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Slide show presentation from the SMKE 2013 conference (Social Media Knowledge Exchange) by Matthew Phillpott on the Blogging for Historians project.
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Blogging for Historians Matt Phillpott
(Institute of Historical Research) [email protected]
Social Media Knowledge Exchange conference
3 July 2013
• A blog about blogs
•Six podcasted interviews with bloggers working in the field of History
(academic, archival, librarian)
• An online survey or questionnaire to investigate further the prevailing
thoughts about blogging
• A toolkit or guide to blogging developed especially for historians early
in their careers
Outputs of the project
Research blog – talking about personal research Point of view blog – discussing thoughts and experiences as a lecturer, archivist or librarian. Institution shared blog – promotes a department and gives staff members a joint-forum To discuss their research interests Scholarly shared blog – around a specific theme or topic area shared between a small group Of academics Events blog – designed to promote one or more events such as talks, workshops, conferences Project blog – updates about the project, things found out through the project etc.
General types of History blogs
Archives & Library blogs
• The National Archives blog – Ruth Ford
• Untold Lives (British Library) – Margaret Makepeace and Penny Brook
Individual research blog
• Historyonics blog – Professor Tim Hitchcock (Hertfordshire)
Collaborative research blogs
• The Russian History blog – Dr Miriam Dobson (Sheffield)
• History Matters blog– Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock (Sheffield)
Blog aggregator
• The Early Modern Commons – Sharon Howard (HRI)
Podcasted Interviews
Ruth Ford – The National Archives Blog
Why was it set up?
• Part of a larger social media policy
• Goal of transparency and openness
• An attempt to emphasis a human element to the archives
• As staff at the TNA are civil servants they operate under a strict set of guidelines
and their public relations are usually a ‘we’ rather than an ‘I’. Blogs allowed
staff to use an informal and ‘personal’ voice for a change
How the blog is managed
• A long-term plan in place to
ensure the content continues
• Staff asked to agree to provide
posts for at least 6 months
• Centrally managed by web
team
• Posts scheduled 1 month in
advance with 3-4 posts per
week
Margaret Makepeace and Penny Brook
– The Untold Lives blog (British Library)
Why was it set up?
• One of many blogs operated by the BL – initial set up considerations already
in place, but similar to those considered by TNA.
• Also shared goal of transparency and openness
• Also interested in emphasising the human voice through a storytelling approach
• An approval process was required and the theme needed to be flexible enough
for collaborative blogging.
How the blog is managed
• 2 editors acting as gatekeepers
• Schedule which includes key
dates in the year – an attempt
to tailor posts to events
that are current.
• 5-10 posts as back up
Caroline Dodds Pennock
– The History Matters blog (Dept. of history, Sheffield)
Why was it set up?
• To raise the profile of the departments research.
• To engage with a wider audience and to demonstrate the
relevance of academic history in today’s world.
• A theme in which a department with diverse interests can all participate
How the blog is managed
• A schedule is maintained with
important events noted and staff
expertise called upon where relevant
• Entirely voluntary but a growing
interest from staff – some regularly
take part, others occasionally.
Miriam Dobson
– Russian History blog (various, mainly US)
Why was it set up?
• Frustrated with book reviews taking too long to be published – the blog allowed
for an immediate forum of discussion that could even include the author.
• A means to maintain an online presence without the additional pressure of
regularly writing posts – with c. 10 people collaborating only need to provide a
few posts a year
• Acts as a focus for discussion around the subject matter
• Good for networking – becoming recognised
for being one of the Russian History bloggers
How the blog is managed
• More informal – one person in charge, but
only to nudge when a post hasn’t gone up
for a while.
• Each contributor uploads their own posts
• Occasional email conversations re. blog.
Tim Hitchcock (Hertfordshire)
– Historyonics blog (personal research/opinion blog)
Why was it set up?
• Experiment – to see if blogs were useful
• Initially talking about holidays etc., but soon focused on mulling over future
direction in digital history, a place for random thinking pieces, a fun space to
write and think – often a good way to put into prose something that would
otherwise just remain as random thoughts in the head.
How the blog is managed
• Chaotic and undirected
• No scheduling, just posts
when he has something to
say or something that he has
no other use for.
Sharon Howard (Sheffield Humanities Research Institute)
– The Early Modern Commons (blog aggregator)
Why was it set up?
• To be a blogroll + - i.e. a more useful blog roll
• Includes over 260 early modern blogs with details and RSS feeds plus
aggregates their posts
A possible way
forward for
Blogging?
Audience
Feedback
Promotion of the blog
Best practice
What the bloggers had to say about best practice
Video
https://vimeo.com/69583387
Survey results
Survey results
Survey results
Survey results
Categories:
1. Uses of blogs for historians
2. Setting up a blog
3. Promoting your blog
4. Shared blogs
5. Creating content
6. Paying for enhanced features
7. Going further (bibliography/further reading)
Uses of blogs for historians
a. What is a blog?
b. Why should I blog?
c. What purpose should a blog serve?
d. What are the benefits of blogging about
my academic research?
e. What are the risks of blogging?
Setting up a blog
a. First things to consider
b. Choosing a blog platform
c. Choose a topic/theme
d. Choosing a blog name
e. Designing the blog
f. Launching the blog
g. Elements of a blog
h. Writing blog posts
i. Adding video and audio to a blog
Promotion a blog
a. Search Engines
b. Hyperlinks
c. Social Media
d. E-mails
e. Other blogs
f. Aggregators
g. Statistics
Shared blogs
a. The benefits
b. The downfalls
Creating content
a. How long should a blog post be?
b. What should a blog post contain?
c. How do I write blog posts?
d. Should I include images?
e. Should I include footnotes/bibliographies
Enhanced Features
a. Domain Name and hosting
b. Blogging Tools
c. Monetising
Going Further
a. Useful resources
Choosing a blog platform
Some institutions have blogging platforms customised for use by their departments.
Therefore, if you wish to begin blogging within a university, museum, or archival setting
it is well worth checking if there are any options (and rules) within the institution.
The most popular blogging platform is WordPress. Its basic form is free and this is by
far enough for most people (for details on the enhanced WordPress.org see the
section on Enhanced Features). Other popular platforms you may wish to consider are
Blogger and Typepad, although there are others.
Here is a brief list of blogging platforms (prices are correct as of June 2013):
Name: WordPress
Address: http://wordpress.com or http://wordpress.org
Costs: Free/various prices
Information: Wordpress is the most popular blogging platform because it is easy to
set up, use, and manage. Add-on’s and other features such as web hosting can be
brought as or when they are needed, but for most bloggers the free service is perfectly
fine. WordPress has a good internal statistics system, various free plug-ins, and
numerous free themes so that you can create a blog that looks relatively unique and
interesting with a minimal of fuss. It is easy to create static pages meaning that you
can convert your blog into something more akin to an ordinary website. Indeed, with various chargeable features Wordpress can be used to create a fully-fledged website if you so desire. WordPress is easy to integrate with social networking sites including Twitter and Facebook.
Conclusions
1. If you want to start a blog think seriously about what you want to get out of
it. You need to be enthusiastic about what you are blogging about.
2. Despite common wisdom it is not always necessary to blog regularly and
there is no definitive word limit – although under 1000 words is generally
considered plenty.
3. Consider shared blogs – they offer a more collaborative approach that
can be inspiring and bring new opportunities.
4. But individual blogging is good as well.
Thank you for listening
Matt Phillpott
Blogging for Historians: http://bloggingforhistorians.wordpress.com/
