The National Art School Library blog (NAS) is easy to find and is placed at the bottom of the home library webpage, seen here: www.nas.edu.au/Dept_Library.htm
In the NAS Library blog page it is easy for the user to look for current art events, art competitions, and new journals. Information is indexed and archived well, as well as, leads the user to other links and web locations for more information, if needed. There are four library personnel that update the blog on a regular basis.
There are also images located in the blog, as an enhanced feature not only for the blog user, but for the artists’ work that is being showed in the blog. It is a smart way of integrating art students with the library and the NAS Blog for networking activity.
On the front page of the NAS library web site there are brief synopses regarding the events, new journals, etc. Then the user must “read more” in order to get the full statement. The user is then brought to the NAS Library Blog site.
While, the blog seems to be an imperative feature for the NAS Library site and works well with the rest of the Library pages, I am unsure whether I would utilize this feature. As a student it is very probable that I would use this blog for updated journals, new exhibition competitions, and events. This may sound ridiculous–why doesn’t the library site provide a separate blog for a student sound off? If the library wants to integrate users into the site, why not really integrate the student population into the blog, instead of the librarians having the blog?
It seems that the librarians are enjoying the blog, but not necessarily giving the students a blogspace. For instance, if the user wants to comment to the blog, they can do so, by clicking “comment” on the bottom of each post. But, by observation, it doesn’t seem overly popular.
Besides which, the information that is on the blog can be easily stated on the front page of the NAS Library web site. Instead the information, which is located on the front page is then brought to the NAS blog, which provides posts by librarians, only allowing the user to comment on sections.
While, this a good service, it only seems acceptable for the user to be allowed to network, and have a personal space, in order to really integrate a NAS community in the NAS Library site. If the library really wants to use Web 2.0, then the user should be offered their own communal blogspace.
(And for all of you looking at this website, since I have posted this site, the NAS has changed the design, so I’ll have to re-post when the IA’s [Information Architects] have finished. Thanks for reading!)
