DAY 23 May 22, 2008

CUCS Site vs. CUCS Blog

This morning Victoria and I examined the CUCS site and blog, and had the opportunity to nail down some thoughts about how the two are related, and what the future - and not to mention usefulness - of the blog will be. Here are my conclusions based on our conversation:

1. Purpose: The site and blog ultimately serve the same function - to communicate information - but are very different animals. The site is formal and primarily informative, the blog is casual, and is primarily interactive (or should be, in any case, if no one is reading it what use is it?). Of course there is a cross section of utility but there is no reason to use valuable time that could be spent doing something else making the two match.
   
2. Value: The value of the site is obvious - it serves as an introduction to the mission and values of the CUCS, while providing an exceptional cross section of cultural material and academia ranging from music to academic essays, to photographs of past events. The value of the blog is more dependent upon publicity and community participation (student, Ukrainian Canadian, Canadian, etc.)
3. Responsibility: My primary concern is for the fate of blogs - who will be responsible for them in the Fall? Ultimately it would take some kind of commitment from administrative staff at the CUCS to add "administrator to the blogs" to his or her job description. This raises more questions, namely 1) Does anyone want to commit to this responsibility?, and 2) Is it worthwhile to dedicate time to this responsibility? I think the answer is yes. If the blog remains casual in tone and is only updated after specific events, or to advertise before events (provided there is some publicity about it at St. Andrew's College and amongst Ukrainian Canadian students and staff on campus). This can be a place for photos, discussions, and advertising in a more interactive capacity than a website allows.

So my conclusion is a gray one - the site and blog are different, but recognizing their roles and the difference between them is important if we want to keep them relevant and separate. Who will care about this is a top consideration, but I don't think it is too difficult to navigate. Perhaps to infiltrate the student body a CUCS MySpace page or Facebook page should be set up? That, I think, is seriously worth considering. Everyone loves Facebook, and it is already an important way that Ukrainian Canadian students are connecting with each other outside of classes and off campus, why not try to get in on that, and see if the blog as an appendage will work better than as a main event? All of this will need to be discussed at my next meeting with Dr. Hlynka.