Editorial Policy

It is the blogmaster’s philosophy that library collections should be built for the purpose of meeting user needs–to make connections between users and information. Thus: Collection = Connection. But you can take issue with that philosophy as much as you like.

Your posts to Collection=Connection should:

  • Be about library collections… in the broadest possible sense. Print, electronic, digital, ephemeral, ethereal, tangible. It’s all good. Anything that relates to library collections in some way is acceptable. Acquisition, management, processing, evaluation, paying, promoting are all topics of interest. We also want to read about any type of library.
  • Be personal and informal. Speak from the heart. Push buttons if you must. These are not scholarly articles. Write about what interests you and inspires you. Make it smart and factually accurate, but you don’t need to document your opinions.
  • Don’t be mean for the sake of mean, but if something gets your goat, write about it. Recognize, however, that libel and slander are real things. Don’t get ALCTS CMS in hot water.
  • Use link love. If you are responding to an issue or event, give the readers links to relevant or related sites.
  • Be timely. Write about issues that are interesting and prevalent in the library profession right now!
  • Be as lengthy as necessary. One sentence now and then as a cheeky statement is ok, but probably not going to convey the entire message that you want. Likewise, people generally don’t want to read a 30-page treatise in a blog post. But otherwise no particular length requirements.
  • Be posted when you want. We don’t have a schedule of posting. As frequently as you are comfortable with. If you have a question about the appropriateness of a post, ask Steven Harris. But you do not need to seek pre-approval to submit a post. Go for it!

Possible types of posts:

  • Big issue pieces. Thinking out loud.
  • Responses to recent news and events. OMG! They did what?
  • Promotion beforehand or reports afterwards of CMS, ALCTS, ALA or other professional activities, projects, events, or conferences.
  • Brief “how to” kinds of pieces.
  • Links to useful resources, individually (perhaps with some description or evaluation) or brief lists organized in some effective manner. See Acquiring E-books.
  • Responses or reviews of publications (books, articles, other blog posts, other media) which deal with library collections… in the broadest possible sense.

Happy blogging!



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