The nominations for The 2009 Irish Blog Awards close at 6pm on Wednesday, 14th January so if you haven’t already make sure you add your voice to the crowd’s.

The Irish blogging community has gotten so big now it’s nearly impossible to keep track of – there are likely many great blogs out there that I just haven’t read yet as a result. The likes of The IBAs have been great at flagging some of the better stuff out there in the past, even when it was easy to find the signal amongst the noise. Now, however, it’s going to become an invaluable tool in doing so.

It’s only right that it works that way too – if they’re good enough to get nominated logic dictates they deserve a bit more attention. It’s kind of like how sales go through the roof for nominees of the Man Booker Prize, only without the wealth and what-not.

So in short, nominate your favourite blogs so people like me can keep up.

As I said last year, The Media Contacts Directory proved quite useful to me for a variety of reasons. I’ve been sent another copy of it and I’m sure the latest edition will fulfil a similar function in 2009 but I get the feeling the ‘Experts 2009’ booklet that came with it will prove far more valuable.

The basic idea of the pocket book is to provide journalists, producers, researchers etc. with a concise list of experts in various fields. I do wonder how these experts are decided; are they self-appointed, nominated or chosen; but I think it is a useful tool for those looking for fresh voices. After all, it’s far too easy to rely on a handful of interviewees when you’re writing in a narrow field for a long time.

Then of course there’s the benefit to people who are researching out of their comfort zone, looking for experts in a topic range they’ve never covered before.

So as I said on twitter, if the Contacts Directory is my bible, this is likely to be my prayer book.

Although if I’m honest my diary has been by far the most valuable resource this side of an internet connection. So much so that I felt like a headless chicken for the week I hadn’t purchased my 2009 “edition”.