And, we’re back to blogs…

The UCLA Arts Library is divided into three subject areas: Art and Art History, Architecture and Design, and Theater, Film and Television. For this reason, the UCLA Arts Library has three blogs. The template is identical for all blogs, which provides consistency, and shows a relationship between them. Each blog is accessible from the Arts Library website under the blogs section of each respective heading. The Art and Theater blogs are also linked to one another on their blogs, but the Architecture blog is not (perhaps because it is newer).

Having dealt with the issue of representing multiple departments through blogs, it is understandable that the UCLA Arts Library would opt for three separate blogs rather than lumping everything into one. It was also a feasible option because each of the three sections has its own librarian or staff member to update the blog content (so it doesn’t fall into the hands of one individual, in which case there would surely only be one blog). These blogs were not started at the same time. The Theater, Film and Television blog came first, in May 2008, the Art and Art History blog started shortly after, in June 2008, and the Architecture and Design blog just started in September 2009.

The content is similar across all three blogs, which makes me wonder why the three separate blogs are necessary at all. The blogs contain updates on library tools and resources (particular attention given to the ARTstor database), upcoming exhibitions in the library, and the occasional arts news post. ARTstor posts especially dominate the Art and Architecture blogs, and I would recommend they embed an RSS feed to the ARTstor blog rather than repeat content. Chances are, ARTstor users are already receiving these ARTstor updates. If you remove the ARTstor posts, what remains is pretty slim. As I said with the Yale Arts Library blog, they would benefit from the addition of short bibliographies, highlights from the collections, or recent acquisitions. They could use a few more images as well, for aesthetic reasons, as the blogs are currently a bit dull. If I were a arts student at UCLA, I would probably subscribe to the art and art history blog, but I’m not sure I would get much out of it.