In this context, I’d say the institutional presence is usually evident. And, with regards to the Manchester Museum blogs, the statement on the museum’s website ‘visit our blogs’ etc is a clear indication that the link from the museum to the blogs is much more than just a hyperlink. That said, I assume if one arrives to the Manchester Museum blogs from elsewhere, one may have a different perception of them.

I think the language used on a blog, the content of the posts, the way authors present themselves, whether the blog is part of the website or not, whether the blog links to the website or whether the museum website links to the blog, if the author(s) is eponymous or not, all these contribute to the issue of individual/institutional presence.

Would be interesting to see how other museums have solved the balance. For example, the staff at the National Museum of Health and Medicine run a joint private blog (A Repository for Bottled Monsters) which, as far as I can see, isn’t acknowledged on the museum’s official website. And here at Medical Museion we are currently runnng two joint staff blogs: this one in English and Museionblog in Danish, but maybe some staff members wish to start on their own — in that case I guess we would link to these from the official website.