or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk



Salem Press Library Blog Awards

   June 3rd, 2010

Salem Press Library Blog AwardsThe winners of the first Salem Press Library Blog awards were just announced - congratulations to:

General Library Blogs

Quirky Library Blogs

Academic Library Blogs

Public Library Blogs

School Library Blogs

I hadn't heard of most of these blogs before this award, so yay for having a bunch of new people to listen to (which I end up doing every year when LISNews announces their 10 Blogs to Read, too).

Another nice side effect of this contest is that Salem ended up with a Library Blog Directory, of all the blogs that were submitted or nominated for the awards. They're divided into categories, General Interest Blogs, Quirky Blogs, Academic Library Blogs, Public Library Blogs, School Library Blogs, which makes finding even more points of view relevant to your field easier. Thanks for doing this, Salem Press.

Gold StarOne last point: my website earned a gold star in the Public Library category, meaning it was judged "to be of significant quality that they stood above the norm." This made me realize one huge drawback of the online world - it's much more difficult to hang something like this on the refrigerator. Too bad for the kids who have to turn their homework in by email or Google Docs - they're missing out.




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6 Responses to “Salem Press Library Blog Awards”

  1. lesbrarian Says:

    Whoo! Speaking as a representative of Blogging for a Good Book (which is especially enjoyable, in my opinion, if you click on the “Jessica’s Picks” link, but perhaps I am biased), I’m pleased to see these awards, and tickled to see BFGB getting #2 in the public category.

    Speaking as one of the people who nominated Swiss Army Librarian, however, I’m surprised that you didn’t get, like, first place. I’m forever stealing your reference ideas and learning from the posts you write. Which is really cool, because then I can take those ideas, present them to my library, and give the general impression that I am innovative and learned.

    (If you want, I can transcribe that paragraph to a sticky note and drop it in the mail. You’d be able to hang it on your fridge– no magnet required!)

  2. Brian Herzog Says:

    Thanks Jessica (and for nominating me). Salem Press explained their judging criteria, but I certainly don’t mind not placing in the top three. The library world is a big place, and there’s plenty of room to share. And I’m glad you’re able to use stuff from my blog – I point my patrons to your book reviews, and I’ve got it indexed in our book review search at the bottom of our Reading Suggestions page.

  3. Erin Says:

    Congrats on the gold star! I nominated your blog (along with Librarian in Black), and I was disappointed you weren’t in the top three, but it is so nice to know that they did acknowledge your awesome contributions with a star! As for not being able to hang the acknowledgement on the refrigerator–well, I think that must be why people first started making web page badges to show all the awards their site had won!

  4. Brian Herzog Says:

    @Erin: thank you for nominating my website – I’m happy that you like it. In fact, thanks to everyone who nominated me, and who read and comment. I like to think that my website is useful, but I think all of the contributions from everyone else are more interesting than my blah blah blah’ing three times a week.

  5. Brian Herzog Says:

    @Erin: Your comment gave me the idea to add the gold star to my “digital refrigerator” – ha.

  6. Swiss Army Librarian » Last Call for 2011 Salem Press Library Blog Awards Nominations :: Brian Herzog Says:

    […] year I was awarded gold star recognition, which is great. But what I like most about these awards is how they work as a discovery tool in […]