The Hot New
Technology for
Communication &
Information
Association of Legal Administrators
Annual Conference
May 1, 2006
Presented by Bonnie Shucha
University of Wisconsin Law
Library
bjshucha@wisc.edu
Difference Between Blogs & Web Sites

A blog IS a Web site
But the structure is slightly different than
a traditional website
All convertibles are cars,
but not all cars are convertibles
All blogs are Web sites,
but not all Web sites are blogs
Difference Between Blogs & Web Sites
As with any Web site. . .
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There are some really great blogs
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There are some really rotten ones
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And there are a lot of them in between
The Blogosphere
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There are 27.2 Million blogs
Blogosphere doubles every 5½ months
On average, a new blog is created every second
“Splogs” (machine generated spam blogs) account
for 9% of all new blogs created
As of February 2006 from:
Technorati’s Weblog
http://www.technorati.com/weblog/
2006/02/81.html
Blog Features
Brief informational
posts in reverse
chronological
order
Comment feature
offers interactivity
Blawg=
Law-related blog
Archives of previously posted content;
Subscription options (appear below)
Establishing a Blogging Policy
Every business should have one –
even if you don’t have a blog
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Cover all company blogs, as well as employees
who blog outside of work
Policy language should be simple, clear
Balance protection from liability with freedom to
be honest, frank
Establishing a Blogging Policy
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Examples:

Feedster’s Corporate Blogging Policy
http://feedster.blogs.com/corporate/2005/03/corporate_blogg.
html

Yahoo!’s Personal Blog Guidelines
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/yahoo/yahoo-blog-guidelines.pdf
Blogs for Legal Professionals
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Continuing Education
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Competitive Intelligence

Monitor “Public
Conversations” About
Firm & Clients
“When you’re listening to the
Internet, the discussion is
taking place in real time. . .
We can alert a company or a
brand [to criticism] so they can be on their
guard and be ready to react. . .”
- Sue MacDonald, spokeswoman, Intelliseek
from “Why Companies Monitor Blogs,” CNet, 1/3/2006
Finding Blogs
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Law Blogs (Blawgs)

Blawg: Law & Legal Related Weblogs http://www.blawg.org/
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RSS News Feeds for Law, TVC Alert http://www.virtualchase.com/resources/rss_law.html
Finding Blogs
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Blog Search Engines
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Google Blog Search http://blogsearch.google.com/
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Feedster http://feedfinder.feedster.com/
Technorati http://www.technorati.com/
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Daypop http://www.daypop.com/
Online Reputation Monitoring Beginners Guide
from Marketing Pilgrim blog
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2006/03/onlinereputation-monitoring-beginners.html
Reading Blogs

Good - As a Web page
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Stay current but requires reader to
visit multiple sites daily to check for
updates
Better - With a RSS Reader

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All updates delivered to one
location
Read multiple blogs with one
application
RSS
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What Is

RSS ?
Rich Site Summary OR
Really Simple Syndication
RSS Makes the Internet Subscribe-able
See LawLibTech (Cindy Chick) RSS Tutorial: What Is RSS,
http://www.lawlibtech.com/archives/000098.html
RSS Readers
Email message
(information)
RSS feed
(information)
Email application
(reader)
RSS Reader
(reader)
RSS Readers
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RSS readers are also known as:
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RSS aggregators
news readers
news aggregators
Bloglines
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Free Web-based RSS reader
Use to read:
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RSS feeds
Email Listservs!
Subscribe at http://www.bloglines.com/
Tutorial movie (UC Berkeley Library):
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BIOS/rss.html
RSS Feeds
Posts
RSS Feeds Other Than Blogs
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Newspapers
Custom News Alerts
Government Agencies
Product Recalls
“Anyone who needs to
monitor current news on
a regular basis will need
to understand and use
RSS in some form going
forward.”
Source: LawLibTech RSS Tutorial: What Is RSS,
http://www.lawlibtech.com/archives/000098.html
Creating A Blog
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Law Firm Blogs Can Be Used for:
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External communication
Internal communication
Firm blog ≠
Legal professional’s
personal blog
External Communication
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Easy – no HTML knowledge required
Technology inexpensive
Enhance visibility of firm & attorneys
Establish expertise in area(s) of law
Improve search engine rankings
External Communication
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Disseminate information more quickly, widely,
& less expensively than traditional
communication methods
Ensure accurate, timely information about
firm is available
External Communication
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Connect with other legal professionals
Foster a personal relationship clients,
potential clients, media & public
Readers choose preferred level of
communication
Internal Communication
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Announcements for Staff
Knowledge Management
Project Management
Cost = Time
Is Blogging Worth Your Time?
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Weigh the cost of billable time
Assess skills & training time needed
Consider other time-consuming projects
Consider the competition
“A poorly maintained blog will have the
opposite effect of a well-written, frequently
updated blog. The blogger will lose
credibility with her or his audience.
In other words, don’t just have a blog so you
can say you have a blog.”

Tom Mighell , “Between Lawyers Roundtable:
The
Future of Legal Blogging” Law Practice, Sept. 2005
Selecting Blog Authors
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Attorneys
Administrators
Librarians
Marketing Staff?
“A blog cannot possibly fit into the
marketing plan of a firm because the firm
will not maintain it. Blogs must be
maintained by passionate (and driven)
individuals.”
Burkey Belser in
“Market Your Law Firm,”
LawFirmBlogging.com,
12/16/2005
Engaging the Reader
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Be Personable
Be Frank
Be Useful
Be Committed
Don’t Sell
Don’t Cover-up Mistakes
“Good blogs also have
an editorial point of
view that tells the
reader something
about the blogger’s
personality.
There’s a certain style
typical of strong
blogs—crisp and
pithy, with plenty of
relevant hyperlinks.”

David W. Opderbeck, “How to Start
Your Own Weblog And Make the
Most of It ” Law Practice, Sept. 2005
Blog Software Comparison

Time to check: Are you using the right
blogging tool?
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/050714gardner/
Promoting Your Blog
“[A] blog. . . can be a waste of your
brilliant ideas and information unless
you can attract readers.”
- Daniel Harmon,
The Lawyer's PC
(22 Law. PC 1)
Promoting Your Blog
Make blog's name descriptive of its
content
 Link from firm’s Web site & include on all
firm communications
 Drop your blog's name constantly
 Register with search engines &
directories
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Promoting Your Blog
Use keywords in your post titles
 Link to other blogs
 Offer your own unique perspective
 Encourage reader feedback
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“It’s a great time to start a
law-oriented blog. There’s
a considerable frame of
reference for what people
are already doing, yet
enormous room for
innovation and perhaps an
infinite number of
interesting niches to fill.”
Denise Howell , “Between Lawyers Roundtable:
The Future of Legal Blogging” Law Practice, Sept. 2005
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For More Information

See:

Law Practice September 2005 issue devoted to
blogging. http://www.abanet.org/lpm/magazine/home.shtml

Blogs for Lawyers: Building an Audience to Build
Your Practice, free, one-hour event presented by
Findlaw. https://findlawevents.webex.com/findlawevents
(See “View all recorded events” at top right)

Corporate Weblogging Best Practices.
Univ. of WI E-Business Consortium
http://www.uwebc.org/opinionpapers/archives/docs/
CorporateBlogging.pdf