The blog as a high-impact institutional communication tool

Purpose - The considerable cost of sending staff to a conference is often not matched by the benefits that the library then gains. The aim of this paper was to maximise the institutional impact of the authors' attendance at the ALIA Click06 conference in Perth, Western Australia by providing a blog of the event and encouraging interaction with colleagues during the conference itself. Design/methodology/approach - The University of Sydney's "Blogs dot Usyd" service provided the platform for the blog, using WordPress software and holding the blog within the usyd.edu.au domain. Prior to the conference postings were done occasionally in order to build up interest in the blog. During the conference, postings were done several times each day using conference or hotel wifi facilities and internet cafes. Pictures were also posted to Flickr. Posts were a mix of informal/contextual and formal/informational. Findings - The response from colleagues was very positive. Usage statistics show that a high proportion of the target audience read the blog with many of them using RSS. Some posts also attracted a number of comments, which often produced results that added value to our original posts. The authors were also surprised to find a high level of interest from the wider library community. In particular, Australian bloggers seem to be forming a strong community bond based around the librariesinteract.info communal blog. Producing the blog enabled the authors to meet with a number of peers, thereby increasing the benefits from the conference activity. Practical implications - The further use of blogs as staff communication tools during conferences and similar events should be encouraged. This could be linked with staff development activities such as training in blogging and RSS. Originality/value - The blog differed from most institutional blogs in that it had a tightly defined target audience, a predetermined period of existence and a very tight focus on a single event.