How to submit a blog post

We’d love to hear from library and information professionals, whether you’re starting out in your career or you're a well-established member of the community. We’re interested in blogs relating to any aspect of the information and library profession. Please read the article guidelines below and when you’re happy with your blog post, email it to us at libfocusblog@gmail.com

Here are some blog post ideas to get you started:

• Recent library projects, initiatives, events, and exhibitions you were involved in
• Library-related research and applied projects (research as practice) you conducted 
• A condensed version of a conference paper you presented/submitted
• Summaries of library talks/conferences/events you’ve attended
• A review of a library or information-related book or journal article 
• A discussion of current trends in the library field
• Reflections on a new library role
• Insights into working in a specialist library or niche information-related area
• An article relating to professional development or continuous learning
• Useful tips from a course or training session you attended

General article guidelines

Blogs between 500-1000 words work best; check that your spelling and grammar are accurate before submitting your article to us.

Libfocus will promote the post on our social media platforms - please provide your Bluesky and LinkedIn credentials if you'd like to be tagged in these posts.

Images

Please include at least one copyright-compliant image with your submission. Two to four images work well to break up the text and add visual interest to post. Avoid stock images or AI-generated images where possible. Unique images featuring people work best and images of interesting library collections or spaces also work well.

Please provide captions and alt text for each image.

Captions

Captions should give the title of the image and list the creator or rights holder and a date where possible/relevant. Link to the image where it’s been taken from an online source, including stock image websites. 

Here are some examples of captions from previous posts:

• Gaia artwork, Old Library, Trinity College. Picture credit Anne Charlotte Danhiez, 2025.
• Cape Clear Island, overhead view, from the Cork County Council website.
• Using AI to generate business ideas by MangKangMangMee via Shutterstock

Alt text

Images providing additional context or information to the blog post should have alt text included with them. This makes the blog posts as accessible as possible for people using screen readers. 

If there is text that is relevant visible in the image, that should be transcribed into the alt text.

Images that do not provide extra information or context and are used for layout purposes only are called decorative images. Alt text is not required for these images but do add alt="" in the alt text box instead so that the reader knows that it is a decorative image. 

Find more information about how to include alt text on the centre for excellence in universal design website.

Alt text examples:

• A large illuminated globe suspended between wooden rows of bookshelves
• Four people sitting at a table with a banner behind them with the text Academic and Special Libraries printed on it.
• A Japanese print depicting a market scene

Link text

Avoid adding external links by linking words and phrases like ‘here’ ‘click here’ or ‘read more.’ A link text should explain clearly what information the reader will get by clicking on that link i.e. 

Find out more about the Erasmus programme on the CONUL website vs find out more about the Erasmus programme here. 

References

Provide references to the original source when you're backing up an argument, using a direct quotation or when you are summarising someone else’s work etc.

This can be done more formally by using a reference style that includes in-text citations and a correctly formatted reference list at the end of an article as with the All Hallows Campus and Woodlock Hall Library article. Referencing styles including APA and Harvard work well with the format of the blog. Avoid using referencing styles that use footnotes however, as there are no page breaks in the layout of the blog to accommodate these.

Alternatively, where you're referencing online sources, you can do this using linked text within the article instead. See examples in Academic & Special Libraries Conference 2024 ‘Fair for all: creating Equitable and Universal Access to Information’

Please choose one method or the other, avoid mixing the two styles of referencing.

AI use

If you are using AI tools to plan or refine your blog post, include this information at the end of the body text, before the reference list. Give specific details about which AI tools you have used and for which purposes: i.e. ChatGPT was used to improve the readability of my original text.

AI tools can be used to brainstorm ideas for the blog post and to create a structure of its outline. They can also be used to improve the grammar, vocabulary and readability of the original text you have written.

An AI tool cannot be listed as a co-author of the blog post. The author should complete the underlying reading and writing required to write their post and assume full responsibility for its content. AI tools cannot be used to generate sections of text submitted as part of the blog post. They cannot be used to fabricate citations and reference lists included in the submission.

Blog posts which show evidence of undeclared or improper use of AI tools as outlined above will not be published on the libfocus blog.