Public library blogs and elders' self-learning: a content analysis

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory analysis of the blog sites built by older adults and public libraries in Taiwan in order to explore what improvements public library blogs can make to support self-learning for older adults. Design/methodology/approach - This study was conducted in three stages: location of blogs built by older adults that meet the search criteria; location of blogs built by public libraries in Taiwan; and examination of data related to the blog posts by adopting a content analysis methodology. Findings - The content of blogs built by older adults is categorised into eight major themes, i.e. spiritual growth and religion, health and medicine, leisure activities, learning, food, politics, investment, and selling. Blogs built by public libraries concentrate on four dimensions, i.e. news or announcements, library instruction materials, learning information or materials, and book clubs. Only a few blogs support self-learning by supplying learning materials and/or initiating learning activities. Research limitations/implications - This study has two limitations: there are cut-off dates for the target content (31 January 2010 for blogs built by older adults and 28 February 2010 for blogs built by public libraries in Taiwan); and it is possible that some of the blogs targeted were not detected and identified. Practical implications The paper is useful as an introduction for public libraries to build or redesign their blogs, so that they can support self-learning for senior citizens. Originality/value - This study represents a timely analysis of rapidly growing blogs built by older adults and public libraries and makes an original contribution by identifying what has not been discussed in the literature.