Weblogs as Libraries
Introduction
Conceptualize this: a weblog is a library. Yes, I hear you screaming. If all weblogs are libraries, then does that mean that all webloggers are librarians? Not really, especially since not all library workers are librarians. Now, I'm sure you're wondering where on earth I came up with this lamebrain idea. I think I was just outside of Indianapolis on I-74. There's nothing to look at but farms, and you have to keep your mind occupied so that you don't fall asleep like the sibling in the seat next you. Especially since you're the one driving. Now that you all know that I free-associate what may be considered weird ideas while driving (no, I won't tell you what I drive so that you can avoid me), here's my reasoning of why weblogs could be considered libraries.
Repositories of ideas
Okay, the first point in my argument. You could claim that I'm stretching this. I don't think this goes as far as Stretch Armstrong does though. At base, libraries are repositories of ideas. Always have been, probably will always be. It never mattered in what format the ideas were housed, people collected the ideas and formed libraries.
The mission of the ancient Library of Alexandria was to accumulate representations of all human knowledge available at that time. Human knowledge is not always formally expressed. It is often bits and pieces of information floating around and being shared before someone puts the bits and pieces together into one, cogent expression of knowledge.
Libraries are the storage space of these bits and pieces of information that may have to float around for millennia before something may be done with them.
A weblog is a medium that allows for the digital storage of bits and pieces of information. Technologies are available so that anyone may create a weblog. For those so inclined, weblogs also allow for the storage of the idea as it comes. You do not have to, possibly, laboriously code a web page and then figure out where to put it up so that others can access the idea. If you have a weblog, you already have the space, and you can just write down the thoughts and then publish it in digital format. The intended audience then has immediate access to the idea.
Collections
Libraries and weblogs are both collections of thoughts and ideas. Admittedly, libraries are a more formalized collection, but for all of their fluidity, weblogs can be too.
Libraries generally (and should, if they don't) have collection development policies. For those unaware of what a collection development policy is, it is a list of positive statements regarding the type (subject and format) of material that a library will collect. These collection development policies are to enhance and reinforce the mission of the library. Hence, public library collections are generally broad; research institution collections are generally deep, and the spectrum in between.
Weblogs generally do not have a formal mission, let alone a collection development policy. It is possible to see if a weblog adheres to an unspoken policy. Let's use my weblog, Young Librarian, as an example. You can probably get an idea as to what is discussed in the weblog just from the title. It probably has to with either a.) a librarian who happens to be young, or b.) pornography as young librarians seem to be a popular topic in that sector. Young Librarian is specifically about my search for a job in the LIS field and about resources and ideas that I think young and new librarians should be aware of. I try to avoid mention of my personal life if it does not relate to either of those two topics. If I do happen to post something about my personal life, it will usually be in a post about the job search, and it's usually part of a story about the point I'm trying to make. In another life, I write fiction, so my voice is most like that of a storyteller.
Instapundit is a weblog that is dedicated to the journalistic reporting of current events, especially political. It is done in an oftentimes humorous voice, but there is no doubt that when you go to this site, you are going to receive a commentary about current happenings. To bring the analogy back to the library world, you wouldn't go to a library specializing in history if you wanted an article on the current techniques of giraffe insemination (thanks, Unshelved!).
The two examples used above can be correlated to that of a departmental library in an academic setting; the mission is extremely focused. Many of the weblogs out there are personal. The authors tend to discuss anything and everything that comes into their sphere of consciousness. Even within those, however, certain topics are mentioned very sketchily or even verboten (ex. employment where you can be fired if you talk about what you do outside of the office). Personal weblogs then take on the persona of a public library collection in that the subject matter of the ideas housed cover a broad area.
Libraries often maintain weblogs. The information made available on these weblogs 99.99% of the time relates to the services offered by the library or surrounding community in the case of public libraries. The weblog then becomes a manifestation of the library in the public, digital world.
Collation
I bet most people know, or have heard of collation. For those of you who weren't required to take cataloguing and skipped out, go back and take it! It will help you do your job ten times better. I swear!
Anyway, for the lay readers that I know are out there, collation is the concept that items are arranged in a specific, organized grouping. Things that are closest in relation to each other according to the grouping are placed together in order and therefore, collated.
In a library, the materials are often collated using the Dewey Decimal System (tm OCLC), Library of Congress (that's the numbers that start with letters and is only found in the United States*), another nationally sponsored system, or a homegrown system that is most often used in private libraries. These systems generally rely on subject matter to dictate the collation, though by author and by title are the next most popular methods.
In weblogs, the collation is historically by date posted. New technology now allows for the categorization of posts so that posts may now be collated by subject matter. Not all weblog/personal publishing systems offer this technology though. Multi-author weblogs such as LISNews.com (which uses code based on that used by Slashdot.org) can allow for the collation of items by author.
Circulation
With new technologies such as TrackBack, it is possible to monitor how information posted to a weblog circulates in the digital world. In other words, the thing that can save or kill a physical library: circulation statistics.
The circulation of weblog posts is nothing new though. The practice of highlighting a specific post of someone's on another weblog has been done since weblogging began. The circulation of ideas via weblogs was never more evident than during the Trent Lott/Strom Thurmond birthday debacle.
Conclusion
Libraries have historically allowed for the transmission of ideas from one generation to the next. We have yet to see if weblogs will have the same impact. What we can see now is the increase of the transmission of ephemeral ideas; ideas that might never be available through traditional publishing schemes.
When someone hears the word "library" they often think of physical space in the three dimensional world. With the emergence of "virtual" libraries in the last ten years, we must not only readjust our perception of libraries, but that of the public's too. Weblogs may be part of the solution to the creation, storage and design of these virtual libraries.
And finally, I really need to find a way to keep my sister awake when I'm driving in the middle of Indiana.
*Correction (10/10/2003) - Thanks to Simon, I have been made aware of the fact that the Library of Congress classification scheme is used internationally.