LIS New Professionals Network

Hello, LISNPNers!  I write today with two goals in mind: to promote myself shamelessly, and to ask for your help.

Some of you may remember that my blog, That's Not Online!, won an LISNPN-sponsored competition, the purpose of which was to create library advocacy materials that reach outside the usual audience for that type of thing.  That's Not Online is a blog about information and resources that are not online, and where to find them.  I have posted on many and varied topics, from independent Cuban libraries to small Finnish museums to zines to the digital divide in America and worldwide.  In this way, and by using Tumblr, a great platform for collaboration, and Twitter, a wonderful promotional tool, my audience grew to include people from diverse communities.

So my entry was a success, and my prize was attending CILIP's Umbrella Conference on a Full Residential Delegate pass.  It was a fantastic experience.  Although the contest is over, I don't think That's Not Online! has outlived its purpose -- it calls much-needed attention to resources that are often overlooked.  But the very nature of the blog means that it is difficult to maintain.  Offline information will, of course, be very difficult to find when one's resources consist of little more than skillful internet searching.  Finding things to write about can be incredibly challenging.  Not only that, but it's important that each post be well-researched, thorough and interesting.  I, like many of you, have a job and a life to maintain, and I'm finding it difficult to update That's Not Online! more than once every two weeks or so.

That's Not Online! is set up to be a group blog.  It has been my goal from the beginning to recruit a team of contributors to write posts and also help me develop a plan for the future.  Maybe you're a library school student looking for a little extra experience to make you stand out.  Maybe you want to start an LIS-themed blog, but don't know where to start.  Maybe you just have lots of great suggestions for things to write about.  Whatever the case, if you can write and you can research, and you have an interest in the topic, please let me know if you'd like to help out.

It would help if you could point me toward something you've written and tell me a little bit about yourself.  I am primarily interested in writers for the blog, but if you'd like to contribute in some other way, like suggesting a topic, translating a post into another language, or improving my metadata or web design, that's great too.  Obviously, I can't offer you anything in return other than experience and exposure -- but maybe that's exactly what you need!  Leave a comment, tweet or send a direct message @thatsnotonline, use my Tumblr ask box, or just email me at i [dot] barlova [at] gmail [dot] com.  I can't wait to hear from you.