I blog, therefore, I am

It's funny (and nice) that I took a break from blogging for a while and a number of people thought that some tragedy befell me. Not to worry, loyal readers! I blog, therefore, I am. Everything's fine with me, but I have a whole lot of personal and professional stuff going on (some of which I'll be sharing on LM in the near future), and I thought the holidays would be a good time to relax, take a good chunk of time off, and come back to the blog refreshed.

That said, I have content up to my eyeballs to share with you, so I'm going to start with an initiative from the Metropolitan Museum of Art as described by trendcentral.com. The initiative sprang up from a new trend: blog bars. Blog bars are computer terminals set up on-site so that attendees can respond to what's going on in real time and receive responses right away.

The Met offers a blog bar for its show blog.mode: addressing fashion. The blog seems to be doing its job in that there's a flurry of comment and conversation. The idea of a blog bar, however, adds an extra layer of immediacy and relevancy for participants, and could be a great way to enhance library programs too! Trendcentral also points out,

"Additionally, expect physical spaces to increasingly include virtual components, creating a mash-up hybrid environment."

This trend reminds me of the importance of thinking about patron experiences, rather than focusing on distinct technologies and tools. It's the marriage of technology, great services, and community engagement that will continue to shape library services.

Bonus tip: Every librarian needs to pay attention to what museums are doing and how they're applying technology. They're doing fascinating stuff!

Thank you readers for your understanding while a took a break! I'm glad to be back in the blogosphere.