After much deliberation and delay, I’m ready to get things started on this my new blog, Elemental Musings. The first post is always the hardest (that last update doesn’t count), so best to get it out of the way as quickly as possible!

I plan on using this space primarily to write about my work as the web services librarian for the Library. I’ll be discussing upcoming projects, the challenges we face, and the solutions we devise to overcome them. I expect that I’ll also have a fair amount to say about the work that goes into managing the site, and making sure that it continues to meet the needs of our users.

This is not my first blog, nor is it the only place I have to sharing my thoughts and ideas. So why start yet another blog? McGill Library Blogs is a new initiative that we started to provide librarians with a tool help them communicate and engage with their user communities. I thought it would be a good idea for me to eat my own dog food and run my professional/work blog off the same platform so that I can get a first-hand experience of how well it works and where improvements can be made. I have exactly the same permissions as any of the librarians using this service, so I don’t have access to any admin features to make my life easier! And by using the blogging platform regularly, I hope we’ll be able to make significant improvements over a relatively short period of time.

I am also hoping to provide an example for any would-be bloggers within the Library as to how they might be able to use a blog to help them in their work. Not that I don’t have my share of learning to do. I’ve been blogging for almost 15 years, but I think this is the first time I’ve ever blogged in such an ‘official’ context, so I’ll also be looking to my fellow bloggers for guidance on how to best use this space.

Hopefully that provides you with some idea what you can expect to see here on Elemental Musings. This is something I’ve been meaning to do since I started at the Library almost two years ago, so it feels great to finally get this blog and this blogging service off the ground!