Blog Post of the Month!

The March "Blog Post of the Month" was a close vote. The winner is Brad's recap of his experience at Karen Schneider's Writing for the Web workshop. Honorable mention goes to "Tiki Wins!".

You too can vote by adding a "comment" to any blog post.

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I had a great experience at a NEFLIN workshop recently, and since all the workshop materials are available online here is a recap with links to a few things.

Karen Schneider, Librarian/Author/Blogger/GreatGal, taught Writing for the Web. It was a nice mix between how to write for online publications (websites, blogs, etc) and a creative writing class.

About two weeks before the class I received an e-mail, as did all registered attendees. It informed me that a “wiki” had been created for this workshop. I clicked the link in the e-mail and went to the wiki. Here I found the Syllabus for the class and handouts.

I spent 20 minutes or so looking over the materials and getting a sense of what we would cover in the workshop. Karen also gave us a link to her recommended writing websites via del.icio.us (there went another 20 minutes).

Then came the day of the class!

I sat expectantly with my 20 or so fellow students as we began the day with only the briefest introduction to Karen and her material. We immediately pressed the pedal to the floor and didn’t seem to stop until the class filed out around 4pm.

Things to Consider
1. How could you make use of a wiki in your own world? This was a great tool for engaging the whole class before, during and after training. Visit the wiki and look over the Syllabus.

2. Each member of the class had a “Class Page” on the wiki, and a laptop. This Class Page could be edited by only one student, but could be viewed by everyone. Each student did some writing and then we viewed their Class Page on our laptop. Discussion ensued.

How you could use this feature in any collaborative effort when the participants are all in one room (and even when they are not)?

Writing for the Web – Tips
1. Write in the first person (this connects with the reader)

2. Ask questions (can be the title of a post or the first line)

3. Cut paragraphs in half (people need more white space when reading on a PC)

4. Read your writing out loud (more important than you might think).

Thanks for reading! -- Brad

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TIKI WINS!

Congratulations to Suwannee River Regional Library! They are the Grand Prize winners in Demco's "You and Your Booktruck" contest and will receive a $245 DEMCO book cart and a $200 DEMCO gift certificate.

Sherry thanks all those who voted for them. You can stop by Live Oak and see the cart if you happen to be driving through.

In other book cart news..... Don't miss the Book Cart Drill Team Competition on Thursday, April 24th from 10:30am - 12:00n at the FLA Conference in St. Pete Beach. Trophies will be awarded for best costumes, best decorated carts, and the WOW factor.