Publication analysis
About the publication
Title: AISL Independent Ideas
ISSN: N/A
Website: http://aislnews.org/
Purpose, objective, or mission: Independent Ideas is the blog of AISL, the Association of Independent School Librarians.
Created in 1987, the founders of AISL “envisioned an apolitical and affordable association – complementary to other library associations – that would provide a means of exchanging information, ideas and best practices among a network of independent school librarians.”1
Target audience: Independent school librarians and members of AISL.
Publisher: The blog is run and maintained by AISL members.
Peer reviewed? No.
Type: LIS professional blog.
Medium: Online.
Content: Blog posts of varying lengths, usually complete with photos or videos. There’s a group of frequently used tags on the right-hand side of the blog that show some of the most frequently written about topics: collaboration, information literacy, research, school librarians, and technology are some of the tags used most often.2
Frequency of publication: New posts are published a few times a week.
About the publication’s submission guidelines
Location of submission guidelines: Independent Ideas: Managed by Alexendra Patterson – Mercersburg Academy. 3If you are an AISL member and you would like to write a blog post, contact membership coordinator, Renee Chevallier: Rchevallier@ursulinedallas.org .4
Types of contributions accepted: Book reviews, ideas for children’s programming, and more.
Submission and review process: Contact membership coordinator listed above.
Editorial tone: Casual, yet professional.
Style guide used: None.
Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors
If you are a member of AISL and you have written a short, informal piece that would be useful to your peers, this blog may be a viable publication option. Topics are varied and tied to school librarianship of students in all grades. Recent posts have been about topics such as are librarians actually theater people? and high schoolers acting out Google searches. Humor and creativity are found all throughout this blog, so think outside of the box!
Audience analysis
About the publication’s readers
Publication circulation: Though the blog is geared towards members of AISL, anyone can access and read all posts.
Audience location and language or cultural considerations: AISL members are in the U.S. and Canada, and blog posts are in English.
Reader characteristics: Readers are like-minded librarians looking to exchange information and ideas about their field. There are approximately 700 members of AISL.5
Knowledge of LIS subject matter: Strong, but focused on children and school librarianship.
Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors
AISL is a unique, close-knitted community of independent school librarians, and readers of its blog are eager to learn and collaborate. Working with children of all ages requires fresh ideas and innovation, so you can be sure readers of Independent Ideas are eager for new voices in the field of school librarianship.
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