[Jonathan Gorman]

---- Original message ----
>Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 08:58:40 -0700
>From: "Abramson, Alicia" <AAbramson at ci.berkeley.ca.us>  
>Subject: [Web4lib] Successful book discussion blogs, anyone?  
>To: <Web4lib at webjunction.org>
>
>Does anyone have an example of a library-based book discussion blog that
>you would identify as successful?  We are doing our second attempt at
>one here at the Berkeley Public Library for our "Reading in Common"
>(i.e. citywide book reading) event:
>http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/readingincommon/
>

Along with some of the others, I'm not sure if blogs are the way to go as far as discussions are concerned, although the UI of these various types of systems can sometime blend till you can't be sure what's in the background.

I can't help but to think of most discussion sites which use software similar to forums.  In fact, the system I'd picture would be more similar to various websites that offer discussions for their articles and papers.  Some examples off hand Ars Technica (www.arstechnica.com) and A List Apart (http://www.alistapart.com/).

I guess that aside from technical considerations though, what really can matter is some simple dynamics.

* The reviews have to be interesting and thought provoking.
* There has to be people who get involved.
* The easier it is to post, the more likely people are to post
  (This doesn't seem a problem with yours, it can be with others that make you jump through a lot of hurdles.

 
>
>Last year's blog had a total of 8 comments over a 4 month period...and I
>would like to see a more engaged discussion this year.
>

A link to the blog from last year would be helpful as well, I scanned over your page and no links to it jumped out.

>From just reading from the posts this year I have a few observations:

Some changes I might make just from browsing through some of your previous postings.

1) Change the narration style.  It seems really dry and reminds me of some reading assignments that I had in middle school.  I'm not trying to be offensive here.  

2) Personally, I find the font a little hard to read.  Could just be me.  The more I have to fiddle with font sizes and colors, the less likely I am to come back.  

3) Why so few books?  I think some people might prefer a greater diversity of books and talk about what they find interesting about each book.  Perhaps let your users guide you.

4) Maybe what might be useful is to spot some people who have attended book discussions before or seem to like to talk about the books they've read.  Have them look over a post and see if that moves them to talk or make comments or if they just go "it's ok."  If they don't start talking, maybe you want to revise it. 

Sorry if I'm repeating what anyone else said, I've been skimming the conversations.  I know I'm not doing quite what you wanted (examples of libraries that have successful book discussions), but maybe it's close.

Also, have you checked out the various book discussion groups in places like google groups, yahoo groups or the specialized ones like Library Thing or Shelfari?  

The nice thing about online discussions is that you're not bound by physical limitations.  So it might be interesting if users can pick a book and see if others want to discuss it with them rather than have a few pre-selected books.

Just a thought ;).  I know it ties in with your other programs so it's not a hugely successful suggestion.



Jon Gorman