  | ||
| |
 Salem Press once again surveyed the library blog landscape in search of exceptional thinking, writing, and information. Hundreds of blog nominations poured in, thousands of votes were cast, leaving our distinguished guest judges with the difficult task of selecting one winner per category. 
Drumroll, PleaseThe public has voted online. All votes have been tallied. The judges have now spoken. Without (much) further ado, we present our list of 2012 Library Blog Award winners, broken down by category and complete with collective musings on what made these eight blogs beat the competition. Congratulations to all who won and all who came close to winning. Blog Directory Salem is also happy to share that its Library Blog Directory has been revised and brought up to date. Immensely. We hope you find it a useful tool as you navigate the ever-expanding universe of librarian expression online. Help us keep it current by providing more information about existing entries, alerting us to anything that seems incorrect or misplaced, and recommending new blogs to add to the list. To do so email Salem at blogs@salempress.com. Thank you A big thank you to this year's judges for graciously volunteering their time, expertise, and insight, all of which ensured the most outstanding blogs came out on top. A special thanks to this year's Director of Library Blog Awards, Mirela Roncevic.  General Library Blog Winner In the Library with the Lead Pipe General Library Blog Honorable Mention Stephen's Lighthouse In the Library with the Lead Pipe was a clear winner of the public vote as well as a favorite among this year's judges, who appreciated the blog's cast of diverse writers and wide range of topics and perspectives. In the words of one judge, "almost every post is gold." Stephen's Lighthouse didn't go unnoticed either. The judges thought highly of Stephen's "top-level, unique, and pervasive awareness of the library world and of issues outside librarianship that nonetheless impact it."  Academic Library Blog Winner Musings About Librarianship Academic Library Blog Honorable Mention No Shelf Required® Sue Polanka's No Shelf Required® received a strong response from the public and accolades from the judges for sharp and objective coverage of ebook news of interest to libraries. (The blog also won first place in Academic category in 2010.) Aaron Tay's Musings About Librarianship was praised for high-quality original coverage as well as unique perspectives on how to implement emerging technologies in academic libraries. "A stellar example of a dedicated librarian, sharing his work with others with the idea that we can replicate his successes at our own libraries."  Public Library Blog Winner Librarian by Day Public Library Blog Honorable Mention David Lee King Two well-cultivated blogs rose to the top in the Public category, both written by librarians with large, dedicated followings. "David Lee King is one of the most trusted names in the library geek world. Even if he is blogging a conference, people are reading," said one judge. "Bobbi Newman is a spitfire and thank goodness for that," said another judge. The judges' votes remained evenly split, but the public vote went in Bobbi's favor. Her Librarian by Day blog came close to winning in this category in 2011.  School Library Blog Winner The Adventures of Library Girl School Library Blog Honorable Mention Cathy Nelson's Professional Thoughts The Adventures of Library Girl was the big winner of the public vote in the School Library category. Most of the judges agreed with the public, calling Jennifer LaGarde's voice "personable" and "enthusiastic" and her posts "chock-full of good ideas." "You can tell she's a go-getter," said one judge. But many were also very impressed with Cathy Nelson's strong voice and focus on multimedia. "Other school librarians will definitely get inspired from reading about Cathy's top-notch work."  Special Librarian Blog Honorable Mention bizologie The Special category was the most competitive this year. All nominees received a strong response from the public. The honorable mention went to bizologie, which scored points for focused coverage and strong personalities of the bloggers.  Quirky Library Blog Winner Screwy Decimal Quirky Library Blog Honorable Mention This is What a Librarian Looks Like Both the public and the judges showed enthusiasm for Screwy Decimal for its great name, its good sense of humor, the patron quotes, and relevancy of the topics. "Rita Meade is hilarious. Full stop. Well worth reading just to remind yourself of the lighter side of what we do," said one judge. And while Screwy Decimal re-affirms what "quirky" is all about through humor and wit, This Is What a Librarian Looks Like added a new dimension to "quirky" that didn't go unnoticed. Judges praised the blog for its great user-generated look at librarianship. "A kaleidoscope of faces that shows just how diverse our profession really is."  Academic Institution Library Blog Winner Scholarly Communications @ Duke Academic Institution Library Blog Honorable Mention Facts from the Stacks The clear winner of the public vote in the academic institution category was Duke University's Scholarly Communications @ Duke (which has been nominated for an award in the past). The judges acknowledged the blog's "super knowledgeable" posts, "remarkable" quality of writing, transparency, and the overall effort to build a readership. Bellvue's Facts from the Stacks received a significant number of votes from the judges as well, who praised the blog's friendly tone, accessible writing, and reliable information about the library's holdings.  Public Institution Library Blog Winner Eleventh Stack Public Institution Library Blog Winner Infoblog The absolute winner of the judges' vote in the public institution category was Carnegie Library's Eleventh Stack. According to one judge, "The writers' witty personalities (and their fascinating interests) shine through and show that this library is run by a group of intriguing (and dare I say 'fun') librarians." According to another judge, "I want to steal all their ideas and replicate them on my own library's blog." Another example of what a public library blog for patrons should look like is East Baton Rouge Parish Library's InfoBlog, which received a lot of support from the public. |
Our 2012 Judges are a mighty impressive group, volunteers and hard-working, too. Their insight and experience added a great deal to the process of selecting winners from among the nominees. To read a bit about each, click 
General: Blogs providing broad discussions of library topics and trends, including reviews of books and products.
Google+
Email
 |
 SALEM PRESS, a division of EBSCO Publishing. © Salem Press, All Rights Reserved. Offices: 10 Estes Street · Ipswich · MA 01938 |