Library blogs in Hungary

Abstract

Web diaries – widely known as blogs – represent a specific genre of information society communication tools. Throughout their 17 years of history, blogs have become the ultimate tool of self-expression, enabling individuals to record their everyday experiences, thoughts and emotions and make them available for a wide public. Blogs are being written by academics, politicians, housewives and businessmen, and since 1995, also by librarians. Libraries, as the core institutions of information society, have been among the first organisations to discover and utilize opportunities provided by blogs. The library blogosphere can be divided into two parts. „Liblogs” are written by library and information professionals (individuals), while library blogs represent the official views of the institutions. Library blogs can fulfill multiple functions, from providing library news and recommending books to explaining library work processes and promoting events. One of the advantages of library blogs over library websites is that they make it possible for users to build a closer and friendlier relationship with librarians. The first Hungarian liblog called „Miss Librarian” (www. konyvtaroskisasszony.hu) was launched on November 22, 2003, while the official library blogs followed three years later, in 2006. In the same year, a library blog portal called KLOG was created in order to provide access to the constantly increasing number of institutional web diaries (blogs of public and school libraries, library associations, as well as blogs from interdisciplinary areas). The permanently updated list of links of the Hungarian blogosphere can be found at http://konyvtariblog. atw.hu.